Braun Strowman & 10 More Wrestlers WWE Released Out Of Nowhere

WWE has released numerous wrestlers over the years, with some releases being downright shocking. For those who considered WWE to be predictable, it'd be hard for even the savviest wrestling fan to figure out that Braun Strowman's days in WWE were coming to an end shortly after competing for the WWE Title at WrestleMania Backlash.

It'd be an understatement to say that WWE can be confusing at times. As a result, it can sometimes be difficult to predict who will be next to get that pink slip from Vince McMahon. Over the years, WWE has made decisions about releasing talents that seemed to come out of nowhere.

8 Braun Strowman

Braun Strowman was a featured performer in WWE's main event scene right before his release. Strowman regularly made his intentions clear on Monday Night Raw that he was going after the WWE Title. The Monster Among Men even battled Drew McIntyre and Bobby Lashley for that championship at the latest pay-per-view.

Strowman's star power on Raw may not have equaled that of McIntyre or Lashley, but he was still one of the top-ranking performers on the red brand. As a result, his release on June 2 appeared to come out of nowhere.

7 Aleister Black

"The Ominous Man From Amsterdam" Aleister Black was suddenly released on Wednesday, June 2. This firing came out of nowhere, considering that Aleister had just returned on the May 21 episode of SmackDown to give a Black Mass to Big E. WWE also spent weeks of airing "Dark Father" vignettes for Black in anticipation of his return that was ultimately short-lived.

Black's release felt like a snap decision, considering he was brought back to WWE TV mere days before being let go. In contrast, had Aleister been let go along with the April 15 roster cuts, it wouldn't have felt so out of leftfield because he had been away from weekly programming since October 2020.

6 Daniel Bryan

In 2010, Daniel Bryan was regarded as being a seasoned veteran while also being an NXT rookie. Despite a string of defeats and an early elimination from the competition, Bryan was still a standout talent and his popularity was only growing among WWE faithful. Therefore, it was surprising when WWE chose to cut ties with him on June 11, 2010.

WWE's official reason for releasing Bryan was that he crossed the line with violence by choking Justin Roberts with his tie during the Nexus debut. His release was framed as a public relations move to appease sponsors. However, this release still felt like it came out of nowhere considering it can be hard to tell what's crossing the line with violence in a business that's inherently violent. The Nexus was attacking everyone in sight during their debut, but apparently, Bryan went overboard.

Bryan would make his return in the main event of SummerSlam, joining Team WWE against the villainous Nexus. Bryan's absence only made the heart grow fonder within the WWE Universe. He has since gone on to become a multi-time world champion in WWE.

5 3MB's Drew McIntyre & Jinder Mahal

No, this isn't a joke. Although it may seem like a controversial decision to include 3MB's Drew McIntyre and Jinder Mahal, there's a case to be made that their release came out of nowhere. Yes, they were jobbers, but the crowd responded to their act, and they were regularly featured across WWE programming and at live events.

A counterargument to be made is that considering their status as lower-card performers, it wasn't out of the norm to release both Mahal and McIntyre. But their stable was growing in popularity and WWE still kept Heath Slater on board until 2020. Mahal and McIntyre were released on June 12, 2014, but they came back better than ever. Despite 3MB developing into a fun comedy act on WWE TV, it was truly to Mahal and McIntyre's benefit to leave the group and grow as performers. Perhaps WWE officials could tell that this was the best way to tap into their potential as future world champions.

Say what you will, but the forced break-up of 3MB really tugged at the heartstrings of the WWE Universe. If you were a 3MB fan, you felt it when McIntyre and Mahal were let go on that fateful day in June.

4 Samoa Joe

"The Samoan Submission Machine" Samoa Joe was reportedly not medically cleared to return to the ring at the time of his WWE release. While recovering from concussions, Joe became one of the key voices of Monday Night Raw. On his way out, WWE featured Joe as a color commentator for WrestleMania 37.

Joe was released, along with nine other wrestlers, on April 15, 2021. The former two-time NXT Champion was perhaps the most shocking name to come from this batch of releases.

3 Emma (Impact Wrestling's Tenille Dashwood)

In the fall of 2017, "Evil" Emma finally started to make waves as a serious contender in the Raw's women's division. She was unsuccessful at challenging for the Raw Women's Title in a Fatal 5-Way match at No Mercy, but Emma didn't let that slow her down.

In early October 2017, Emma won a five-woman elimination match for the right to challenge Asuka in her WWE debut match at the TLC pay-per-view. She bested Sasha Banks with a surprise roll-up to punch her ticket to TLC. As was expected, the undefeated Asuka defeated Emma at TLC and then again in a rematch on Raw the next night. And then suddenly Emma was let go by WWE on October 29, 2017.

2 Karl Anderson & Luke Gallows

The Good Brothers went from signing five-year deals with WWE only to be released months later. On April 15, 2020, WWE parted ways with Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson. This was after Gallows and Anderson played a role in assisting AJ Styles during his match against The Undertaker in the main event of Night One of WrestleMania 36.

WWE faced budget cuts while responding to economic setbacks surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic restrictions, resulting in numerous talents being put on the chopping block, including Gallows and Anderson. However, both releases felt like they came out of nowhere, especially when it was reported in July 2019 that they had signed multi-year contracts. Even though the former Bullet Club members weren't consistently on top in WWE's tag team scene, they were two solid hands that provided depth to the division.

1 Cryme Tyme

Shad Gaspard and JTG of Cryme Tyme were released while also being top contenders for the World Tag Team Championship. At the time of their release on September 2, 2007, the Timberland-wearing tandem was still feuding with the champions, Lance Cade and Trevor Murdoch.

WWE is known to not take their tag team scene too seriously, so suddenly releasing or splitting up a popular tag team isn't out of the ordinary. But their release did feel out of the blue, considering their ongoing rivalry with the champions and the lack of depth in Raw's tag team division. Just a day prior to their release, Cryme Tyme was fighting for the World Tag Team Titles on a house show.

The duo would return to WWE TV in March 2008 to defeat Cade and Murdoch who were no longer champions. However, the next time WWE released these two wrestlers, it made a lot more sense. Gaspard was let go by WWE in November 2010 following a failed singles run. JTG was released in June 2014 after not wrestling for WWE since the September 20, 2013, episode of WWE Superstars.

NEXT: 5 Released Wrestlers Who Quickly Returned To WWE (& 5 Who Took Years To Return)