10 WWE Stars Who Were Fired Multiple Times

As the old saying may have once went: If at first you don’t succeed, get fired and get fired again.

While countless WWE stars have been fired over the decades, there are some that have been told to get out and stay out multiple occasions. Until they’re invariably brought back yet again, that is.

A combination of bad luck, bad decisions and bad behaviour led to these guys and gals seeking employment elsewhere.

These are 10 WWE stars who were fired multiple times.

10. Justin Credible

After doing his time as a job guy, PJ Polaco got a WWE contract and a new gimmick as the Portuguese man-o-war Aldo Montoya in 1994.

Miffed with his lack of bookings – not to mention having to wear a yellow jockstrap on his face – PJ asked for his release in 1997 and was instead sent to the Memphis developmental territory, before being let go (on the condition he couldn’t go to WCW).

He went to ECW instead, became Justin Credible and somehow ended up becoming one of the most pushed acts in Paul Heyman’s promotion.

The former ECW Champion joined WWE when the Philadelphia-based promotion kicked the bucket in early 2001, where he promptly slid back into the mid-card.

His second WWE spell came to an end on January 20, 2003, when he was fired (while suspended) for frequently showing up to shows late.

He was given yet another chance when ECW was rebooted in the summer of 2006. However, he was canned once more after failing to show up to a television taping and going AWOL.

9. Jim Neidhart

There was a recurring theme during Jim Neidhart’s WWE career.

The Anvil – an absolute tank of a man with a short temper and habit for dabbling in elicit substances – would invariably be shown the door for one indiscretion or another, until Stu Hart gave Vince McMahon a call and asked him to give ‘The Rhino’ his job back.

The first time Neidhart got fired was on February 16, 1992. This was the day after he’d refused to take a mandatory drug test and then shot putted a television monitor backstage, missing intended target road agent Chief Jay Strongbow but hitting a TV executive (and breaking his ankle).

He was brought back and then fired again in January of 1995, right when he and Owen Hart were about to win the WWE Tag Team Titles, after repeated no-shows.

Big Jim’s third and final WWE run – which saw him involved in the tremendous Hart Foundation versus USA angle – ended on December 2, 1997.

Amazingly, Neidhart had been working without a contract since his return (which was largely done as a favour to Bret Hart) and when he refused to immediately sign a deal presented to him in the wake of the Montreal Screwjob, it was rescinded and he left for WCW.

8. Crush

Brian Adams had four different runs in WWE, with two of them ending at his own request and two of them at the behest of the company.

His first WWE spell finished in the summer of 1991 when the Demolition member opted to leave and return to the Portland territory.

His second one, however, ended in spectacular fashion. Crush (who had been on hiatus for several months) was publicly fired on WWE television after Adams was busted and arrested at his home in Hawaii on March 13, 1995.

Authorities seized large quantities of anabolic steroids, several unregistered semiautomatic handguns and other drugs in the raid and Adams ended up doing a short stint in jail.

When he got out of the slammer, WWE offered him another chance but he walked away in late 1997, partially in response to the Montreal Screwjob.

His fourth and final (and very brief) run is best remembered for the infamous KroniK versus Brothers of Destruction match from Unforgiven 2001.

KroniK were asked to report to developmental after the trainwreck, which Adams did (while his partner baulked and quit). Nonetheless, WWE had no plans to bring him back to the main roster and Adams was cut.

7. Luna Vachon

Luna Vachon was a force of nature both in front of the camera and behind the scenes.

Admittedly bipolar and very self-conscious about her appearance, Luna would frequently lash out backstage, which led to her being fired by WWE on three separate occasions.

The first firing came in December of 1994, at a time when Vachon was starting to establish herself as a player in WWE’s revamped women’s division.

Though details are sketchy, ‘disciplinary reasons’ were cited as the cause of her dismissal.

The second time came in March of 1999, after Luna had locker room run-ins with Sable, Marc Mero (who she challenged to a fight), Jacqueline (who she had been friends with), and road agent Blackjack Lanza in a short space of time.

She was back in the fold in time for SummerSlam, with WWE management believing that things would be better now that Sable (who Luna hated with a passion) was out of the picture.

Despite being warned that one more strike and she would be back out, Luna pushed her luck and was fired in February of 2000 after an incident where she taped the mouth of a (female) television producer shut.

6. Jim Ross

The relationship between Jim Ross and Vince McMahon was one of the most complex – and at times outright bizarre – in WWE history.

The former WWE Chairman seemed to relish in humiliating the announcer and one-time talent relations head (especially in JR’s beloved home state of Oklahoma). McMahon was also never shy about firing Ross, which he did on several occasions.

The first time was in February of 1994, just two weeks after Ross suffered his first bout of Bell’s Palsy.

He was brought back in the Summer when Vince had some United States federal government business to attend to, but was fired before schools went back because management were unhappy with comments he made in an interview with the Pro Wrestling Torch newsletter.

They gave him the call to come back once more in December and, over the course of the next 15 years, the man in the black established himself as the voice of WWE – despite repeated attempts by McMahon and others replace him.

Eventually, his WWE career came to an end when he was fired (publicly labelled as a ‘retirement’) following the notorious WWE 2K14 panel during SummerSlam 2013 weekend when it was deemed that JR, as the panel’s host, had failed to control things.

5. Goldust

Dustin Runnels has had tremendous longevity in the wrestling business and is still going strong in 2024.

It hasn’t all been plain sailing, though, and the man formerly known as Goldust has had his marching orders handed to him on multiple occasions.

In the Summer of 1999, The Bizarre One was given the heave-ho while out with a bad back, with reports speculating that WWE saw more potential in his ex-wife Terri, who they’d recently signed to a multi-year deal.

His second run ended when his contract was allowed to expire in December of 2003, but Goldy came back for another run starting proper in January of 2006.

In June, however, Runnels was once again future endeavoured after he no-showed the June 12 edition of Raw because he had to be in court for an issue related to his personal life. The court issue itself wasn’t the problem; not telling WWE he wouldn’t be at TV was.

The third time he was sent packing was while working as a producer in May of 2012, due to a dangerous finish in a tag match he was overseeing at the April 24 SmackDown tapings.

Goldust would come back for one more run in 2013 and this time he would remain with the company until his contract expired in 2019, at which point he headed to All Elite Wrestling.

4. Viscera

Vince McMahon wanted to fire Nelson Frazier Jr. – then going by ‘King Mabel’ – after he almost paralysed Kevin ‘Diesel’ Nash with a dangerous move to Big Daddy Cool’s back.

Nash went to bat for the superheavyweight, however, saving his job. For another four-or-so months, anyway, because Mabel was eventually fired in early 1996 for continually injuring his co-workers.

He was brought back at the beginning of 1999 and managed to avoid breaking anyone’s spine for a solid year-and-a-half before he was dismissed for a second time.

While no specific reason was reported at the time, Jim Ross (who was the acting head of talent relations back then) has suggested that Viscera’s ballooning weight was becoming an issue. Much like Yokozuna before him, it was getting to the point where it was hard for Frazier to pass the physicals required for him to perform in certain states.

His third and final WWE run was his most sustained, as he transformed first into the World’s Largest Love Machine and then the intimidating Big Daddy V.

He lasted until August 8, 2008, when WWE again washed their hands of him after his repeated failure to shed some excess pounds.

3. The Ultimate Warrior

Few relationships in WWE history have been as fractious as the one between Vince McMahon and The Ultimate Warrior.

Jim Hellwig’s alter-ego was viewed as the heir apparent to Hulk Hogan and Warrior received a massive push and WrestleMania 6 WWE Title victory over the golden goose.

Warrior believed that he should have been earning at least as much as Hogan, which is one of the demands he made in a letter sent to McMahon prior to SummerSlam 1991.

Vince acquiesced in order to get Warrior on the show as advertised, but immediately told him to take a hike when he got backstage after his match.

Warrior would, of course, return to the company at WrestleMania 8. His downfall this time was not due to any outrageous demand, but rather being caught using Human Growth Hormone, in contravention of WWE’s drug policy at the time.

A third and final run in 1996 was a disappointment all around and predictably ended with McMahon firing Hellwig after the star no-showed several house shows.

This last firing saw the two parties go to court and contributed to Warrior’s persona non grata status for the best part of two decades.

2. The Iron Sheik

If there’s one thing The Iron Sheik liked most – besides making Hulk Hogan humble – it was drugs.

Banned substances were the downfall of The Iron Sheik on numerous occasions, beginning in May of 1987 when he and Hacksaw Jim Duggan were found with cocaine and weed respectively on their persons after being pulled over by highway patrol.

Amazingly, the drugs weren’t the main thing that led to their collective firing – it was because they were in a feud at the time and the mingling of babyfaces and heels outside the ring was considered a major breach of kayfabe.

WWE introducing drug testing in 1992 meant he wasn’t around for long after that, either, while his decision to take cocaine out of his bag and put it in John ‘Berserker’ Nord’s hoodie while waiting to enter Canada secured him another pink slip.

Sheik – who once celebrated a ‘positive’ test because he thought that was a good thing – pissed hot once more in late 1997, bringing his final WWE run to a close.

1. Marty Jannetty

While The Iron Sheik may have more firings than most to his name, it’s more than likely Marty Jannetty holds the all-time record.

His first firing happened when both he and his Rockers tag partner Shawn Michaels were told to walk just a few weeks into their initial ill-fated WWE run, due to after-hours antics in a bar.

Party Marty’s next firing came after he was charged with resisting arrest, as well as possession of cocaine and drug paraphernalia, on January 25, 1992. Initially suspended, WWE cut bait a couple of months later when the judge handed him six months of house arrest.

He came back once he’d served his time at home, but was released again following his disappointing grudge match with Shawn Michaels at the 1993 Royal Rumble pay-per-view.

Curt Hennig petitioned to bring him back, however, and Jannetty ended up beating HBK for the IC Title.

February of ’94 saw his latest firing after he acted up during a European tour.

A later career renaissance was scuppered when an arrest meant his 2005 contract was torn up, while further legal woes saw two firings in 2006.