Vince McMahon is a mercurial beast when it comes to who he will hire and fire, and to those he sometimes black-lists entirely for years on end with little reconciliation in sight. There have been legendary tales of guys like Randy Savage and The Ultimate Warrior who were absolute 'persona non grata' within WWE for decades, and yet there were rumblings of Macho Man returning right before his untimely death and WWE snuck Ultimate Warrior back into the fold with literally hours to spare. Vince's reputation over these decisions has left the impression that he is highly unpredictable until he's not, which is little help for those currently held in that limbo of being unwanted.

Some wrestlers bring this on themselves, burning bridges only to realize that biting their tongues would have served them better down the line. Others simply don't have an attribute that Vince feels is necessary for WWE to bother with promoting them and the two sides can't come to the table over it. Others have had legal troubles or public disgraces envelope their futures. Still, yet others are complete mysteries to fans, Vince seeming to have an irrational or nonsensical compulsion to avoid business with certain individuals that only excessive time apart can repair. Whatever the case, there's a roster of stars who fans know have some sort of value, who themselves want to return to WWE, and Vince is not willing to let it happen.

16 Ryback

The Big Guy left WWE under acrimonious circumstances at best, laying the blame on his contract dispute with WWE. Ryback was adamant that since WWE lessened his value by making him lose he shouldn't have to take a pay cut commensurate with this lowered status, and the two sides split. Since then Ryback has been nothing if not outspoken over the issues he had in WWE behind the scenes and with the direction of his character. Compounding the problems were rumors of him being occasionally lazy or reckless in matches, although there are conflicting versions depending on who the source is.

Overall Ryback left the WWE before he wanted to due to them not using him the way he perceived he was worth. That fact alone means they didn't see that value in him and were fine letting him go and not looking back. Besides, they got the real 'Goldberg' in to fill the gap just fine.

15 Austin Aries

'The Greatest Man That Ever Lived' was let go by WWE in the middle of last year and initial reports stated that it was Aries who requested the release. The subsequent scuttlebutt was that Aries was uncooperative and a consistently difficult presence to work with backstage and that instead was the reason for his sudden departure. Aries has denied that version of events (which for various reasons is to be expected) but he nonetheless didn't get to build on his excellent early progress as both a commentator and as part of 205 Live's main event scene. With such excellent showings in front of the camera not saving him from the ax, he likely had many bones of contention backstage which made his tenure untenable.

Quickly finding his feet outside of WWE by collecting titles a-plenty, Aries is someone WWE might need to consider worth the trouble to have under their umbrella, even if he is a very squeaky wheel.

14 Simon Gotch

One of the quickest developing backstage truths is that you do not piss off (the current version of) Sin Cara, and Simon Gotch reportedly made that exact mistake and got his head pummeled for the infraction. After a one-sided fight between the two after Gotch supposedly said some things that got under Sin Cara's skin, Gotch was not only sporting a black-eye but a bad reputation among his peers. Combining that with The Vaudevillains stumbling as a tag team and the WWE seeing value in Aiden English alone, Gotch was considered surplus to requirements and was let go.

Now competing as Simon Grimm and having debuted with Ring Of Honor, the former NXT Tag Team Champion probably won't get another shot at WWE, with being already 35 and perceived as too much trouble to bother with for the foreseeable future.

13 Mr. Kennedy

A collection of bad luck, bad timing, a wellness violation, fractious relationships and a reputation that isn't ideal all lead to one of WWE's hottest prospects amounting to little and being ejected with no chance of a return. Mr. Kennedy, (Mr. Anderson in Impact Wrestling) had a style of selling that he says was directly complimented by none other than The Undertaker, but was also warned that when he moved to Raw he'd have to adjust to fit. Kennedy didn't heed that warning enough and the upper echelon of stars turned on him backstage. He was the one who gave Cena a hip toss when John famously tore his pectoral muscle. He spoke out about not being on steroids and was almost immediately busted for them. He returned from injury only to drop Randy Orton on his problematic shoulder and that was the last straw.

From one of SmackDown's biggest potential megastars to fired entirely from WWE, Mr. Kennedy hasn't even been given a token sighting in WWE since and that doesn't look to change anytime soon.

12 Carlito

Perceived as lazy and with an attitude of not putting in maximum effort unless he's being used as he sees fit, Carlito remains another potential star that WWE simply doesn't care to bring back. The only sighting of Carlito after his initial WWE run came to an end was at the Hall Of Fame induction of his father Carlos Colon, and even there Carlito couldn't resist getting in a jab at WWE's habit of cutting matches down to only a couple of minutes. While it got a big laugh from the crowd, it didn't result in anything good being associated with the former Caribbean Cool superstar.

Carlito has been punished on screen by having Ric Flair outright lambast him over laziness, and off-screen with derailed pushes and marginalization. The last straw was a Wellness Policy violation and reported painkiller addiction they wanted him to go to rehab for, which Carlito flat-out refused. When none of that works to get someone into where WWE wants them, the working relationship comes to an end and that's what happened to Carlito.

11 Emma

When WWE is gearing up for their first ever Women's Royal Rumble and they need every woman on deck to fill spots, and you get fired anyway, chances are you're not wanted. Emma's failure with the long-promoted 'Emmalina' persona is primarily seen as the reason for her being let go, with WWE putting effort and time into something she couldn't or simply didn't want to handle. Combined with her social media tendency to speak out about being misused and her previous run-in with law enforcement that almost got her cut years before, Emma simply had too much baggage for WWE to continue it seems. After one final run where they used her just enough to get others over, she was gone.

Still able to put on quality matches she's picked right up under her real (better) name, Tenille Dashwood in Ring Of Honor, competing in their tournament for an inaugural ROH Women of Honor Champion.

10 Damien Sandow

The former Intellectual Saviour of the Masses, then Damien Mizdow, and finally Macho Mandow, WWE felt like they'd squeezed Sandow for all his value by the time of his 2016 release. Despite being the hottest act on Monday Night Raw for most of a year, Sandow was seen as having spent his credibility with the crowd, especially when his Macho Mandow character failed to take off and then had to be abandoned due to Hulk Hogan's real-life troubles making the association problematic. For his part Sandow somewhat agrees with WWE's policy of giving time to others to see what they can do with it, however, he also stated he had several other ideas and concepts he wanted to try in WWE before his time was done and they simply decided to go in other directions.

Maybe WWE was right to let him go, as his next concept in Impact Wrestling, Aron Rex, pretty much ruined his good faith with fans that he'd earned earlier.

9 Darren Young

The first openly acknowledged gay superstar to work for WWE, Darren Young had a lengthy stay in the WWE despite mostly showing only incremental improvement and star power. During that time WWE tried several things to find his niche, but the only enduring success he had was as a part of the Prime Time Players with Titus O'Neil. When that team broke up and re-teamed three separate times, that was essentially the last substantial thing WWE could get out of him. His run with Bob Backlund couldn't even get him much traction, outside of a hilarious accidental Battle Royal win for the Intercontinental Championship number one contendership, but by then the writing was on the wall.

Young floundered around a few months more, and WWE finally cut ties with the former Nexus member. Often injured as well, Young was let go in 2017 and looks to have little chance of ever returning.

8 Hornswoggle

To be fair, WWE squeezed every conceivable ounce they could out of the 'Little Bastard' of WWE. The only thing is, now they have very little reason to ever bring him back in any capacity since by any measure he was involved far more than he ever should have been in storylines that continuously made fans shake their heads and wonder why he was even associated with them. From being a leprechaun, to Vince McMahon's illegitimate son (for a while), to the Anonymous Raw GM, to Chavo Guerrero's tormentor, to the last Cruiserweight Champion (killing the belt for a time), to a member of D-Generation-X, to 3MB's 4th guy, he ran the gamut of stuff to do in WWE's mid to low-card.

Of all the little people to ever get a shot in WWE, he certainly ran the furthest with it, but by the time it finally came to an end, everyone was well done with him. Now getting around the independent circuit as just Swoggle, he's young enough that given enough time he might resurface, but not anytime soon.

7 Enzo Amore

A sensitive subject to be sure, but no doubt Enzo, after sticking it out through backstage isolation and rejection from his peers, would much rather be back in WWE running his mouth and cashing his fat merchandise checks. Not only is Enzo in a heap of trouble with the law at the moment, but WWE decided that his silence on the matter that led him to keeping the burgeoning problem under wraps made him too hot to keep on their books in any way, and showed him the door. The likelihood of Enzo ever getting another shot with WWE are slim to none because even if the charges against him are eventually dropped or he's found completely innocent, his lack of disclosure to his employer means they know they can't trust him.

Enzo put himself before the company, and if there's one thing John Cena proves, it is that putting the company first is vital to a working relationship. Enzo continues the recent trend of cruiserweight champions having major troubles in and out of WWE, and Enzo is likely to remain 'out' from now on.

6 Brad Maddox

Former Raw GM Brad Maddox got himself fired for using the word 'pricks' when confronting fans in a promo and for some reason that was the straw that broke the camel's back on his time in WWE. The thing that will keep him away, however, is his role in the infamous leaked Paige videos that went around last year, meaning that he is somewhat paying the price for all three of the individuals since Paige and Xavier Woods have alternate reasons for being kept around and in WWE's good graces. It's a bit of a shame since he had a good 'Eric Bischoff Jr' vibe to him, being sleazy and slimy while able to cut capable promos.

Nevertheless, the circumstances of his departure and WWE not wanting to deal with things they don't need to if they simply separate the involved parties means Maddox isn't likely to be seen again unless he totally re-invents himself on the independents.

5 Rich Swann

Rich Swann's recent 'mutual parting' with WWE is just corporate speak for an unfortunate situation that, once again, WWE doesn't want to get their hands dirty with. Even though Rich Swann's legal issues with his wife were ultimately dropped, WWE and Vince with his revival of the XFL have taken staunch stands against any form of domestic abuse and Rich timed his in a way that left WWE little choice but to sever ties. Anything hypocritical like this could burden WWE's public image and Vince's specific rhetoric of 'no criminals' for his XFL essentially made the relationship void between them and Swann.

Regardless of the positive developments between Swann and his wife, it all just came at the worst time and in that same way, only time passing will allow Swann a future crack back in the revamped 205 Live. Rich Swann missing out on Triple H's version of the cruiserweight division is a damn shame, but sometimes everything goes wrong at the wrong time.

4 Josh Mathews

For the longest time, Josh Mathews was the one remaining vestige of the original Tough Enough roster, lasting long enough to call a WrestleMania and become decently prolific at the commentary desk. Unfortunately, he was reported to be hard to get along with backstage, much too full of himself and his accomplishments, and finally it came to a head in 2014 when WWE cut him in favor of a group of up-and-coming announcers viewed as being better prospects over Mathews despite his tenure.

Jumping to TNA, Mathews seemed to show much more of his backstage inclinations at their commentary desk, becoming grating and combative with fellow commentators like The Pope and Jeremy Borash, although both ended up in angles. With all of that, Mathews may never have wanted to leave WWE but he has far too narrow a skill set that is bettered by others to consider a return possible.

3 Ken Shamrock

Ken Shamrock has hung around in MMA as long as he possibly can, even though it's become painfully obvious in recent years that he should've retired a long time ago. Shamrock's a bit surprising in the sense that he hasn't made a few surprise returns here and there. With the WWE fully embracing wrestlers with MMA backgrounds, it's a little surprising the first MMA star to successfully cross over into WWE hasn't been brought back in any capacity.

The problem seems to be that Shamrock still thinks of himself as a huge star and he has reportedly priced himself out of many potential wrestling appearances. As for WWE, they'd really have no use for a fighter in his 50s, who reportedly doesn't have a very good relationship with Triple H.

2

1 Hulk Hogan

Hulk Hogan may keep saying that WWE, specifically Triple H, wants him back and that he's willing to come back and do business at any time, but it seems solidly set that WWE just doesn't want him back in any form from here on. Between Hulk Hogan's penchant for exaggeration and inflation of facts, and his infamous sex tape and language therein, Hogan is not only an unreliable source but a volatile presence to contend with. When the scandal initially broke Hogan was scrubbed from WWE's media sites in hours, his image gone from promotional material and he was essentially blackballed entirely. WWE took much stronger action against Hulk than many would've predicted for one of their true iconic stars of all time, even with Hogan becoming an almost instant pariah.

With such a decisive line drawn in the sand for those actions, it may come to pass that Hogan isn't seen in WWE ever again. Another expected Hall Of Famer, Mark Henry, recently said to TMZ he could see Hogan's return only if he personally apologized to all the African-American talent, so there's one glimmer of hope for The Hulkster from The World's Strongest Man.