The changes to WWE throughout the years have seen some positive growth when it comes to their worst moments in the past. Former ECW and WWE star Dawn Marie witnessed the worst side of the wrestling business when she was released during her pregnancy. WWE has always used the independent contractor clause to their advantage, but this was a new low.
Vince McMahon showed zero employee loyalty or compassion to Marie not being able to perform in the ring and it led to her release. This was considered to be one of the most controversial firings in wrestling history leading to public comments being exchanged and even a lawsuit. WWE still has shame for the shocking firing of Dawn back in 2005.
Dawn Marie Had An Underrated WWE Career
Dawn Marie deserved to be respected for her contributions to WWE in the early 2000s. The end of ECW saw Dawn getting the chance to join WWE for an on-screen role backstage. Marie initially tried to replace Stacy Keibler as Vince McMahon’s assistant which introduced her in a relevant manner. WWE eventually placed Dawn in the ring as an active competitor.
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The brand split saw two drastically different women’s divisions for the two programs. Raw featured Trish Stratus having credible matches with Jazz, Victoria, Molly Holly, and others. Smackdown primarily placed Torrie Wilson and Marie in eye candy matches. Various holiday-themed outings or bikini contests would take place in between their matches.
Dawn and Torrie were basically the entire Smackdown women’s division with other names like Nidia, Sable, and Jackie Gayda filtering in and out of the fold. Marie's timing of getting pregnant in 2005 came at a time when WWE started to add some more women to the roster. However, Dawn had to make up for the lack of depth by always being the heel to put over Wilson during her WWE in-ring career.
Dawn Marie Was Fired After It Was Revealed She Was Pregnant
The news of Dawn Marie getting pregnant saw her taken off television. WWE did allow Dawn to take part in the special ECW One Night Stand 2005 reunion show. Marie was able to manage her old tag team of the Impact Players with Lance Storm beating Chris Jericho thanks to the help of Justin Credible and the rest of the group. No one could have guessed that this would be the final time that Dawn would appear in WWE.
Maternity leave is encouraged today, but WWE felt they could get away with shedding the contract of an employee for having a child. The news broke about a month after One Night Stand that Marie would be getting fired and no longer was on the WWE roster. Dawn even appeared for the online show Byte This in between the ECW appearance and the release.
WWE could have easily used Marie in that capacity when she wasn’t going to be on the road anymore. The release of Dawn upset her as it would any expecting mother losing their job for wanting to start a family. Many wrestlers outside of WWE spoke up for Marie since she was a beloved figure in the industry and was being treated unfairly. However, no one in the company would rock the boat since WWE was the only major company in a landscape without WCW or ECW.
Marie's Termination Led To Her Taking WWE To Court
Dawn Marie decided to take WWE to court after they fired her. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission received a complaint filed by Dawn arguing that her contract was wrongfully terminated. Quite a few wrestlers have taken WWE to court, but most cases end up being settled outside of court since it costs a lot of money and emotional energy to battle them in the long run.
WWE and Marie did reach a settlement agreement outside of court with Vince McMahon likely paying a heavy price. The press was already negative towards WWE for treating an employee with such little respect, so keeping this story from dragging out appeared to be in their best interest. Unfortunately, Dawn would start to phase out of the wrestling business for good afterward.
There were a few independent show appearances and the attempt of a company called “Wrestler’s Rescue” to help wrestlers struggling with injuries. However, that turned into a controversy with the events falling apart. Marie completely transitioned away from the wrestling business to become a nurse. Life has been kind to Dawn who is a loving mother and a happy nurse in her new career. WWE firing the underrated star for the worst possible reason sparked a few life changes still playing out today.
