WWE.com made the shocking announcement earlier today that the WWE has come to terms on the release of three RAW Superstars and a RAW Diva. Former WWE Tag Team Champion Vladimir Kozlov (Oleg Prudius), “The Masterpiece” Chris Masters (Chris Mordetzky), former WWE Tag Team Champion and second generation star David Hart Smith (Harry Smith), and former Divas Champion Melina (Melina Perez) have all been “future endeavored” by the WWE.
Vladimir Kozlov made his WWE debut on December 18, 2006 as a fan proclaiming his love for “Double Double E”, but would continue training in OVW until he was brought up to the SmackDown roster on April 4, 2008. Kozlov eventually got involved in a WWE Title feud with Triple H, but never actually won the title. Kozlov was then drafted to the ECW brand and, after ECW folded, Kozlov was put on RAW where he ended up winning the WWE Tag Team Titles with Santino Marella. Vladimir Kozlov’s final television appearance was on the August 5 edition of SmackDown.
Chris Masters originally made his WWE debut on February 21, 2005, bringing the “Masterlock Challenge” with him where he challenged Superstars, Legends, and fans to try and break his Masterlock submission. Masters had feuds with the likes of John Cena, Shawn Michaels, and Bobby Lashley before his release on November 8, 2007. Masters’ release stemmed from his second violation of the WWE Wellness Policy. Masters was re-signed by the WWE, returning to RAW on July 27, 2009, but was later drafted to SmackDown and then, earlier this year, drafted back to RAW. Throughout his second stint with the WWE, Masters was mostly used as a comedy, making rare RAW and SmackDown appearances.
David Hart Smith is the son of the late, great “British Bulldog” Davey Boy Smith and was signed to a developmental contract by the WWE, debuting in OVW on February 14, 2007 (under his real name, Harry Smith). Smith was later moved to FCW for a few months before making his on-screen WWE debut on the October 22, 2007 edition of RAW as DH Smith. Smith was suspended for 30 days on November 2, 2007 for violating WWE’s Wellness Policy, returning in December. Smith was later drafted to SmackDown, but did not make his debut as he was sent back to FCW until he was drafted to the ECW brand in 2009, making his debut on the brand on April 15, 2009 where he (now billed as David Hart Smith) and Tyson Kidd attacked Finlay. Smith & Kidd joined up with Natalya to form The Hart Dynasty. The trio was drafted to SmackDown and made several appearances throughout the next year (including helping Bret Hart during his match with Vince McMahon at WrestleMania XXVI) and had several shots at the tag team titles. The Hart Dynasty finally won the Unified Tag Team Titles from The Miz & Big Show on the April 26, 2010 edition of RAW. The titles were later re-named to become the WWE Tag Team Titles and The Hart Dynasty successfully retained the titles against the likes of The Miz & Chris Jericho and The Usos before losing the titles to Cody Rhodes & Drew McIntyre. After the title loss, Tyson Kidd and David Hart Smith began a short-lived feud, facing one another (mostly on WWE Superstars). After the feud with Kidd (which started on November 15, 2010), David Hart Smith was inactive for several months, only making a brief appearance in the pre-show battle royal at WrestleMania XXVII.
Melina debuted as a manager for Johnny Nitro & Joey Mercury called “MNM” on the April 14, 2005 edition of SmackDown. After managing MNM to becoming three time WWE Tag Team Champions, Melina embarked on a career as a singles competitor, winning both the Women’s and Divas Title in her career.
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