WWE released developmental wrestler Daniel "Dan Rodman" Rodimer from his contract earlier today. Here is the message WWE.com posted:
Dan Rodman released
Written: August 22, 2007
WWE has come to terms on the release of developmental talent Dan Rodman. We wish Dan all the best in his future endeavors.
Due to his extraordinary size -- 6-7 and 300 pounds -- WWE signed Rodimer to a developmental contract last summer even though he had no prior wrestling experience. He learned the ropes in Deep South Wrestling and made his wrestling debut after only a few weeks. As early as last December, there were talks of calling him up to the main roster and giving him a huge push. There were even talks of pairing him up with Rated RKO. However, Stephanie McMahon was really the only one pushing for him -- pretty much due to his look -- as everyone else unanimously agreed that he was nowhere close to being ready to getting called up to the main roster. In March, Vince McMahon got incensed during a meeting regarding Rodman and Vladimir Kozlov when road agents finally stood up and said that these two muscle-bound individuals weren't ready to be called up to the main roster due to their lackluster wrestling skills. After seeing her father's reaction, Stephanie told the creative team to call off plans on calling Rodimer up to the roster.
Though his push was curtailed, Rodimer got to wrestle on a few WWE shows so that management could take a look at his progress before they made a decision on whether he was worthy of being a WWE Superstar or not. He quietly made two appearances on WWE Heat -- he lost both matches. In the meantime, Rodimer honed his skills in Ohio Valley Wrestling. He was then transferred to the Florida Championship Wrestling territory last June.
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