WWE Star Reportedly Suspended

[Richard Blonoff]

According to both PWInsider and 411MANIA, Titus O'Neil has been suspended for unprofessional conduct following Monday Night Raw.

According to the report, Titus was approached by WWE officials shortly before last night's Smackdown taping and informed of his suspension, which is reported to be up to 90 days.

During the end of Daniel Bryan's retirement ceremony, Titus grabbed Vince by the arm, as seen in the gif below. Apparently Vince was upset at the move, and all video on the ceremony has been removed from WWE.com, WWE's Youtube, and The Network.

Titus is 39 but has recently gotten a bit of a singles push. He does a lot of work in the community and for the WWE, so I am surprised by the move on WWE's part. So what do you make of the suspension and where does this leave Titus?

http://www.pwinsider.com/ViewArticle.php?id=99695
http://411mania.com/wrestling/wwe-reportedly-suspends-titus-oneil/

 

[JoeFromTomsRiver]

Very odd. Why was Titus grabbing Vince to begin with? If it was playful in nature I can't see it resulting in a suspension.

 

[Mighty NorCal]

I am.....Fucking lost in the woods on this one.


What the fuck happened here? Why did he do that? Why was Vince so mad? Just...





What the hell man. Very bizzare.

 

[TStorm]

Looking at it, it seems like he grabbed his arm and chest bumped him. Totally lost on why he would do that though.

As for the suspension, that might be a bit much, but it does come off very disruptive, and does seem a little out of place during a moment that was focused around a fellow (former) roster member retiring.

 

[Rayne]

He broke the golden rule, don't fuck with the televised shot. Only people who have enough gold get away with breaking that rule. If this had happened two minutes later than it did, it's no issue.

 

[Blade]

I have the same question as everyone else... Why?

I mean, surely Titus is smart enough to know if he wants to share a handshake or whatever with Vince, do it backstage. Don't do it on camera in the middle of a show dedicated to a retiring star. It makes no sense. Unless he was drunk.

 

[OYDK]

The fuck? Vince was supposedly playful about the whole thing when it went down. I'm lost here... they weren't even on the air at the time.

I don't know. Just seems like a really crappy thing to do to the guy who puts in the most PR work other than Cena. But what the hell was Titus doing? The whole situation is bizarre to say the LEAST.

 

[BaconBits]

I'm very skeptical about the validity of these reports. Dirtsheets love to create drama where there really isn't any. I suppose it's possible that it's true, but I wouldn't be surprised in the least if Titus had a match on Raw Monday.

 

[InZayn]

Its very obvious why he did that, he did that playfully. If you've seen titus in Backstage segments and Interviews you'd see that thats what he does he hugs people and gets a bit physical just like he did with Vince. Its a very stupid reason to suspend a person that does great PR for the company. It was stupid of him to do that to your boss but surley not a reason to be suspended for 90+ days.

 

[Skuzzy]

seems like Vince wanted to do his big walk through the roster with the cameras rolling and got legit angry Titus pulled his arm, ruining it for Vince. huge overreaction and pretty stupid, but i can see how it sort of makes sense.

 

[Charismatic Enigma]

I don't think a 90 day suspension is really justified, but I do have to wonder what the hell was going through Titus' mind. If they had been standing next to each other, that's one thing, but Vince appears to already be a couple of feet ahead of him trailed by Stephanie and HHH, and already walking towards the back, why would you reach ahead and pull him away from his trajectory?

The whole thing is just very bizarre. Both Titus' logic and Vince's reaction.

 

[legendkiller1979]

'I sincerely hope that the fans take this news and run with it. Instead of random chants about past wrestlers, I hope the arena is filled with Titus' name. I think we are all in agreement that this isn't right. We've had "You screwed Bret" chants and "You screwed Matt" chants. I hope we get a "You screwed Titus" chant

 

[JoeFromTomsRiver]

I'm very skeptical about the validity of these reports. Dirtsheets love to create drama where there really isn't any. I suppose it's possible that it's true, but I wouldn't be surprised in the least if Titus had a match on Raw Monday.

You were also skeptical of the reports of CM Punk leaving the company, and reports of Del Rio getting fired for slapping a WWE Employee.

 

[Azane]

I doubt this is the real reason for it, suspend for a week for something like this? sure.

but 90 days? There's more to this story, like someone said, if he was influenced by drugs or alcohol, sure, but The way Titus has conducted himself outside of wrestling and such, I feel like he'd get a pass on something like this.

Me thinks it's just journalism looking into a story and finding a reason for it to work.


I don't doubt he's out for 90 days, just that this incident is the sole reason


Another big thing.... This wouldn't even be noticed or a big deal, nor would anyone have cared 2 minutes from when it happened, if Vince didn't suspend him for it...

 

[wewanttables]

Am I the only one that thought, that if the performer that did this had been white that he would not be getting suspended?

 

[wwe fan2009]

well even though it was off air but still on the network, you dont the boss unless its scripted to.

 

[Azane]

Am I the only one that thought, that if the performer that did this had been white that he would not be getting suspended?

Probably, trying to find a hate crime in everything isn't normal behavior.

 

[Dave]

This is so strange. I'm with everyone else really. Why did Titus do that? Why has he been suspended? It's a strange set of affairs that will probably never come to light. Truth be told, I don't think that Titus is anything special in the ring and they haven't really lost anything talent related. But, as was stated previously, he does seem to be heavily involved in community and social affairs. I don't see him serving the full suspension. But we will see.

 

[Jack-Hammer]

If his is legit, then it does seem pretty stupid on both counts. I mean...if Titus was genuinely just kidding around, and I should add that it's also reported that Vince's push of Titus was playful, then what's the harm? someone.

On the other hand, we've all heard reports over the years that Vince's temperament is pretty damned unstable, that his mood sometimes changes from good to bad at the drop of a hat and that the most innocent of things can set him off. For instance, it's said that Vince's biggest pet peeve is people sneezing, so the notion of him suspending Titus for something like this isn't entirely out of left field.

Again, if all this is true, then I think it's another strong example of how different things are in WWE. I've heard Steve Austin say several times in the past that some guys need to step up and speak out in order to convince the officials that they should get an opportunity; the problem is that it's a totally different ballgame now than it was 20 years ago. If someone speaks up, they run the risk of getting suspended, fired or having their career in WWE essentially buried. If Vince would legitimately suspend Titus for something like this, and I can't reiterate enough, if it's true that Titus was just being playful, then all this does is strike more fear in the hearts of the talents to speak up on things.

If all this turns out to be true, I don't think I could blame Titus if he came back from his suspension, waited until the opportunity came and then punch Vince right in the mouth as hard as he could and told him he definitely wasn't playin' around this time before walking off and telling him he quits. I know it'll never happen but, honestly, I couldn't blame the guy because this just seems beyond petty.

 

[BringThePain834]

Normally when they suspend people, it's for a Wellness violation, and I thought that this suspension is what this was. I didn't watch much of the Network thing besides KO wearing a New Day shirt and Jericho wearing a Social Outcasts shirt.

recently gotten a bit of a singles push.

Well there goes his push..

 

[L@RISANO]

Probly wont be this, but could this incident be a part of an angle to "push" Titus given the nature of the suspension? Surely there will be more interest in Titus going forward after this, ntm, the reason given for said suspension is really petty even for Vince McMahon.

Then again, this might have nothing to do with Titus at all, rather it is a way to build heat on Vince and the Authority going forward...


Conspiracy conspiracy...

 

[BaconBits]

You were also skeptical of the reports of CM Punk leaving the company, and reports of Del Rio getting fired for slapping a WWE Employee.

Dirt sheets have success rate of maybe 50%. I take all newz reports with a grain of salt. The whole wrestling business is based on deception, and you expect truth in reporting?

 

[Mustang Sally]

But, as was stated previously, he does seem to be heavily involved in community and social affairs. I don't see him serving the full suspension. But we will see.

Well, O'Neil has been been publicized as being heavily involved in community; who knows whether he really is? Hopefully, it's true, but it also could have been a way of making Titus seem unique within the company.

Similarly, we don't know the real story of what goes on inside. This suspension might have resulted from what we saw on that brief clip......or grabbing Vince's arm might have been the last straw in management's view of Titus.

If it's the former, maybe the suspension is lifted as soon as McMahon cools down.

 

[wwe fan2009]

yeah sometimes dirt sheets are wrong, but this is coming right from WWE isnt it?

 

[thebigbadfox]

Probly wont be this, but could this incident be a part of an angle to "push" Titus given the nature of the suspension? Surely there will be more interest in Titus going forward after this, ntm, the reason given for said suspension is really petty even for Vince McMahon.

Then again, this might have nothing to do with Titus at all, rather it is a way to build heat on Vince and the Authority going forward...


Conspiracy conspiracy...

This is what I originally thought.
Maybe they want someone new to be screwed by Vince and they are trying to set the stage for a new big fued.
I am not a Titus fan but they are lacking stars so with his charitable work maybe this is there way of taking him to net level.
It also was just reported it's been dropped to 60 days now.