WWE Star Reportedly Suspended

[Reflection]

Even if it has been reduced to 60 days, he will miss Wrestlemania 32 anyway since it is on April 3rd. I am very happy that the punishment has been reduced, and firing him would have been too harsh. Sucks for Titus that he will miss the Wrestlemania payday, if there is anything like that for lower card performers, but he will live to fight another day. I'm also glad that he didn't take Batista's insensible suggestion.

 

[Jack-Hammer]

While I do think it was ridiculous for him to be suspended, I think it's equally ridiculous that some fans are making accusations that the suspension was racially motivated. While Vince's temperament is unstable, the notion that he's racist has been disproven time and time again; the accusation is yet another example of the rampant bullshit that's such a huge part of the foundation of social media as too many people just spout of garbage simply for the sake of trying to start something so someone will pay attention to them. It pisses me off when I hear about accusations like this being tossed around so casually when there are too many genuine examples of it actually taking place elsewhere in the world; plus, and while this might not exactly be PC to some, every single time an African American gets into some sort of trouble whenever a white man is involved doesn't automatically mean there's some sort of racial bias going on.

 

[wwe fan2009]

hey what he did was unprofessional, and other wrestlers have been acting the same way, so an example was set. do your job, act professional and you will be fine. Remember you are working for Vince so do what he says. hes the boss, just like any other job, you act unprofessional to the boss you get in trouble. Also I hope wwe doesnt cave in to the fans who are complaining and supprtong someone who acted unprofessional.

 

[enviousdominous]

It's bad when a punk and a spaz get together.

Both men are wrong in this case.

Titus is wrong because he apparently thought that he could pal around with Vince and force him to give a playful chest bump, in this case being a punk. If Vince brushes by him, he'll just snatch him up and chest bump him because "fun and games".

Vince is wrong because he apparently thought that -- beyond being rudely made to chest bump Titus -- the occurrence sent a message to the locker room that literally anybody can snatch Vince and fling him around just for the giggles. Vince being the spaz in this case, became terrified that he'd eventually be forced to play spider pig. To send a message to people who are not Titus, he suspended Titus.

I'm sure that Vince could have nipped this one in the bud by reaming Titus out backstage and letting that be that, I don't think a suspension was necessary to facilitate an unspoken "DON'T TOUCH ME!" rule backstage.

 

[THTRobtaylor]

This reminds me of the story in Bret's book, where the guys were all shredded and coked up in Flair's room and Hercules "bodyslammed" Vince on the bed too hard when they were all messing about. Bret describes Vince got up, suddenly very sober and left and Herc was gone very soon afterwards.

Perhaps Vince has some personal space issues, or even anxieties around being touched unexpectedly. He wouldn't be the only person in the world... hell we had a case thrown out of court by a jury this week in the UK where some famous movie star wench got a guy charged with sexual assault cos he brushed past her at a tube station, with one hand on his bag and another holding a newspaper... he got acquitted in 90 minutes, but it still got that far cos of WHO (conveniently protected anonymity) made the accusation.

You can rib Vince, but you can't do it on camera or in a physical way (he didn't mind the pigs in his office etc... ) I guess.

 

[nwocongo]

Maybe he was caught in the moment of DB's passing and wanted to share that emotion with Vince or maybe he was just being silly or maybe he is pissed to have dropped a match earlier to Adam Rose. Any way you look at it, Titus kind of went in to business for himself and a punishment seems reasonable. Two or three months seems extreme and I'm guessing a guy further up the card would be handled differently but still a punishment is not totally out of line.

I was just getting ready to mention something about losing to Adam Rose, not saying there's anything there, just found it weird that while it seemed like he was getting a little singles push he was pinned by Adam Rose of all people.

On a very unlikely and far fetched prediction, what if Titus comes back with a Nation of Domination kind of gimmick with disgruntled black wrestlers who have been buried and put through silly gimmicks, maybe R Truth and Darren Young or an NXT talent as a foil to New Day. Now I know that is is more or less impossible to pull off with the PG rating and today's overly PC climate, just a thought that crossed my mind after being shocked that Titus after seeing the suspension headline and being surprised he dropped a match to a social outcast.

 

[Navi]

In typical WWE fashion they have taken a night that should have been dedicated to Daniel Bryan and turned it into a fiasco. This whatever happened between Vince and Titus should have been handled much differently, and behind closed doors. You don't have a 39 year old man show up for work only to be told he's being sent home, like a bad boy. It's like being expelled from friggin high school.

Titus shouldn't have done what he did, but the punishment should fit the crime, and even 60 days is ridiculous. Give the guy a week or two off, let him think about not doing it again, and let him come back to work.

 

[stingray11214]

In typical WWE fashion they have taken a night that should have been dedicated to Daniel Bryan and turned it into a fiasco. This whatever happened between Vince and Titus should have been handled much differently, and behind closed doors. You don't have a 39 year old man show up for work only to be told he's being sent home, like a bad boy. It's like being expelled from friggin high school.

Titus shouldn't have done what he did, but the punishment should fit the crime, and even 60 days is ridiculous. Give the guy a week or two off, let him think about not doing it again, and let him come back to work.

How is Titus O'Neil's stupidity WWE's fault? WWE did NOT break script. WWE did not try to screw around during DBry's moment. WWE did not do something dumb with the cameras rolling. Titus did. Titus O'Neil, in abject stupidity, tried to joke around ON THE AIR during what was a very somber moment for the WWE. To put it in another way, Dave Finlay got fired for less. His was completely accidental in the Miz segment that insulted the National Guard in attendance.

Sorry to burst everyone's bubble. I am NOT one of VKM's biggest defenders. However, in this case, Vince is 110% right in the issuance of said punishment. If Titus takes it like a man, he will have his push renewed.

 

[Navi]

How is Titus O'Neil's stupidity WWE's fault? WWE did NOT break script. WWE did not try to screw around during DBry's moment. WWE did not do something dumb with the cameras rolling. Titus did. Titus O'Neil, in abject stupidity, tried to joke around ON THE AIR during what was a very somber moment for the WWE. To put it in another way, Dave Finlay got fired for less. His was completely accidental in the Miz segment that insulted the National Guard in attendance.

Sorry to burst everyone's bubble. I am NOT one of VKM's biggest defenders. However, in this case, Vince is 110% right in the issuance of said punishment. If Titus takes it like a man, he will have his push renewed.

No one said it was the WWE's fault what Titus did, where did I say that? What I said was it could have been handled better, you know like grown ups. Not getting pissed off and telling the guy "Well you're not coming to my party now." I mean shit the guy showed up for work the next day and was sent home. Why wasn't he spoken too that night backstage and told to take some time off.

Besides I watched what happened and I didn't put much stock in it, you can barely see Titus in the clip, just at the end. The WWE over-reacted by issuing such a lengthy suspension, and making a mountain out of a molehill.

Listen I didn't say Titus was right in what he did, but holy crap he didn't haul off and belt the guy or anything. Now we know Vince doesn't like to be touched, okay we get it. In an industry, scripted or not, where the bosses and them employees routinely engage in fisticuffs, this didn't seem like that much of a big deal.

 

[THTRobtaylor]

Here's the thing you see, it all comes back to that "independent contractor" tag that they saddle the talents with, in my opinion a bogus one... they are employees.

This means they can decline your services whenever they want, why ever they want. In my first ever job, I saw a colleauge a similar age to me fired on the spot for responing, "thanks mate" (as in friend) to an area manager's advice... being told, "I'm not your mate...and you don't work here anymore.." Sometimes bosses are just dicks.

Over the year there have been some doozy firings, but they are normally short-term and "without prejudice", Goldust got canned from being an agent cos of a spot that looked bad on TV he booked, but a few months later was back onscreen. Finlay was canned to appease the Marines and quietly re-hired once the heat had died down. Even Marty Jannetty was rehired multiple times.

But none of them actually DID anything involving or TO Vince... and that's where it's uncharted territory. La Bar is pontificating they just made themselves a new black babyface star and perhaps in a twisted way they have... but it's equally likely that this is another Koko scenario, where he is released (Koko was fired cos Vince's right hand racially abused him and Koko "put him straight", his HOF nod is an apology for that, nothing more) in a few months cos Vince rarely forgets.

Like I said earlier, it seems that Vince is paranoid about something, either his health or that people would think he was mocking Bryan (with the lawsuit with Punk, I guess that does carry a bit more weight) but hearing he was fined on top... if he was an employee he could appeal, go to his union and it'd be overturned. Wrestlers can't in the WWE.

The good news is the mainstream coverage it's starting to gain... Vince will have to make nice with him and let him back on TV or it will become a bigger story, Titus WILL go to the ball at Mania cos if he doesn't, it will seem vindictive... now he'll probably be the first eliminated in the pre-show battle royale, but hey, he'll be on the show right?

The guy who runs the company now, who carries the title for the 14th time also fucked up once, breaking character and going into business for himself. He didn't have half the PR value of Titus at the time... another guy got barred from a locker room for 6 months arbitrarily for eating a piece of chicken... with Titus being probably the "second hardest working man" in terms of PR ops for the company, I've a feeling after a period he'll not only be fine... but this could make him cos now he has a reason to be or not be pushed onscreen.