Report: WWE Suspends Titus O’Neil After Incident With Vince McMahon Post-Raw

Former WWE Tag Team Champion Titus O’Neil has been suspended by World Wrestling Entertainment, according to PWInsider. O’Neil’s suspension is likely due to exhibiting unprofessional conduct towards WWE Chairman and CEO Vince McMahon.

Once this week’s edition of Monday Night Raw went off the air, the Daniel Bryan retirement celebration continued on the WWE Network. The entirety of WWE’s roster stood at the top of the ramp “YES!-ing” and applauding Bryan. Vince McMahon, Stephanie McMahon and Triple H joined the talent as well. After high-fiving a lot of the fans near the barricades, Bryan walked up the ramp to make his exit. Vince gave him a big hug and Bryan, alongside his wife Brie Bella, left the stage.

Right before this extended look at Bryan’s retirement celebration went off the WWE Network, you can see Vince McMahon making his exit to the backstage area first. This is when Titus O’Neil grabbed Vince in a playful physical manner. Vince didn’t like this as he shoved O’Neil away from him. That’s the last we saw on the WWE Network.

Upon arriving at Tuesday’s Smackdown taping, O’Neil was informed by the WWE that he had been suspended and to go home immediately. McMahon was supposedly very angry backstage that O’Neil grabbed him and this likely led to his suspension. The suspension could potentially last upwards of 90 days. If his suspension is in fact for 90 days, he will be missing WrestleMania 32 on April 3.

The WWE Network, WWE.com and WWE’s official YouTube page removed the exclusive video of Bryan’s farewell. WWE will likely repost this video with the incident between McMahon and O’Neil edited out.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nwosaEsaPEk

Mark’s reaction: I remember watching this “incident” go down live and I didn’t think much of it at the time. It happened very quickly and it looked like they were just joking around. Vince shoved off Titus but it looked like Titus was laughing and clapping when Vince pushed him away. The screen went to black so I didn’t get to see Vince’s face show any discomfort or anger. However, upon re-watching it before posting this, you can see Titus grab Vince’s arm and Vince shove off right away. I guess since everyone else was still smiling, it seemed like they were just messing around.

I’m thinking that Vince didn’t like it because he wanted the moment to have a more respectful tone. Maybe he didn’t want it to look like he has a good relationship with Titus in front of the other wrestlers; or maybe he wanted to set an example to the other wrestlers that he’s not somebody you can pal around with like one of your friends. Whatever the case may be, the one lesson to take away from this is: never put your hands on the boss!

What do you think? Was Vince justified in suspending Titus O’Neil? Are you bummed out that Titus may miss WrestleMania because of this? Keep the conversation going by leaving any of your thoughts in the comment section below.

Picture used above is courtesy of WWE.com.