Vince McMahon Fired Ex-WWE Star For Saying Specific Word
When Vince McMahon heard an insulting word on WWE TV, he decided to fire the superstar who said it.
Over the 40 years when he ran WWE as the Chairman of the company, there are many stories about words that Vince McMahon didn’t use on television. For example, he didn’t like it when a wrestler said “belt” because that was something that used to hold pants up, so he preferred “title” or “championship.”
Another Vince McMahon-ism was how announcers would say that a wrestler was sent to a “local medical facility” instead of simply saying “hospital” to be checked out.
Vince McMahon also didn’t like the insulting term “pr**k” as well. Former WWE superstar Brad Maddox, who worked for WWE from 2008 to 2015, had a stint as Raw’s General Manager from 2013 until he was fired on November 25th.
At a WWE television taping in November 2015, Maddox used the term “cocky pr**ks” toward the fans, which led to McMahon firing him that day. Maddox confirmed it in an interview shortly after he was fired.
“It was because of that. That particular night was a bad decision on my behalf. I didn’t think anything of it, but Vince wasn’t happy about that.
I don’t know if it’s a generational word that maybe used to be worse than it is now. I didn’t really think it through, but I should have been more careful in that moment because I knew Vince was watching. I tend to take chances at stupid times.”
Vince McMahon Thinks “Pr**k” Is A Classless Word
John Bradshaw Layfield is a WWE Hall of Famer who appeared on the Something to Wrestle podcast to confirm Maddox’s story about getting fired for using that “pr**k” word that Vince McMahon doesn’t like.
“That’s what Brad Maddox got fired for. Remember Brad Maddox? He was talented as he could be.
I remember Vince seeing him backstage one time, and I’m sitting by Vince and he was doing a promo, and he [Vince McMahon] goes, ‘Man, that kid is special.’ Vince really liked him.
And I don’t know exactly what he got fired for, but he said pr**k in the promo. Vince thought that was the most classless word ever.”
JBL went on to recall Vince getting upset when Layfield used “pr**k” in a promo.
“I once called Shawn Michaels that in a promo. I said, ‘You’re a selfish pr**k,’ or something. I didn’t realize how bad Vince hated it. I came back and he’s like, ‘We got sponsors here.’
The first time he ever ripped me on language, and I didn’t realize that that was the word he hated so bad until the Brad Maddox thing happened.”
Vince McMahon is no longer a part of WWE after a former employee named Janel Grant filed a lawsuit against Vince, WWE, and John Laurinaitis in January 2024.
Grant alleged sex trafficking and sexual harassment against the former WWE boss. McMahon and his lawyers have denied the claims repeatedly while Grant’s legal team continues to fight for their client.