Vince McMahon Fired WWE Star On The Spot For Using “Classless” Word
The use of a single word led to a WWE superstar being fired on the spot by Vince McMahon.
Brad Maddox won’t be remembered as a legendary figure in WWE history, but there was a time in the early 2010s when he was a regular on television.
Even though Maddox was a trained wrestler who came through WWE’s system, he was used as a General Manager and authority figure on Monday Night Raw.
During a WWE television taping in November 2015, Maddox used the term “cocky pr**ks” toward the fans in a segment that didn’t air on television. The former WWE Chairman & CEO, Vince McMahon, was so angry about Maddox using that derogatory term that he fired Maddox when he came backstage.
On a recent episode of the Something To Wrestle With podcast, WWE Hall of Famer John Bradshaw Layfield revealed that Vince McMahon really liked Brad Maddox, but he didn’t tolerate the use of the bad word that Maddox used.
“That guy disappeared — we found an APB on freaking Brad Maddox. That guy has disappeared from the face of the earth. Yes, I think it was. [Fired for using the word pr**k] Yeah. Vince — I talked to Vince a lot. I flew with Vince a lot. Vince told me one day, he goes, ‘That kid’s special.’ That’s the only time I ever heard him say that. Vince really liked Maddox.
And then when he went out there — it was like a pre-show — and that’s when Maddox called the fans a bunch of pr**ks or something. He comes back and Vince fired him. Vince hated that word. He thought that was a classless word.”
What JBL stated is definitely true because Brad Maddox confirmed it in an interview shortly after he was fired.
Vince McMahon Also Warned JBL About Using Specific Words
As he continued, JBL also admitted that Vince McMahon had given him a warning about using the word that Maddox had used in his promo.
“I’ve told you before it’s one of the few times I ever got in trouble. All the stuff I’ve said on commentary… one of the few times I ever got in trouble was when I called someone a selfish pr**k. Vince pulled me aside and said, ‘We have sponsors here, we have all these people here — you can’t use language like that.’” (H/T Ringsidenews)
In a past recollection of the same story, JBL revealed that Vince McMahon reprimanded him for saying “pr**ks” during a JBL promo against WWE Hall of Famer, Shawn Michaels.
“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 part of WWE after a former employee, 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 repeatedly denied the claims while Grant’s legal team continues to fight for their client.
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