Too much fun going on in the WWE, apparently! News broke today that after grabbing Vince McMahon’s arm after Daniel Bryan’s retirement speech on Raw, Titus O’Neil is suspended for a whopping 90 days.
What’s more, it’s been reported that the suspension was meant to “send a message” about professionalism in the locker room. The WWE is indeed a business, and I guess there’s no room for genuine roughhousing on camera, especially with the billionaire owner of the business, and especially when the best wrestler of the last few years has just given a heartfelt retirement speech.
You can throw car doors into the crowd and make light of drug overdoses, but damn it – if you try this shit, you’re suspended. And you know what – you’re going to be punished as if you failed three wellness tests!
I’m trying to sympathize with O’Neil right now, but I’m having a hard time. How did this even cross his mind? Why did it seem like a good idea? Did he have to tell him something incredibly urgent? Did he think he was someone else?
Notice everyone else around them looking at O’Neil like “dude, WTF are you doing?” It was such a weird moment that it was hard to watch. No clue what was pumping through O’Neil’s head right there, but it was odd, and made more odd by Vince’s “playful” push back.
Thing is – I don’t think it was very playful. Vince does not like sneezing because it is something he doesn’t have control over. You think having a low mid-carder grab you by the arm and spin you around against your will sat well with him? No.
He was showing some serious restraint there – no doubt he went from 0 to 100 with the snap of a synapse. I’m surprised he didn’t haul off and deck him right in the face. Remember – this man was a former WWF & ECW Champion!
(Doo-Rag Vince is one of the best Vinces)
Thankfully for O’Neil, it’s Black History Month, and there’s NO CHANCE IN HELL (see what I did there?) that Vince is going to risk that PR backlash. Plus, it’s been 11 years since he tore both quads at the same time trying to get into the ring. Maybe he Cam Newton-ed it, and thought, “if I fight my employee on stage, there’s a good chance I’m getting hurt.”
Vince obviously brushed up on his “bud 2 boss” coursework, but it’s always awkward to see a subordinate who thinks the boss is his bro fall flat on his face in a situation like this.
O’Neil is taking it like a champ, though, and the machine got behind him after he won that Celebrity Megaman Father of the Decade award or whatever. He’ll be fine.
For the record, Vince is a certifiable maniac – he’s one of the last people on the planet I’d want to have angry at me or have such an embarrassing moment with. In honor of that insanity and sheer terror, let me present to you some of his finest moments:
Just flexin’ it up in between being on the cover of Muscle & Fitness and booking him & Shane vs. Shawn Michaels & God.
I can’t tell if this is Trish Stratus or Torrie Wilson, but the fact that he’s had such “angles” with a number of Divas is pretty amazing/disgusting. I mean, he basically paid women to make out with him on television. What does that make him?
The glory days – back when the original establishment Vince character was born. Around the time he uttered “I’ve got balls the size of grapefruits.”
The Vince McMahon Kiss My Ass Club – an age old tradition.
So, yeah, Vince has paid people to throw 80 year old women through tables, chop off a dude’s dick, set an announcer on fire, strap a car battery to a man’s testicles, engage in beer drinking competitions, make out with him, and literally kiss his ass.
But, the moment someone tries to act all buddy-buddy with him…well, that’s the final straw. That’s when you have to make an example and show the locker room that you cannot be touched and you CAN control your sneezes.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iqsp6OJYx08
Stoney Keeley is the editor of the SoBros Network, Tennessee Titans Featured Analyst for Pro Football Spot, and covers the WWE for WrestlingNews.co. Follow on Twitter @StoneyKeeley, @PFSpot, @WrestlingNewsCo
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