4 times Vince McMahon punished WWE Superstars for weird reasons
As the longstanding chairman of World Wrestling Entertainment, Vince McMahon has been known to dish out some rather unjust punishments to his employees over the years.
Despite the fact many of these rulings may seem odd in the eyes of the fans and many of the performers, the 77-year-old never held back in how he treated some of the stars on the rosters.
Having been in charge of the company for over 40 years, many performers have felt his wrath, join us as we look at 4 WWE Superstars who were punished by Vince McMahon for weird reasons.
#4 - Vince McMahon books Dean Ambrose into a corner
In early 2019, it was seemingly common knowledge that the former WWE Champion Dean Ambrose (a.k.a Jon Moxley) would be leaving the company and letting his contract run out.
Whilst he had been a faithful servant to the company for almost a decade, Vince McMahon was ready to book him extremely poorly before he inevitably would sign for All Elite Wrestling. A noteworthy part of his poor booking came when the former RAW Women's Champion Nia Jax physically assaulted him on RAW.
Speaking on the Talk Is Jericho podcast after leaving WWE, Ambrose said that Vince and company higher-ups purposefully buried him before he left.
"I was hoping that he would write me off TV that night, but he was like, ‘We’ll just finish you up at ‘Mania.' He was like, ‘We’re not gonna bury you on the way out or anything’ and I went, ‘Well, actually, it’s funny you mention that because that’s the reason I stormed in here, because it looks to me that that’s exactly what you’re doing." (H/T 411Mania)
#3 - Don't touch the boss
On February 8th, 2016, Daniel Bryan announced on RAW that he would have to retire from professional wrestling, after sustaining multiple neck injuries. His speech was an emotional moment for all involved, ending with Vince McMahon and the entire roster applauding him on the stage to close the show.
As RAW was about to go off the air, the former Tag Team Champion Titus O Neil could be seen seemingly grabbing and almost pushing McMahon. This inadvertent interaction caused Titus to be suspended from WWE for 90 days, his suspension would later end after just 60 days.
Someone who was close to the incident at the time was the Hall of Famer Arn Anderson who recapped Vince McMahon's and Titus' interaction on his podcast, ARN.
"I think that embarrassed him, probably it embarrassed him more than anyone else looked at it as, you know, it being a comedic moment or something but you just don’t. I think in Vince’s mind it made him look bad, ’cause he almost fell. It p***ed him off right away. I think, in his mind, that was a big moment in one of the talent’s careers, y’know, because Daniel was retiring. He probably thought to himself this was just not a time to be goofing and it got outta control like really quick and flamed up really quick." (H/T Inside The Ropes)
#2 - The Curtain Call
In the late 90s, WCW emerged as a legitimate threat to WWE, with both shows competing head-to-head on Monday Nights for ratings. In 1996 the balance seemed to shift to WCW when they signed Scott Hall (a.k.a Razor Ramon) and Kevin Nash (a.k.a Diesel).
Their last match in WWE came in May 1996 at a house show in Madison Square Garden, in the main event Nash faced off against Shawn Michaels. However, after the match, HBK, Hall, Nash, and Triple H who were great friends broke character in front of the fans as they hugged each other goodbye. Given that the business was shrouded in secrecy at the time, this was seen as a sacrilegious act by Vince McMahon.
Now known as the 'curtain call', this moment would derail Triple H's rise to the top as he later would lose the 1996 King Of The Ring tournament to Stone Cold Steve Austin, a tournament he was originally meant to win.
#1 - Sami Zayn is stripped of his title
At the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, WWE had to begin putting on shows in the performance center in front of nobody. With the virus rampant, many stars chose to stay at home in order to stay healthy.
One performer whose staying at home cost him his spot on the card was Sami Zayn, who in choosing not to wrestle in the performance center, cost him the Intercontinental title as Vince McMahon stripped him of the iconic belt.
Zayn would however return in August 2020, where he would recapture the championship he never lost.