Titus O'Neil's Suspension Meant To Send A Message To WWE Talent

In some odd news coming out of Monday night’s episode of RAW, pillar of all communities and all-around good guy Titus O’Neil was suspended for inappropriate conduct. He was originally set for 90 days but it was quickly shortened to 60. Reportedly the suspension was handed down because O’Neil grabbed Vince McMahon by the arm as the WWE Network portion of the Daniel Bryan celebration was going off the air. It can no longer be seen on the on-demand version of the post-RAW festivities and the entire situation has been quite bewildering.

The alleged reason that the former Prime Time Player was suspended is being reported as “to send a message” to other wrestlers on the roster. Apparently there have been incidents with some others recently in which they have allegedly come close to “crossing the line” (whatever that means) and McMahon doesn’t want that to continue.

It’s hard to believe that the man who has been described as a guy who gives more respect to men who challenge him is now going soft on his macho personality. Kofi Kingston once talked about how a physical confrontation (in good fun, of course) actually endeared him to the Chairman of the Board.

O’Neil apparently tried to explain himself, saying that he grabbed the boss by the arm in order to allow his daughter to leave the stage first, essentially intending to be a gentleman. That sounds somewhat silly, but between that and a playful gesture that one would expect the two men probably share regularly, the story seems to hold some water.

With how much good publicity the man has brought to the company over the last couple of years, you’d think O’Neil would be exempt from something like this and would only be taken to task for a great infraction. That would usually make sense, but if they are trying to avoid a perceived problem with inappropriate behavior (that seems pretty hard to believe) then the perfect way to send a message would in fact be to suspend the model employee. That could help get people in line pretty quickly one would imagine.