WWE star Titus O'Neil was sent home from last night's Smackdown taping in Portland, Oregon shortly after he arrived. The word we are getting is that O'Neil has been suspended for unprofessional conduct.
During the ending of Monday's Raw taping in Seattle, Washington, a number of WWE personalities and staff were assembled on the stage in honor of the retiring Bryan Danielson.
At the end of that segment, which aired on Raw before going live on the WWE Network, Danielson returned to the locker room after passing through the center of the assembled WWE personnel.
As WWE talents returned to the back, O'Neill grabbed WWE owner Vince McMahon by the arm in what was described to us as in a "playful, physical way." McMahon responded by shoving O'Neil away. McMahon's shove of O'Neill actually made it onto the final seconds of the broadcast.
We are told that McMahon was angry at being grabbed and that led to the suspension. There was also a feeling that O'Neil probably picked the wrong time to act in such a manner, given that it was a farewell for Bryan.
When O'Neil arrived at Smackdown last night, he was informed he was going sent home. The word making the rounds is that the suspension could be for upwards of 90 days. That would put O'Neil out of action through May, which means he would be missing Wrestlemania 32.
O'Neil, 39, signed with WWE in 2009 and is best known as one half of the Prime Time Players, although he's been used most recently in a singles role. He's been very active in local community outreach where he lives in Tampa. O'Neil had lost to Adam Rose earlier during the Raw broadcast.
Last night, the WWE Network exclusive video of Bryan Danielson's farewell was removed from Youtube and WWE.com as well as the WWE Network. It is likely that WWE is going to edit the snippet at the end out before restoring the videos.
11:20 AM Update: The Bryan farewell video was restored to WWE's different platforms, now edited to fade to black as Danielson returned to the backstage area after passing the WWE roster.
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