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Recently, comic book nerds rejoiced when the news that James Gunn had been reinstated as the director of the Guardians of the Galaxy franchise. It seems that James Gunn had made some controversial tweets some ten years ago, and Disney saw fit to fire him from his directing job.
That is how powerful the court of public opinion truly is. In the pre internet days, entertainers could get away with saying and doing a lot more, such as John Wayne, who made some pretty unsavory comments about African Americans during a Playboy interview. The Duke got away with it, and kept his Oscar to boot.
But times have changed. These days, every entertainer must be extra cautious about what they say and do, because the world is watching. Forget about Big Brother: the real concern now is Little Sister, who will tattle on you to the world wide web if you don't watch your step.
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Pro wrestling has not been safe from this recent accountability--not even close. Here are ten pro wrestlers who have been in hot water with the court of public opinion because of things said, written, or done.
#1 John "Bradshaw" Layfield
At six and a half feet tall and pushing three hundred pounds, John Bradshaw Layfield seemed destined for wrestling stardom. However, the journey was not an easy one.
Initially he was pushed as Justin "Hawk" Bradshaw, a generic cowboy gimmick that didn't go over well during WWE's Attitude Era. Then he was packaged as one of Undertaker's minions in the Ministry of Darkness, one half of the Acolytes which also included Farooq (Ron Simmons.)
Then WWE finally struck gold by rebranding the Acolytes as the APA, a pair of beer swigging mercenaries who would beat up anyone for the right price. When the tag team finally came to an end, he was again re packaged as JBL, a wall street tycoon.
However, it's not JBL's wrestling career that makes him controversial, rather it's the way he conducted himself backstage. JBL has been widely acknowledged as being something of a bully.
His antics went on for years, until he pushed NXT announcer Mauro Ranallo to quit. Ranallo was, and is, a very popular announcer, possibly the most popular in all of wrestling, and fans didn't take kindly to JBL tormenting him. JBL soon found himself without a job, and Ranallo was re-hired, proof that controversy will catch up to you eventually.
#2 The Ultimate Warrior
The Ultimate Warrior got his start in the pro wrestling business after being scouted at a bodybuilding competition. He would join Powerteam USA along with Steve "Sting" Borden, and they would continue to team together after Powerteam USA disbanded.
As the Blade Runners, the duo were meant to be evocative of the Road Warriors gimmick. Eventually the two went their separate ways, with Sting joining the NWA--and eventually WCW--while the Warrior would sign with WWE.
Warrior was insanely popular during his initial WWE run, squashing Honky Tonk Man at the first SummerSlam to capture the IC title and then also winning the WWE championship at Wrestlemania VI.
But when Warrior's in-ring career came to an end, he began to say some things that were unheroic. He seemed angry that Martin Luther King had a holiday named after him, mocked Hurricane Katrina victims, and said to a group of Republicans at U Conn "Queering don't make the world work."
Warrior seems to have mellowed out before his death, but he was mired in controversy for much of his post-wrestling life.
#3 Zahra Schreiber
Zahra Schreiber was once a Tough Enough contestant and was under contract with the WWE on their NXT brand. Though she didn't wrestle on television, she spent time as one of Adam Rose's 'Rosebuds' and did act as a manager for Sammi Zayn.
She was also Seth Rollins's girlfriend at one point, and that's where her controversy starts, but sadly, does not end. The whole affair led to some rather candid shots of the Architect being posted on the internet for the whole world to see.
That might have been the end of it, but then Zahra said some things that could be interpreted as racist, and was seen hawking her Nazi memorabilia from her home.
Though her WWE career is over, she can sometimes still be heard from kicking around the internet in search of further fame, which seems to be eluding her due to her controversial past.
#4 Naomi
Unlike some of the others on this list, Naomi hasn't done anything unsavory or even immoral. Her main fault seems to have been a moment of poor judgement.
Comedian Kevin Hart was backstage at Raw one evening, and many of the WWE superstars were of course eager to meet and greet this august personage. Many of the talents posed for pictures with the comedian, and many also posted those same pictures to the internet. Naomi did so as well, which in and of itself was not a big deal.
However, in the background of her initial post, Kane and John Cena can clearly be seen having a discussion in the background. This broke kayfabe, since Cena and Kane were feuding at the time. The WWE was somewhat miffed about the kayfabe breaking photo, and forced Naomi to take it down and repost it with Kane and Cena edited out.
It just goes to show that even the nicest, most well intentioned celebrities can run afoul of controversy.
#5 Glen Gilberti (Disco Inferno)
Glen Gilberti was once a mainstay on the WCW Nitro programs, and was actually a pretty solid mid card performer.
He had a reign as World Television Champion, and also teamed with Alex Wright in the criminally underrated Boogie Knights tag team. His Chartbuster stunner was actually superior to Stone Cold Steve Austin's Stone Cold Stunner--sorry but it's true--and he was definitely an entertaining fellow in his hey day.
But it's not his WCW career that has made him court controversy. Rather, it's his somewhat outdated thinking on the subject of women's wrestling. With the Women's Evolution in full swing, and Becky Lynch arguably the biggest star in WWE at the moment, you'd think he would know better than to open his mouth, but alas, he did not.
"I am not a fan of women's wrestling" is perhaps not the best thing to say in this day and age. However, Glen Gilberti seems to have landed on his feet after the controversial statements, as he is booked into a program on Impact wrestling with Scarlett Bordeaux.
#6 Lio Rush
Lio Rush cut his teeth in the CZW promotion, where his insane aerial manoeuvres and speed captured him the CZW championship.
He was also signed with Ring of Honor for two years, though he failed to win any titles in that promotion. Allegedly, many of the other talent in ROH didn't much care for Lio Rush because of a perceived arrogant attitude.
Nonetheless, he is a talented performer, and the proof of that came when he was signed to the WWE under a developmental contract. However, Lio had barely been with the company for a hiccup when a social media post got him in hot water.
Tenille Dashwood, who had portrayed the Emma character in WWE, had asked for her release from the company due to frustrations with her career being stagnant. Her release came after a loss to Asuka, so Lio Rush made the unfortunate decision to post "I guess these are the things that happen when you're not TRULY ready for Asuka."
Besides somewhat breaking kayfabe, WWE considered the tweet to be disrespectful. Rush was removed from NXT events and has only recently come back into the fold.
#7 Santino Marella
Santino Marella had perhaps the absolute best WWE debut OF ALL TIME. During a Monday Night Raw which happened to be taking place in Italy, the Italian-American was a 'plant' in the crowd, and was picked to take on Umaga for the Intercontinental championship.
Marella was allowed to cleanly defeat Umaga, who had been on a tear as a monster heel. However, any momentum Marella enjoyed was quickly doused as he evolved into a comedy character.
Marella would eventually be released from WWE, but that's not the controversial part. That actually came about recently, when Marella made some backward thinking comments about intergender wrestling.
Santino seems worried that women are going to get into fights with men in real life because they see women wrestling men on television. Needless to say the comments have landed him in hot water in the court of public opinion, and it remains to be seen if he can weather this controversy.
#8 Randy Orton
Randy Orton has been a fixture in the WWE for almost twenty years. His membership in the Evolution stable led to him being crowned the youngest WWE world champion in history.
In addition, he is a grand slam champion, having held every title the company has to offer, and has managed to remain relevant and fresh with minor tweaks to his character and ring style over the years. Orton is one of the most consistent performers in the WWE and rarely, if ever, has what could be called a bad match.
However, he courted controversy when he decided to post a photo of himself and a fan outside of a gym, with an insensitive and fat shaming caption. Fans are the lifeblood of the wrestling business, and wrestlers disrespect them at their peril.
It just goes to show that even long tenured former world champions are not immune to controversy.
#9 Jay Briscoe
Jay and brother Mark Briscoe are Ring of Honor mainstays, having been with the company almost since its inception.
With nine tag team title reigns to their credit, they are already legendary, but Jay Briscoe also has several ROH World title reigns under his belt. He also spent nearly two years without being pinned or forced to submit, his sole loss coming in the form of a ladder match (which Adam Cole won.)
While fans love Dem Boys, there have been some times when Jay Briscoe's mouth got the better of him. He once posted a tweet that was very insensitive, and nearly lost his job with ROH as a result.
Jay Briscoe seems to have mellowed out in recent years, but every time it looks like the Briscoes might sign with a bigger company the tweet comes back to haunt him, proof that controversy just doesn't go away.
#10 Hulk Hogan
Hulk Hogan is without a shadow of a doubt the biggest star in pro wrestling history. The Rock's movies make more money, Ric Flair has won more championships, and John Cena is a household name, but Hogan is the star who truly helped elevate the sport from small arenas into huge mega events like Wrestlemania.
That being said, he has been in several controversial situations over the years. His most recent foray into tabloid stardom had to do with a leaked tape of himself having an amorous adventure with a friend's wife, which wound up all over the internet.
While the Hulkster seemed to come out on top, winning a billion dollar settlement against website Gawker, it was some of the things he said on the tape that landed him in hot water with the court of public opinion, and his fellow wrestlers. Hogan uttered the dreaded 'N word', and got on the bad side of the New Day in the process.
Hogan had been suspended from the WWE Hall of Fame due to the comments, though he has been recently reinstated. It just goes to show that not even the biggest wrestling star of all time can escape controversy.
There you have it; Ten of the most controversial wrestlers of all time. Questions or comments? Please leave them after the article, and as always thanks for reading!
