5 WWE Superstars who felt the wrath of Vince McMahon

In WWE, every superstar has to go through Vince McMahon at some point or the other. We've seen several clips before of superstars receiving hugs after great matches, and even moments where he has shown his disapproval (for example, Kevin Owens after his match at WrestleMania 37).

However, it's rare to see instances where he is irate and shouting at other people. He is reportedly known for being loud and vocal backstage, and here are five superstars who truly felt the WWE Chairman Vince McMahon's wrath:

#5. Batista - Vince McMahon's wrath ended his WWE career in 2010

Fans drowned out a popular wrestler with 'She's a racist' chants recently

Batista was arguably WWE's second most important superstar between 2005 and 2010. While John Cena became the face of WWE in 2005, Batista's rise was parallel.

He won numerous World Championships in that period, but in 2010, his WWE run ended after his feud against Cena. He legitimately quit, and as Batista has recalled previously, his experience exiting the company wasn't graceful.

But what caused the exit? It was when he felt the wrath of Vince McMahon in 2008 after a match against Chris Jericho. Batista bladed during the match, and as it was banned quite a few years before, The Animal was slapped with a heavy fine.

He revealed in an interview with Chris Jericho that the moment he felt Vince McMahon's wrath, he knew things would never be the same:

"I knew we weren't supposed to do it…I knew I would get consequences but I thought I would get the consequences and I didn't think they'd be as harsh as they were. Then he starts passing out fines. So my fine was $100,000…My heart dropped. I thought it would be like $25,000…When he said $100,000, I was just heartbroken. I literally think that he sucked the life out of me that day. I think that's the day that I knew things were never going to be the same," said Batista.

Batista saw out the rest of his WWE contract and left the company before returning to headline WrestleMania in 2014. Following that, he reached his highest level of success in Hollywood and returned in 2019 to close the chapter on his wrestling career.

Following an underrated bout against Triple H, The Animal felt that his wrestling career was complete and closed the chapter on WWE.

#4. Titus O' Neil - Vince McMahon handed out a controversial suspension

Titus O'Neil and Vince McMahon recreating their controversial moment from 2016

It feels like the Vince McMahon-Titus O'Neil incident was a long time ago, and it certainly is at this point. In February of 2016, Daniel Bryan had to end his wrestling career following various concussion and neck-related issues.

With WWE simply not clearing him, it was evident that his wrestling career was done. Even then, his contract was only going to expire in 2018, and WWE would utilize him until then.

On the night of Bryan's retirement, Titus O'Neil grabbed Vince McMahon's arm towards him in jest, but the WWE Chairman didn't take it well. O' Neil immediately felt the wrath of McMahon, getting slapped with a 90-day suspension.

It was reduced to 60 days after a big reaction, but everybody was unhappy, and Vince McMahon's punishment was viewed as unfair. Even former World Champion Batista spoke out against WWE, publicly revealing that he told his friend Titus O'Neil to ask for his release.

While he didn't get released, he missed out on WrestleMania 32.

#3. Jack Swagger - Called an "idiot" by Vince McMahon

Zeb Colter recounted an incident between Jack Swagger and Vince McMahon back in 2013. Swagger, now known as Jake Hager, was already a former WWE World Champion by then.

However, he got arrested for a DUI incident, and his manager at the time Zeb Colter felt like his client's career in WWE would be finished. Luckily, that wasn't the case.

However, he still had to face the wrath of Vince McMahon. Zeb Colter revealed that when Jake Hager/Jack Swagger asked McMahon a question about his position in WWE, the Chairman replied by telling him "you're an idiot":

"I was walking in with him [Swagger] and Vince [McMahon] come right in as we walked down the hallway, Jack saying ‘hey are we being paid man?’ to me. He’s trying to figure out his position, what he’s doing, and I don’t blame him. He [Swagger] said ‘I need to talk to you’ and all Vince said... you know what he said to him? He said, ‘Jack, You’re an idiot,'" said Zeb Colter.

Colter said that Hager replied saying "I know I'm an idiot, but can I talk to you?" Vince McMahon simply responded by saying "you're an idiot" again and walked away. Colter speculated that Hager never got the meeting he wanted with the WWE Chairman.

#2. Shinsuke Nakamura - Had to get an earful from Vince McMahon after a botch involving John Cena

Shinsuke Nakamura was one of the most pushed superstars in WWE in 2017, but he couldn't escape the wrath of Vince McMahon. In the summer of 2017, Nakamura was one of SmackDown's rising stars.

To cement that, McMahon put him up against the likes of John Cena and Randy Orton - both of whom he beat clean. The match against Cena on SmackDown was an enjoyable one, but it ended with a botch as Nakamura dropped WWE's former franchise player on the head.

There was a lot of worry about how Shinsuke Nakamura would be perceived in WWE backstage. Sports Illustrated reported that Vince McMahon was "furious" with how things played out.

They did, however, mention that the anger was less towards Nakamura, but more in defense of Cena. Shinsuke Nakamura didn't have any major botch after that, and Vince McMahon had enough faith in him to make him the 2018 Royal Rumble winner.

#1. Braun Strowman - Felt the wrath of Vince McMahon for the silliest reason

Former WWE Superstar Braun Strowman was one of Vince McMahon's favorites. He was the prototype "big man" and seemed to represent the new generation of larger-sized superstars.

His WWE release in 2021 came as a shock, but it had more to do with contract issues, as he was signed to one of the best deals in the company. A few years ago, during Strowman's earlier RAW run, he was shouted at by McMahon for the silliest reason.

Mick Foley told Lilian Garcia that Vince McMahon gave Braun Strowman an earful after he used the word "title shot" instead of "title match":

During his appearance this week on Lillian Garcia’s Making Their Way to the Ring, Foley spoke about Strowman using the line “I want a title shot” on a recent episode of RAW. Vince McMahon heard him say that and immediately lost his cool. When Strowman made his way to the back, he was collared by McMahon. The WWE Chairman told him that he should have used the phrase “title match”.

It was a silly reason for Strowman to get shouted at. Perhaps one of the silliest on this list.

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