7 WWE Superstars who Vince McMahon confronted backstage for going off-script

Over the years, Vince McMahon has only become more rigid about WWE Superstars sticking to the script and giving them less freedom to express themselves during promos. A number of Superstars have gone off-script over the years and most of the times, Vince McMahon has not been happy at all.

#7 Titus O'Neil

Titus O'Neil

The Titus O'Neil incident happened after Daniel Bryan's 2016 retirement. As Bryan and Brie Bella made their way backstage past the Superstars gathered on the ramp, Titus O'Neil pulled Vince McMahon back as he looked to follow.

Vince pulled himself free and was livid backstage. It was said that he wanted to outright fire Titus O'Neil but settled on a two-month suspension instead.

O'Neil spoke about his suspension in 2017 and said the following:

“I still don't understand it. I literally put me my hand out and said, 'Ladies first.' So I don't know what the wrong time is to say, 'Ladies first' or the right time. It's water under the bridge. It happened and I took ownership of it regardless if I was right, wrong, or indifferent, or if the situation could have been handled different.

"It happened. I served my suspension and its over with. It goes back to the fact that I know who I am and I know what I did and I know why I did it and God has rewarded me tenfold.”

#6 The Revival

The Revival

It's clear that Vince McMahon has never been that big a fan of Dash and Dawson but one incident ahead of RAW 25 really rubbed McMahon the wrong way. In one of the episodes of RAW ahead of the 25th anniversary episode, the duo used the words 'professional wrestlers' during a promo.

It's unclear if this played a part in their lack of a push on the main roster but Vince was not happy and he let them know.

#5 Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens

KO and Sami Zayn

The incident that brought Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn heat took place with The New Day in November 2017 and definitely hurt the duo's push. Owens and Zayn were reportedly set to get beaten down by The New Day in the ring but allegedly rolled out of the ring after going against the script.

Vince was livid but the duo put it down to a misunderstanding.

#4 Lavar Ball

Lavar Ball appeared in a segment of Miz TV along with his son on an episode of RAW in 2017. The segment went off the rails soon after it began but the moment that really made Vince McMahon lose it was Ball saying the N-word on live television.

Unlike some of the other instances on this list, you can't blame Vince McMahon at all. Sponsors and the network were unhappy and it's safe to say we won't see them in WWE again. Thankfully, The Miz got no heat from this segment.

#3 Big Cass

Big Cass and Enzo Amore are now with ROH

What happened with Big Cass eventually led to him getting fired from the WWE. Although a host of other issues contributed to it, the fact that Cass went off script really pissed Vince McMahon off.

The incident took place on an episode of SmackDown during his feud with Daniel Bryan. Cass went against express orders to go the extra mile during his beatdown of a mini-Daniel Bryan. Vince was livid backstage and Cass learned the hard way to never Cross the Chairman of the board.

Big Cass later spoke about his release during an interview and admitted that Vince McMahon had probably made the right decision:

“It was the right decision to get rid of me at that point in time – not to say I won’t be back – but at that point in time they definitely made the right decision for them. To be honest with you, looking at it they made the right decision for me.

"Everyone makes mistakes, but when you make that many mistakes in that short of a period of time then you lose people’s trust and you’re not reliable anymore.Yeah, I would have, [fired myself]. I definitely would have fired myself. If I was in Vince McMahon’s position, I would have fired myself for sure, one-hundred percent.”

#2 Brock Lesnar

Brock Lesnar

Vince McMahon famously got into a backstage confrontation after his match at WrestleMania 34. According to reports at the time, Lesnar went off script a little towards the end of the match and wasn't in the mood to listen to what Vince had to say when he returned backstage.

#1 Batista and Chris Jericho

Batista and Jericho

Batista and Chris Jericho were set to face each other in a steel cage match on RAW in 2008. This was after blading had been banned by WWE but Batista convinced Jericho to go along with him and show colour during the match.

Needless to say, Vince McMahon exploded backstage. He was so livid that he called Jericho, Batista and the referee into a meeting soon after. Batista described what happened during an interview:

"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."

Batista later said that this incident played a part in him leaving the WWE.