Future Endeavored: Wrestlers Who Were Fired For In Ring Antics

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Brian Damage

Recently, the TNA management hired and then fired ‘Platinum’ Max Caster in the matter of less than 24 hours after Caster included some controversial lyrics to a rap while being introduced in his debut match for the company. Now while Max Caster was fired for the incident…it did make me think back to other incidents in ring and during promos. Incidents that went beyond what creative or the bookers expected…and were legitimately terminated. This piece will examine just a few of those “unscripted” fireable offenses.

The Kobe Bryant Rape Joke

In 2012, manager/wrestler Brian Jossie aka ‘Abraham Washington’ was released following a Kobe Bryant rape joke he made on a live Raw broadcast. Jossie was miked up so the fans in attendance and at home could hear him. During matches, Jossie would usually crack jokes about about his team’s opponents or praise his team of Titus O’Neil and Darren Young. On this particular night, Jossie ad-libbed, “Titus O’Neil is like Kobe Bryant at a hotel in Colorado … he’s unstoppable.”

The joke was an obvious reference to the alleged rape case involving basketball player Kobe Bryant in 2003. While the remark was off the cuff and seemingly unmemorable….Jossie was fired later on because of it. Brian then went to twitter to blast the WWE…which probably solidified him never being rehired again.

The Strangulation of Justin Roberts

Before Daniel Bryan became a mega star for the WWE, he was a part of an angle where a group of young, upstart wrestlers formed a faction and took over the company. In 2010, the Nexus instantaneously made an impact as they attacked everybody and anybody who was at ringside. That included wrestlers, referees, stage hands and even ring announcers.

In an action which was considered going above and beyond the planned script…Daniel Bryan attacked ring announcer Justin Roberts. He stripped him of his shirt and proceeded to strangle Roberts with his own neck tie. D-Bry was released from the WWE soon after…only to be rehired a short time later.

Going Toe to Toe With Goldberg

Lord Steven Regal has always been considered one of the toughest pro wrestlers in and out of the ring. While highly respected by many of his peers…Regal has also had his fair share of behind the scenes issues back then. In 1998, in a match against Goldberg that was supposed to be a typical Goldberg squash match…Regal began to wrestle.

A Goldberg match that usually lasted a minute or two…suddenly looked like an unscripted 6 minute shoot fight. If you watch the match, Goldberg looked confused during portions of the encounter. Goldberg did eventually get the win…but not before WCW fans were left scratching their heads in a bit of confusion. Regal was released from the company shortly after. It should be noted that Regal has refuted that he went off the script. He claims that he was instructed by WCW agents to work a competitive match with Goldberg. Whether those instructions reached WCW president Eric Bischoff is unknown…but the match was clunky and did unintentionally expose the greenness of Bill Goldberg.

There’s Something In My Eye

In December of 1988, Jim Crockett Jr. had sold off his promotion to Ted Turner. With the buyout came a more corporate structure for the newly christened WCW. One of Crockett’s favorites was ‘The American Dream’ Dusty Rhodes who was still the head booker during the transition. One of the things WCW management requested, was no blading on TV. Dusty came up with an idea to bring heel heat to the Road Warriors…but it was going to require Dusty to be brutalized and have his eye gouged with a metal spike. Despite warnings from corporate…Dusty went ahead with the spike to the eye angle which also involved Dusty blading for effect.

After the angle was done, Dusty was removed as head booker and just a couple of weeks later after a blow off match against the Road Warriors…was subsequently let go.

Uncensored? Not Quite!

Speaking of the Rhodes family, Dusty wasn’t the only one who refused to abide by the “No bleeding” rule by WCW management. Dusty’s son Dustin and Barry Darsow (Black Top Bully) tried to bend the rule in their 1995 ‘King of the Road’ match at the aptly named Uncensored pay per view.

The match in itself was very odd as both Dustin and Bully were put in the back of a tractor trailer and just brawled while the vehicle drove down a road. The two decided that the match itself wasn’t unique on its own and both bladed. The result of the infraction was both wrestlers released from the company.

There’s Something About Memphis…And The Gilberts

Eddie and Doug Gilbert are/were no strangers to controversy. It especially seemed to shine brightest when they traveled into the Memphis territories. Both brothers would be fired in the 1990’s at different times from different Memphis promotions. It wasn’t so much what they did in the ring, but what they would say on the mic. Both brothers coincidentally, were being interviewed by the same man….Dave Brown.

First, Eddie Gilbert was fired from the USWA in the mid 90’s for shooting on live TV about the company’s mishandling of his career there.

His brother Doug would follow that up in 1999, by accusing the ‘Power Pro’ promoter…Randy Hales of smoking crack, revealing Brian Christopher as Jerry Lawler’s son and reminding fans of the rape allegations brought onto Jerry Lawler earlier in the decade.

These were just some of the unscripted…unauthorized incidents that ruffled the feathers of promoters and management and caused these men to be fired.