Titus O'Neil's Suspension Halts Momentum Star Was Building Toward WrestleMania

WrestleMania opportunities and ongoing push be damned, WWE is punishing Titus O'Neil's wrestling-world misdemeanor as if it were a felony.

The powerhouse was in the midst of some serious upward movement. Victories came often for O'Neil, even in an era hampered by 50-50 booking. And the company made sure to highlight his community work, painting him as a real-life good guy.

After playfully grabbing Vince McMahon's arm on live TV, though, O'Neil's momentum suddenly has evaporated. 

After Daniel Bryan's farewell speech on Monday's Raw, cameras caught O'Neil tugging at McMahon in an odd, awkward exchange. Many surely thought little of it. More probably didn't even notice it.

WWE foolishly overreacted to the incident. PWInsider's Mike Johnson reported that WWE suspended O'Neil for 90 days due to "unprofessional conduct."

Johnson added, "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."

Certainly O'Neil committed a faux pas here. The act didn't fit the atmosphere. But punishing him to that degree is insane.   

As Denny Burkholder of CBS Sports pointed out, a 90-day suspension would be stiffer than the punishment for a second violation of the WWE Talent Wellness policy:

WWE has since softened its stance a touch. Dave Meltzer of F4WOnline reported that the company cut the suspension down to 60 days.

O'Neil will still miss Fastlane, two months' worth of Raw and the biggest show of the year: WrestleMania. 

And with this heavy-handed discipline, WWE has undone the work it has begun with O'Neil in the past few months. The company clearly looked to be shooting him further up the card. O'Neil had begun to beat up on the midcarders on the roster, consistently coming out on top.

Tyler Breeze, Stardust, Heath Slater and The Ascension all fell to the Florida native.

Even after an upset loss to Adam Rose on Monday night, O'Neil's 2016 winning percentage still sat at an impressive .818. That's higher than intercontinental titleholder Dean Ambrose (.600), United States champ Kalisto (.667) and even Roman Reigns (.800).

The audience was witnessing the making of a bona fide push. And there's no better time for a wrestler to experience that than in the thick of WrestleMania season.

WWE seemed to be positioning O'Neil for a win in the annual Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal or perhaps a midcard bout at The Show of Shows. Either way, that would mark the biggest match of his career.

Credit: WWE.com

Scratch both those possibilities now. Unless his suspension is reduced further or revoked, O'Neil will have to wait until next year to make his mark on WrestleMania.

O'Neil is by no means a top Superstar at this point, but it's surprising that WWE would go this route with so many Superstars out for the pro wrestling version of the Super Bowl due to injury. He was another option to plug in. Pulling him out of the ring hurts the depth of the roster.

And for what? 

The Real Deal is no hothead troublemaker. Thanks to his tireless charity and volunteer work, O'Neil was fast becoming WWE's best source of good PR aside from John Cena. This is the guy who took two groups of homeless people out to dinner, spent time handing out gifts to underprivileged kids and won the Rainbow PUSH Trailblazer Award.

You would think that would give him some leeway after a one-time offense. Instead, WWE has approached the situation in draconian fashion.

It's hard to wrap one's head around it all. Alfred Konuwa of Forbes and Bleacher Report summed up the situation well when he wrote, "The suspension of a high-character performer that might rival (or exceed) that of a more serious wellness violation is absurd."

As one might assume, there is more to this story than the single incident from Monday, though it won't make the decision look more logical.

Bryan Alvarez noted on Wrestling Observer Live (h/t Wrestling Inc) that McMahon intended to use the suspension to send a message to a roster he feels has been too unprofessional of late.

The message coming across is that WWE believes grabbing the boss' arm is worthy of a punishment worse than one would receive for taking illegal steroids. The message is that the company is willing to abandon the process of elevating a star in the name of making him a scapegoat. 

Win-loss statistics courtesy of CageMatch.net.