WWE's Most Controversial and Shocking Stories for the Week of May 4

Coming off a scattershot WWE Payback pay-per-view that had many storylines disrupted by the Superstar Shake-up, WWE can now soldier on with two brand-exclusive rosters. But first, it will have to shake off the cobwebs of the House of Horrors. 

House of Horrible 

WWE's bold exploration into the supernatural with the inaugural House of Horrors match was met with a lot of skepticism, all of which was justified with what turned out to be a criminally underwhelming match between Randy Orton and Bray Wyatt. 

In pro wrestling, complaining is basically a pastime and WWE Payback gave the live audience in San Jose, California, every reason to chant "boring" and heckle the pre-taped portion of House of Horrors, which was bogged down by cheesy music and awkward special effects.

And while many see this episode as evidence that WWE should stay away from the supernatural, hopefully WWE is not discouraged by its past failures in these types of on-location matches—the last brawl of this nature pitted The New Day against The Wyatt Family in a less painful but still underwhelming backlot brawl—in the hopes that it improves and continues to push the boundaries of how pro wrestling is presented in 2017.

Braun Strowman and Roman Reigns Hang Out in Italy 

The Titus brand obstructed the essential business of WWE with a head-scratching tweet that included a picture of Braun Strowman and Roman Reigns palling around in Italy, per @TitusONeilWWE (h/t Wrestling Inc).

The two rivals were shown on opposite sides of a group picture, and while kayfabe certainly is dead, WWE officials couldn't have been too thrilled with its biggest current feud being trivialized with a photo from a field trip as Raw ratings continue to decline to yearly lows in the thick of post-WrestleMania season, per ShowBuzz Daily (h/t Wrestling Inc).

O'Neil came to his senses hours later and deleted the controversial picture. It will be interesting to see if there is any punishment through unfavorable booking. 

This is not O'Neil's first public gaffe when it comes to breaking the fourth wall. The former WWE tag team champion once infamously tried to roughhouse with Vince McMahon following Daniel Bryan's retirement ceremony. His actions resulted in a suspension, per WWE.com, that caused him to miss WrestleMania 32. 

The Loss of Jericho 

Chris Jericho lost the United States Championship to Kevin Owens just 48 hours after winning the title at WWE Payback. After being severely attacked by Owens in a post-match beatdown, Jericho was presumably written off television as he prepares to hit the road for a tour with his band Fozzy.  

The Judas Rising tour kicks off on May 5 with its final date currently advertised for June 24. In the second half of his career, Jericho has mastered the art of not overstaying his welcome. Assuming Fozzy doesn't add any additional dates past the end of June, Jericho could feasibly return to SmackDown after missing only one pay-per-view, but after months of being linked to Owens, WWE would be wise to only bring back Jericho for something new and fresh.

But with SmackDown drawing a year-low average viewership for the second consecutive week, per ShowBuzz Daily (h/t Wrestling Inc), WWE will want Jericho back sooner rather than later. 

Corey Graves Gets Personal with Tom Phillips 

Corey Graves, WWE's premier heel announcer, raised some eyebrows during a back-and-forth exchange with play-by-play announcer Tom Phillips that hit little too close to home. 

Phillips, who was discovered earlier this year making sexually explicit comments to a woman on Instagram (h/t Wrestling Inc), engaged in a tete-a-tete with Graves, who was quick to defend his heel philosophies by making thinly veiled references to Phillips' scandal. 

In response to Phillips calling cruiserweight antagonist Noam Dar "Euro trash," Graves retorted with the following barb: "It's not like Dar was sending DMs on Instagram to people that he shouldn't have been. There's nothing embarrassing about what he's done. He simply stole the heart of a beautiful woman from Cedric Alexander, who was neglectful, didn't show Alicia Fox the attention she truly deserved."

Graves went on to add a parting shot in reference to actual language used by Phillips in the aforementioned Instagram posts. Fortunately, Graves diffused any chatter of potential real-life tension between the two with the above tweet.