For the last ten to fifteen years, WWE fans understand that the WWE superstars are sports entertainers. They are properly trained to withstand the rigors of being on the road five to six days a week while constantly performing in the WWE ring. However, one part of the WWE that is kept under wraps is the WWE storylines as well as kayfabe, which is something WWE never wants to see exposed.
Unfortunately for Short Sleeve Sampson, he accidentally did that. According to Examiner , Short Sleeve Sampson was in attendance for WWE Extreme Rules , where he was part of the WWE pre-show festivities, specifically the “WeeLC” match between Hornswoggle and El Torito , which to most people was actually the best match of the pay-per-view. Short Sleeve Sampson didn’t actually compete whatsoever but was part of the special WWE pre-show commentary consisting of Micro Cole, JB-Elf, and Jerry “The King” Smaller. Short Sleeve Sampson played the latter of those three. It is probably assumed that he was very happy to be a part of the WWE, even if it’s just for this singular night, that he took a selfie…and that is where the problem comes in.
Short Sleeve Sampson’s selfie in the WWE arena is innocent on its own. There really shouldn’t be any issues with it until you see who is in the background, and we’re not talking about JBL reclining in his chair. If you back in the stands, you can see all three members of the Wyatt Family, Bray Wyatt, Luke Harper, and Erick Rowan talking with John Cena. They were planning out how their steel cage match would go later on at WWE Extreme Rules . The WWE was not happy about this and told Short Sleeve Sampson to remove the photo. Apparently, the WWE is angry how it exposed some of its inner workings.
To Short Sleeve Sampson’s credit, he did what the WWE told him to do very quickly and took down the photo. According to Inside Pulse , he later apologized to the WWE, talent, and fans about the photo:
“They say a picture is worth a thousand words but in my case, it has become the center of a lot of controversy. I want to publicly apologize to the WWE, the workers in this business who give their blood, sweat, and tears, and to all the fans that continue to support it.”
Short Sleeve Sampson would then add this to his WWE apology:
“I love this business and feel honored to be a part of it…I would never intentionally try to do anything to compromise it or break kayfabe. I do want to thank all those responsible for keeping this story going and for being the ones who are truly exposing the business.”
WWE doesn’t mind breaking kayfabe, especially when it came to the memorial video of “Stone Crusher” . Short Sleeve Sampson seems like a nice guy too so he would have eventually apologized for what he did, though he wasn’t intentionally trying to do anything bad. Just the fact that WWE got extremely angry at an honest mistake is saddening. It is like the time when WWE forced Brie Bella to apologize to the WWE universe for her wardrobe malfunction, though it wasn’t her fault.
Maybe the big issue with this picture is it came right before WWE Extreme Rules . In that case, it is understandable on why WWE wants Short Sleeve Sampson to take the picture down, but let’s face it, most wrestling fans already know the WWE is a soap opera made just for them.
[Images via Bing]