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Before the widespread use of the internet, WWE was forced to keep their storylines and its development to television, but now we’ve seen Superstars build on their rivalries over social media and give the fans an even greater experience.
Twitter spats between Becky Lynch and several Superstars such as Ronda Rousey and Edge helped her build her character, while many other Superstars like Keith Lee have learned how to use the medium effectively to build a greater fanbase.
However, not all goes down well with WWE when it comes to their Superstars using social media as we have seen several Superstars make indecent posts or show some disrespect towards the WWE Universe which has led to them facing some sort of punishment.
In this article, we will look at 5 Superstars who paid dearly after misusing social media and going against the company’s policies.
#5 Brodus Clay
Brodus Clay signed his WWE contract back in 2006 and was assigned to Deep South Wrestling (DSW), a WWE developmental territory. There he competed against several of WWE’s future top Superstars for a couple of years before being released.
WWE resigned the Superstars in 2010 and was later moved to WWE NXT where he competed during the brand’s fourth season. He was then aligned with Alberto del Rio but a mistake on social media took his career down the drain.
During his NXT career, Clay was being pushed as WWE’s next big heel. His size and agility in the ring helped him come across as a real monster, and he was on his way to make it big before he ruined one of WWE’s storylines.
Brodus Clay could have become the next big WWE monster
Clay was booked to destroy John Morrison on his main roster debut, but he got a bit too excited and dropped a big hint about his debut on Twitter.
The WWE creatives were not pleased with this and changed his entire gimmick around, making him a comic act instead of a monstrous heel. Clay was repackaged and moved to the main roster as The Funkasaurus. He could never make the impact WWE had initially planned for him.
Clay was released from his WWE contract in June 2014 after a forgetful career that will likely not find him a place in the WWE Hall of Fame.
#4 Zahra Schreiber
Zahra Schreiber did not make it into WWE during her first shot with the company, but her second trial in October 2014 landed her a WWE contract. This allowed her to get into the company’s NXT brand and try to make a name for herself.
The Superstar showed a lot of promise and made some good friends in NXT, but her activities on social media led to her downfall. As Zahra gained more popularity, fans started taking to her social media accounts and checked her out older posts.
The WWE Universe was shocked when they saw Zahra's post history
To their utter shock, they found Nazi imagery and racist remarks all over her Instagram leading to the fans calling her out on social media and asking WWE to take some action against her.
WWE has always tried its best to give equal opportunities to its Superstars regardless of their background, and they wasted little time in releasing the Superstar for her past posts.
While this was the controversy that led to her release from the company, many WWE fans will also remember the time when she made a few posts regarding Seth Rollins when their relationship fell apart.
#3 Lana
Lana is well known for her use of social media, and for the spats she gets into on Twitter with fans and other WWE Superstars. Over the past several years, we’ve seen both Lana and Rusev post a lot of critical things about the company and several of its Superstars.
In late 2015, Lana and Dolph Ziggler were involved in a storyline where Lana betrayed Rusev to begin an on-screen relationship with The Show-Off. However, backstage, The Bulgarian Brute and The Ravishing Russian were closer than ever and decided to get engaged.
WWE wasn't happy with Lana's public announcement
The creatives did not take this well, especially after Lana posted pictures on social media confirming their engagement. Rusev and Lana both suffered from bad booking and Lana was taken off television for some time following the post.
We’ve seen the couple go through several storylines involving their relationship and one can only imagine the toll it has taken on them over the past five years or so. Rusev is now no longer a part of WWE while Lana is involved in an on-screen relationship with Bobby Lashley which will likely come to an end soon.
#2 Baron Corbin
In 2017, Baron Corbin won the Money in the Bank briefcase after outlasting top WWE Superstars including AJ Styles, Kevin Owens, and Shinsuke Nakamura. At the time Jinder Mahal was holding the WWE Championship and it seemed more than likely that Corbin would go on to win the title from The Modern Day Maharaja.
However, Corbin’s cash-in did not go as predicted as the Superstar was rolled up by Mahal who picked up the victory to retain his title and deflate Corbin’s rise. Soon after, Corbin was also defeated by John Cena at SummerSlam which led to him becoming nothing more than a mid-carder again.
Corbin could have become a WWE Champion by now
One of the reasons behind his fall involved his responses on Twitter to a few fans and also to Dave Meltzer. Corbin has been known to be hotheaded, and the Superstar replied harshly to provocations leading to the creatives punishing him for his actions.
While Corbin did recover from the bookings, it seems as though he won’t stop responding to trolls and critics on social media anytime soon. Corbin is yet to win a WWE Championship, but keeping in mind that he is a big tough guy who has impressed Vince McMahon several times, we can expect him to win the title a few times in his career.
#1 Jaxson Ryker (The Forgotten Sons)
Considered to be one of the most physically imposing WWE Superstars in NXT, Jaxson Ryker was chosen to lead The Forgotten Sons faction which is composed of Steve Cutler and Wesley Blake.
The Forgotten Sons made a big impact on NXT but failed to win any titles on the brand before they were picked to move to the SmackDown brand earlier this year. Ryker appeared with Cutler and Blake for a few weeks on SmackDown, and the trio immediately got themselves in the SmackDown Tag Team Championship picture before Ryker made a very irresponsible statement on social media.
The WWE Universe is extremely upset with Jaxson Ryker
At a time when the world was trying to raise more awareness with the Black Lives Matter campaign, Ryker made an politically motivated tweet that drew a lot of heat from other WWE Superstars and the WWE Universe.
Soon it was reported that The Forgotten Sons had been pulled from television and moved away from the SmackDown Tag Team Championship picture. Instead, Cesaro and Shinsuke Nakamura have taken their place as WWE is looking to punish the Superstar for his statement even though Cutler and Blake have distanced themselves from their partner’s views.
