WWE is known for being incredibly petty at times. If you cross Vince McMahon and don't go along with his vision or rules there are often punishments for that behaviour, as would be the case with all jobs. But the difference with WWE is that the punishments often take place live on television for the entire world to see, rather than in private like most normal jobs would do. The wrestlers are subjected to fines and suspensions, but WWE likes to go further than that most of the time. They usually want the whole world to know that a wrestler made a mistake, and they often do that on TV.

If a talent has done something WWE doesn't agree with or potentially tarnished the company image, there is often a hefty price to be paid. These punishments can see the wrestlers lose title belts, be taken out of matches or be given ridiculous gimmicks that could derail their run in the company. WWE loves putting wrestlers in specific storylines as a way of dishing out a punishment, making it clear to all the locker room and all the fans that they have done something wrong. It's petty and unprofessional, but it's also just the way WWE works.

This list will look at examples of storylines where WWE wrestlers were put in them as a punishment, picking eight that were far too harsh, and eight that were possibly justified.

16 Too Harsh: A Happy Wedding Gift

Announcing that you are getting married should be an incredibly happy time for a couple, whether they are professional wrestlers or not, but in the case of Lana and Rusev, that was certainly not the case. Lana posted an image of them together, announcing that they were engaged, but this was not what WWE wanted and the duo was seriously punished, being ripped apart on TV and quickly being squashed in results.

The problem with it was that they were in a love triangle storyline, and Lana was supposed to be in a relationship with Dolph Ziggler on television. But this decision totally derailed that story, but it was certainly harsh, with Lana using her own social media to show things about her actual life, leading the question as to where you blur that line.

15 Deserved: Daniel Puder Gets Destroyed

When Daniel Puder decided to go into business for himself during a Tough Enough segment with Kurt Angle, attempting to defeat the Olympic Hero and embarrass him, despite Puder being a rookie, he certainly rubbed people the wrong way. WWE didn't forget about this incident though and Puder's punishment was certainly something he won't forget either, getting embarrassed himself on the biggest star, inside the Royal Rumble match.

WWE had all of its toughest stars, Chris Benoit and Bob Holly being two of them, simply beat the hell out of Puder with stiff shots before eliminating him. It wasn't an overly harsh punishment and Puder only had himself to blame in the first place.

14 Too Harsh: RVD Loses His Titles

He might have been the whole F'n show, but when Rob Van Dam was busted for smoking pot, WWE didn't seem to have a care in the world about his talent inside the ring and just wanted to punish him for his behaviour outside of it. When he was caught with a banned substance in his possession, RVD earned himself a 30-day wellness violation, which is company policy and can't really be argued as RVD was aware of those rules.

However, RVD's huge push at the time was quickly pulled. RVD's run as both WWE Champion and ECW Champion, at the same time, was quickly brought to an end, with RVD struggling to reach those heights ever again.

13 Deserved: Jeff Jarrett Loses To Chyna

Losing to a woman, in the WWE's eyes in a major punishment, and that is exactly what the company subjected 2018 WWE Hall Of Famer, Jeff Jarrett to when he decided to try and take on Vince McMahon. Jarrett's contract with WWE expired while he happened to still be the Intercontinental Champion and he saw this as a money-making scheme, demanding money from Vince before he was prepared to lose the belt.

With Vince knowing that Jarrett was heading to WCW he did pay the money, but made him lose to Chyna as a punishment. He eventually got full revenge when he bought WCW and fired Jarrett on live TV.

12 Too Harsh: Back To NXT

At one stage, Alex Riley looked like he had some serious potential to be a major star in WWE, paired with The Miz, he had the look, in-ring ability, and charisma, but things began spiralling out of control after a confrontation with John Cena. While little is known about the actual fallout between Riley and Cena, it was notable that he went from getting countless opportunities, to being sent down to NXT for no real reason and then being taken out of the ring and into a commentary role.

No matter where he went, Riley flourished, but the fact his career was totally derailed because of a backstage fallout is a huge shame and just shows the power that certain wrestlers have backstage.

11 Deserved: Wrestling With God

Shawn Michaels is known for a lot of backstage issues during his career, especially during the first half of his career where he was incredibly arrogant, but when he returned as a born-again Christian he still had issues. This time HBK decided to reject certain storylines due to his beliefs, which is fine, but when many of them were related to DX, one of the biggest parts of his career, that became a problem for Vince McMahon.

So, as only Vince could, he decided to introduce God into a WWE storyline, forcing Shawn Michaels to wrestle with God on a WWE PPV, with God acting as his tag team partner, and it was as bizarre to watch as it sounds.

10 Too Harsh: From King To Jester

William Regal is now portrayed as a WWE legend, and rightfully so. One of the greatest British wrestlers of all time, the current NXT General Manager has done it all and while he was never a World Champion, Regal certainly had a tremendous career. However, he did have a dark period where he was actually suspended due to using performance enhancers when Sports Illustrated named him in an article. While being suspended was fair enough, at the time Regal was relishing in a role after winning the King of the Ring tournament.

Upon his return, all of that momentum was cut from underneath him and Regal totally lost his push, which at the time was proving to be a huge success. He had already paid the time for his crime, and given that other performance enhancement cases have barely caused a blink of an eye, this one felt very harsh.

9 Deserved: Moppy

Perry Saturn could have been a much bigger star than he was. A great worker in the ring, Saturn had all the tools to be a major success but for whatever reason, he never quite broke out in the same way his friends such as Chris Benoit and Chris Jericho did.

The fact that Saturn may be best remembered for his segments with 'Moppy' the mop, says it all. But his time with Moppy was actually a punishment for when he decided to actually beat up a non-contracted wrestler. The enhancement talent, Mike Bell botched a move which led to Saturn snapping. WWE didn't agree with it and decided to humiliate him by making him fall in love with a mop... Yes, this really happened.

8 Too Harsh: Piggie James

This was not only too harsh but incredibly offensive to a wrestling legend in Mickie James, who certainly did not deserve to be treated in the manner that she was during the 'Piggie James' storyline. When Mickie's relationship with John Cena broke down, it was clear that WWE was doing everything possible to keep the pair apart and ensure that James was punished. Being sent to SmackDown, James was buried by Michelle McCool in a horrendous bullying angle.

While there might have been some awkward moments behind the scenes between James and Cena, surely seeing her be made a victim of bullying about her looks and body was a punishment too far.

7 Deserved: Mark Henry's Unfortunate Gimmick

Mark Henry is heading into the WWE Hall Of Fame this year, and rightfully so. He has had an incredible career and one that deserves the recognition, but he hasn't always been someone who WWE looked at favourably. When he first joined, WWE signed him to a 10-year deal and had huge plans for him to be one of WWE's biggest ever stars. But he struggled to get to grips with wrestling at first and the gamble didn't pay-off for WWE.

As a punishment, they gave Henry the very insensitive "Chocolate" gimmick, which was considered fair (although in hindsight very crass). Henry hadn't delivered and was on a big money contract, so giving him something different to work with was a good punishment and it certainly worked out for him in the long run.

6 Too Harsh: Daniel Bryan Fired

That's right, at one point Daniel Bryan was fired by WWE. Arguably the most beloved WWE Superstar on the roster right now, but WWE deemed his actions during the Nexus debut to be too far and saw him fired from the company. However, given that he was brought back incredibly soon after, it is clear that WWE knew what they had in Bryan, but needed to make a point in order to please sponsors who wanted a PG product.

While things worked out fine in the end for Bryan, who has had an incredible career, this was a very harsh punishment, as WWE could easily have just taken him off TV for the same period of time, without firing him.

5 Deserved: Roman Reigns A Late Draft Choice

When you are supposed to be one of WWE's top stars, you instantly become a role model to millions of people. With that comes some responsibilities, and when you get busted for a wellness violation, that goes against all of them. Roman Reigns found himself in the position of being the face of the company and busted on a violation and WWE did not take it lightly. While he didn't get a huge punishment, after all, he is a top guy, they did punish him.

Reigns was forced to apologize to the locker room and found himself down the pecking order in the first draft, with WWE using it as a way to let him know how easily he can slip down the card if he continues in that way.

4 Too Harsh: Baron Corbin Loses His Money In The Bank

The Lone Wolf, Baron Corbin, has huge potential in WWE and it is clear that management feels that way, having his debut with a WrestleMania victory and giving him the Money in the Bank briefcase. However while he has had opportunities, every time he gets one it seems to quickly be taken away, with his United States Championship run and his Money in the Bank run proof of that.

Corbin's cash in failed and he lost the chance to become World Champion and a lot of that was supposedly down to a Twitter exchange between himself and journalist, Dave Meltzer. While WWE clearly respect Meltzer, punishing him to this degree for that is incredibly harsh.

3 Deserved: Macho Man On Commentary

One of WWE's darkest secrets or myths is the entire situation revolving around Macho Man Randy Savage, and Stephanie McMahon. Nobody knows for sure what happened, but it has been implied by many wrestling marks that the pair were involved together at some point. While Triple H did this and got no punishment, the age of Stephanie was very different with the two instances. Though this has never been confirmed, Macho Man certainly didn't discourage the rumour, and given his boss was Stephanie's father, this didn't go down well. Again, all of this is speculated, but the punishment Macho Man faced has confirmed the theory in many fan's eyes despite a lack of real evidence.

WWE stuck Macho Man in a retirement match, which he lost, and threw him on commentary, with a clear reminder to the talents that no matter how big of a star you are, you don't cross the boss.

2 Too Harsh: The Curtain Call

Some people might deem this punishment as fully deserved with The Kliq breaking kayfabe in a major way, pulling back the curtain to reveal the wrestling business in a way that had never been done before, but it was the person who was punished that may have been harsh. The group was incredibly close but Triple H was certainly the smaller name out of the group, yet he was the one who took the entire punishment for the decision that likely came from one of the bigger members of the group.

With Hall and Nash moving on to WCW, they weren't able to be punished, Shawn Michaels was the WWF Champion and the company didn't want to punish him, so HHH took the entire punishment for around a year. Losing his planned King of the Ring and struggling in the mid-card for a year before returning to the main event scene.

1 Deserved: JBL Loses To Blue Meanie

JBL being a bully, you must be joking? Of course, this story stems from Bradshaw acting like he is the number one guy around and bullying someone, with him infamously beating up Blue Meanie so bad that blood poured out of him. This was something that even WWE, the company that has overlooked so many incidents in regards to JBL, managed to see as going too far, putting JBL in a match with Meanie where he lost, despite being a much bigger star.

Not only did he lose the match, but this was a time where Meanie and his partner, Stevie Richards got some well-earned retribution with some very stiff shots of their own, letting JBL know they didn't appreciate his actions. They say, what goes around, comes around after all.