The schedule of a wrestler is extremely difficult, but it is what every wrestler aspires to have. A full-time WWE schedule means a wrestler can make great money as a touring WWE Superstar. However, there are rare occasions when a wrestler will be removed from television and the live event schedule. Many reasons can lead to WWE requesting a wrestler stay at home for an extended time. It can sometimes be a positive where a wrestler is being repackaged to return in a new role. Fans forgetting about this Superstar helps them set a new tone for their perception when coming back.

Others are taken off television for negative reasons. A surefire way to punish someone is taking them out of the ring and cutting down on their television presence. WWE utilizes this as a strong form of punishment. We'll look at some of the most unique situations that featured a WWE wrestler being intentionally kept off television. Some situations helped their overall careers while others saw their career take some damage thanks to it. Find out exactly what went down behind the scenes to keep these wrestlers home. These are fifteen WWE Superstars that were kept off television for odd reasons.

15 Nia Jax: Upset With Creative

Nia Jax is currently one of the top ladies in the Raw women’s division. That doesn’t mean there’s no conflict backstage with how she’s used. Jax was reportedly frustrated with how she was being utilized by WWE’s booking team last fall. Fans took notice of Nia not appearing on WWE live events. Following a few weeks away from WWE’s product, Jax returned for a Raw versus SmackDown match at Survivor Series 2017.

The rumors all stated that Nia felt upset that she was passed over for Asuka’s first main roster match and had no role on Raw going forward. Instead of doing nothing on television, Jax requested some time off out of frustration. Lana of all people referenced it during a social media exchange. Nia claimed all rumors about her were incorrect, but it seems likely she did indeed get time off thanks to her frustration.

14 Mike Kanellis: Rehab

The WWE career of Mike Kanellis has been hard to figure out over the past eight months. Mike debuted with his returning wife Maria Kanellis with the “Power of Love” gimmick. It seemed like they would become a fixture in the SmackDown mid-card picture. However, Mike stopped appearing on television after just a month.

Kanellis was battling an addiction to prescription pills when he signed his WWE contract. Upon realizing how badly the addiction was, Kanellis took some time off to get help. Kanellis returned to the road relatively quickly from the break but barely received any television time. Mike hopes to have a stronger run getting television time in 2019, especially when Maria returns from her pregnancy. Time will tell if WWE ever puts him back on television after turning into an enhancement talent on live events.

13 Billie Kay and Peyton Royce: Surgical Enhancements 

Many fans would argue that the Iconic Duo of Billie Kay and Peyton Royce are the most entertaining act in NXT. Sadly, we have not seen much of them over the past few months. Despite being popular stars in the women’s division, Kay and Royce have been absent from WWE with no explanation for their disappearance.

Rumors have circulated that both ladies took time off to get a specific surgery done. Kay and Royce are both reported to have undergone breast surgery. Both ladies will have slightly different looks when we see them again. The good news is that the Iconic Duo should be back on NXT events soon enough if the timetable for the surgery is correct. We may even see them return on the main roster since a call-up has been rumored for quite some time.

12 Titus O'Neil: Physical Contact with Vince McMahon

A shocking punishment to take someone off television saw Titus O’Neil miss WrestleMania 32 due to a suspension. The night of Daniel Bryan’s WWE retirement speech saw all the talent on stage to witness the moment. O’Neil decided to have some fun with Vince McMahon by hooking his arm as they went off the stage.

No one noticed it until the news came out the following day that WWE was suspending O’Neil for 60 days for his action. McMahon was reportedly embarrassed at this taking place and portraying him in a weak manner. To put it in perspective, Titus was suspended for twice as long as the wrestlers violating the Wellness Policy. O’Neil returned and was welcomed back into the company with a fresh slate after the suspension ended.

11 Mauro Ranallo: Bullied

The controversial story of Mauro Ranallo’s end to his SmackDown role was discussed for many months last year. Ranallo stopped appearing on SmackDown with no concrete reason given as to why he wasn’t around. A story broke that claimed Mauro decided to leave the weekly broadcast position as it was the best call for his mental health. All rumors pointed at JBL bullying Ranallo as a reason his mental illness issues started to resurface in a major way.

WWE kept Mauro at home under contract for many months. It seemed like a given that Ranallo was going to leave WWE for good until Triple H surprisingly convinced him to come back to NXT. Mauro is now the play-by-play commentator for NXT television shows and TakeOver specials after spending months away from WWE.

10 Rich Swann: Suspended After Getting Cleared Of Charges

WWE took Rich Swann off television after he was arrested under the allegations of domestic abuse. The charges saw Swann accused of doing some terrible actions that WWE had to punish. However, Swann got cleared from the allegations due to his wife’s statements and a lack of evidence around the case against him.

It was still a touchy subject for WWE to bring back Swann even when he cleared his name in court. The company did not bring him back given the unpredictable fan response. Swann remained home for weeks until he and WWE came to the mutual decision to release him. The hope of Swann is to build back his reputation on the independent circuit while WWE can wash their hands clean from him.

9 Jim Ross: Punished For Not Being Able to Control Ric Flair

Jim Ross has had many ups and downs with WWE through the years. Vince McMahon has fired Ross many times only to bring him back in later. Ross saw his position with WWE taken away a few years ago following a controversial video game panel show with Ric Flair as one of the guests. Flair apparently had a few drinks before taking part in the panel and threw the event off the rails.

Ross could not control Flair despite trying to moderate him. Flair kept going on about his answers to random topics while straying away from the promotional goal at hand. WWE blamed Ross and removed him from all responsibilities with the company. JR was blacklisted for quite some time until returning to call random matches on major WWE and NXT events.

8 Maryse and Maria Kanellis: Pregnant

One positive change in WWE has come in terms of how they handle a woman on the roster getting pregnant. Dawn Marie was controversially fired in 2005 after she was expecting her first child. Many criticized WWE for the handling of this and they have apparently changed their ways. Two ladies announced their pregnancies in 2017.

Maryse is having a child with WWE Superstar The Miz and Maria is expecting her first child with husband Mike Kanellis. Both Maryse and Maria have remained on the WWE roster while at home during their pregnancies. Maria has already stated she plans to return to WWE television relatively soon after having the child since it is her job. Maryse is expected to return later as well. Both ladies are being kept home as they get closer to their big days respectively.

7 Chris Jericho: Punished For Kicking Brazilian Flag

An older instance of a wrestler being sent and kept home featured Chris Jericho getting in trouble during an international talent. Jericho wanted to get heel heat during a live event in Brazil. One heel act apparently crossed the line when Jericho decided to kick the Brazil flag while cutting a promo before his match.

WWE issued an apology to the fans and government of Brazil before punishing Jericho in the form of a thirty-day suspension. Jericho was forced to stay home for a month as WWE wanted the public to know they took the incident seriously. WWE also issued a five-figure fine to Jericho for his actions. Jericho was not happy with Vince McMahon not having his back, but the two have clearly made peace regarding this incident.

6 Dolph Ziggler: Contract negotiations

The past few months of Dolph Ziggler’s career have been rather confusing for fans to keep up with. Ziggler shockingly won the United States Championship match in a triple threat match over Baron Corbin and Bobby Roode. To make it more surprising, Ziggler dropped the title on the following episode of SmackDown and stated he was walking out of WWE.

We saw Ziggler return after a month as the final entrant in the Royal Rumble match. Ziggler was quickly eliminated and found his way back to SmackDown after the event. It was never truly explained why Ziggler left, but reports have circulated that WWE was negotiating a new contract with him. Ziggler apparently signed a great contract during his time away to remain with the WWE for another few years at least.

5 Shawn Michaels: "Lost His Smile"

An infamous instance of a wrestler staying off television for a few months featured Shawn Michaels issuing a fake retirement. Michaels was scheduled to face Bret Hart in a WrestleMania rematch for the second consecutive year at WrestleMania 13. The backstage issues between Michaels and Hart continued to fester leading to both men having resentment for the other.

Michaels retired as WWE Champion a month before WrestleMania with a promo claiming he “lost his smile.” Everyone in WWE realized that this was being done to avoid dropping the title to his enemy. Michaels returned to the ring four months after the fake retirement looking healthier than ever. WWE essentially just let him relax for a few months under the guise of retirement. This incident led to Hart holding a grudge against Michaels that caused the Montreal Screwjob to go down.

4 Emma: Repackaged as Emmalina

Emma spent months off television as the company kept teasing a big change coming. Vignettes began airing on a weekly basis advertising Emmalina coming soon to Raw. Fans expected the new version of Emma playing a glamour model character to come but it kept getting postponed.

WWE flat out milked it for months until Emmalina finally was introduced only to reveal that it was a swerve. She stated that Emmalina was dead and Emma was returning. We saw the prior character used by Emma return. However, her push went away when the new gimmick change was thrown out of the window. Rumor has it that Emma didn’t feel comfortable with the Emmalina character and WWE was upset after investing months into the gimmick change. Emma never received much of a chance after this leading to her release in late 2017.

3 Neville: Freezing Out Of Contract

The absence of Neville on WWE television right now is a story that been going on for many months. Neville requested his release from WWE after being pigeonholed in the Cruiserweight division and having no chances to move up the card. WWE responded by sending Neville home under the belief they will freeze him out until his contract expires.

Vince McMahon reportedly called for the company to freeze out Neville due to being upset at the bold move to request his release. Most situations would see the company require the talent to remain on the show with the hopes of working it out for both sides. Neville is however being kept home to send a message to what will happen for wrestlers looking to jump ship to other promotions.

2 Daniel Bryan: Breaking WWE PG rules

Daniel Bryan has become one of the most beloved wrestlers in WWE history, but his WWE career could have easily ended many years before the success. The first major moment for Bryan in WWE came when he was a part of Nexus during their initial invasion angle. Wade Barrett led Bryan and the other wrestlers from NXT Season 1 to attack to overtake WWE.

Bryan however crossed the line by choking ring announcer Justin Roberts since no one smartened him up to WWE’s rules. Sponsors were upset enough for WWE to release him a few days after the event. Bryan wrestled on the independent circuit for a couple of months before returning to WWE as a mystery wrestler in a main event match. WWE basically kept Bryan off their television show for a few months to make it look like a punishment when planning to bring him back all along.

1 Finn Balor: Not Wanting His Return to Interfere With Vince’s WM 33 Plans

Many fans were hoping to see Finn Balor make a surprise return at the Royal Rumble or on the road to WrestleMania in 2017. Balor was coming off an injury that forced him to relinquish the Universal Championship just one night after winning it. Considering Balor was the first man to ever hold the title, it would have made perfect sense for him to get his rematch on the big stage when cleared.

WWE doctors cleared Balor about two months before WrestleMania 33 adding fuel to the rumors. Finn even wrestled on live events as early as February but was kept off television. Vince McMahon was reportedly intent on having Brock Lesnar versus Goldberg for the Universal Championship. Balor ended up being forced to miss WrestleMania and returned the following night. It sacrificed his momentum as Finn has been just another upper mid-carder since coming back to WWE.