The firing of Abraham Washington from WWE was justified, but it's the reason why he had to be let go that's bizarre. Washington thought it would be a good idea to make a televised joke about Kobe Bryant's rape case back in 2012 while he was managing the Prime Time Players. The manager was mic'ed up at ringside, watching the match when he made the quip. Commentator Michael Cole apologized for the comment after the broadcast came back from commercial, but numerous media outlets picked up on the tasteless joke.

Washington wasn't done, however, and took to Twitter (now known as X) to blast WWE for what he perceived as "double standards" and said he felt like he was a causality of Linda McMahon's campaign for a Senate seat. He even gave examples of others within the company who didn't get in trouble for things they said, like Big Show making a similar remark, McMahon making fun of Jim Ross' Bell's Palsy, McMahon using a racial slur on TV, and more unsavory events both on-air and online.

Washington's contract was terminated for what a WWE official said was due to his continued use of offensive and inappropriate comments on both TV and social media. In December 2019, Washington told WINC he apologized to WWE and put things behind him, but at the time, he was shocked and hurt he was released.