An axed WWE writer says he stopped Brit Adrian Neville delivering an ‘insensitive’ promo line and paid the price for it after being fired by Vince McMahon.

Michael Leonardi was a producer turned writer with the grappling giant tasked with shaping on-screen storylines and scripts under the final say of former WWE emperor McMahon.

Vince McMahon played ‘Mr McMahon’ at the peak of the Attitude EraWWE

McMahon left WWE under a dark cloud in the early part of 2024 following horrific allegations levied at him of sexual assault and trafficking by a former employee, which the billionaire has always denied.

A documentary released in September did further damage to the promoter’s image, with many notable figures – including his own family members – discussing some of the darker and more controversial elements of what had been a tumultuous tenure at the top of the wrestling world for the now 79-year-old.

Now, Leonardi has joined a string of others to lift the lid on what they’ve described as the at-times ‘humiliating’ experience of working for WWE at the time.

Speaking to Rolling Stone, Leonardi singled out one such example; a minor change to a script for an episode of television that he claims ended up with him being suddenly axed by the company.

Brit Neville, a popular and high-flying performer, was playing the part of an on-screen villain in 2016 when, on Martin Luther King Jr Day, he was slated to deliver a line that parodied one of the activists most iconic lines.

Neville, who now wrestles in AEW, was reportedly set to say that he, too, ‘had a dream… to win the Royal Rumble.’

The wrestler is said to have reported some unease at delivering the line from Luther King’s historic 1963 address and, with time of the essence before the broadcast, the call was made for R-Truth to deliver the line instead.

That alteration, Leonardi says, was approved by his own boss, Dave Kapoor, though McMahon’s spokesperson rubbished the suggestion that the line would even have been given to Neville, saying: ‘…The idea of him suggesting or approving the use of a famous Martin Luther King, Jr. quote for a punchline to be used by a white British character is so ridiculous. It simply didn’t happen.”

Nevertheless, Leonardi is adamant the change is what resulted in his downfall at WWE, saying McMahon was ‘furious’, and that he was let go by the company shortly after.

He commented: “He [McMahon] turned to me and he said: ‘So you didn’t give me what I wanted?’

McMahon has refuted all allegationsWWE

“I said: ‘I understand, I’m sorry. We all went over it and felt good about it, we just made the small tweak.’

“And then he started just yelling at me. It was such an intense moment. I walked out with my tail between my legs.”

Leonardi claims he was told by company HR that was ‘not fit for the role’ at WWE despite previously earning a promotion, wage rise and positive feedback over the previous ten months.

Five other former WWE employees who’d previously worked under McMahon at WWE shared similarly unnerving experiences whilst speaking anonymously to the outlet.

One such figure claimed: “WWE is a kingdom ruled by fear. It is the motivating factor everywhere: fear.’

Another ominously noted: “Everybody was getting yelled at all the time in the [writer’s] room.

“It was more saying s*** that was humiliating or mean [that was then] couched as a joke, but it’s a nasty joke.”

British wrestler Neville starred in NXT before moving to WWE’s ‘main roster’WWE

They added: “If you’re being targeted in the room, nobody stands up for you, but that’s because if they do, they will get the bullet in the head, too.

“You don’t stick your head up out of the foxhole for anybody, because nobody wants to take a bullet.”

McMahon’s spokesperson would go on to insist that the claims made in the article bared ‘no resemblance to the reality of the writer’s room,’ adding: “Scores of writers could share tales of what an enjoyable, creative and freewheeling environment the WWE writers rooms were.

“This handful of (obviously disgruntled) individuals aren’t representative in any way of the consensus — or of the truth.”

Neville was a former NXT Champion in WWE and wrestled there between 2012 and 2018, debuting for AEW in 2019.