10 Fascinating WWE SummerSlam 2012 Facts
6. Signs Mentioning Abraham Washington Were Confiscated
Former third-rate ECW-brand talk show host Abraham Washington (redubbed "AW") had become the manager of The Prime Time Players early in their WWE run. His character had borrowed a page out of the Jimmy Hart playbook, loudly projecting his rhetoric. Hart used a megaphone to shout insults, while AW boomed his verbiage through a hands-free headset.
Three weeks before SummerSlam, AW made the regrettable remark, "Titus O'Neil is like Kobe Bryant at a hotel in Colorado - he's unstoppable!". This referenced the alleged rape of a hotel employee by NBA star Bryant in 2003 (the case was later dropped when the accuser refused to testify).
WWE issued an apology for the remark, and claimed they had taken appropriate action. AW initially kept this job, but was fired 10 days later amid continued backlash. A number of fans brought signs to SummerSlam supporting AW, who many felt had been wrongfully fired for a lapse in judgment while acting as an edgy heel. The company confiscated the signs, but couldn't stop chants of AW's name during the Players' match with R-Truth and Kofi Kingston.