Yes, Bryan was fired for choking announcer Justin Roberts with a tie. No, Bryan did not properly choke Roberts with the tie during a backstage fight or try to kill him, it was all part of the memorable Nexus invasion angle at the end of Raw. Bryan's actions violated WWE's company policy. Apparently the tie choking was 'too violent' for the PG show, despite the fact the camera man went in for a nice close-up on a struggling Roberts. WWE didn't want to annoy big sponsors, such as Mattel, and felt they needed to let Bryan go to set an example. A lot of people couldn't believe that Bryan, who is now one of WWE's biggest stars, would be let go over something so trivial. That's WWE for you. Bryan returned to the independent circuit before returning at SummerSlam as the surprise final member of team WWE. He has claimed since that Vince McMahon apologised to him for the firing and, although he was only gone for a couple of months, it was still harsh to use Bryan as an example.
