WWE News: Suspended Superstar Adam Rose Arrested In Florida


WWE superstar Raymond “Adam Rose” Leppan was arrested early Wednesday morning in Hillsborough County, Florida, on multiple charges, including tampering with a witness and battery domestic violence, according to the Hillsborough Country Sherrif’s Office.

Leppan, 36, was arrested at 1:30 a.m. this morning and booked at 3:30 a.m. on the aforementioned charges, according to police documents. He is currently still in police custody and no bond has been posted as of this writing.

Rose's mugshot. [Image vi TampaBay.com]
Rose’s mugshot. [Image via TampaBay.com]
PWInsider has acquired the criminal report affidavit from the Hillsborough County Sherrif’s office. Per the report, Leppan and his wife got into an argument about their marriage. At that point, Leppan grabbed his wife’s face, pulled her close, and began screaming at her.

She tried calling 911 from the house phone but Leppan grabbed the phone and tried to stop her from calling the police. PWInsider noted that Leppan admitted to the arresting officers that he grabbed the phone. That’s where the “tampering with a witness” charge came from. That is a felony in Florida.

The domestic violence is a misdemeanor.

Per the WWE’s policies listed on the corporate website, Leppan’s employment with the WWE is in major jeopardy. The company specifically states that there’s a “zero tolerance” policy for domestic violence. If it proves that Leppan is guilty of any potential violence, he will be terminated immediately.

Screen Shot 2016-05-11 at 11.36.05 AM

To make matters worse, Leppan is currently serving a 60-day suspension due to a failure of the WWE’s Wellness Policy. The suspension was announced on April 16 when both Leppan and fellow WWE superstar Konnor violated the policy. The suspension was Rose’s second since he joined the WWE in 2010.

After the announcement was made public, Leppan issued a statement via social media claiming that WWE knew beforehand that he was taking medication for an outstanding medical issue (via Wrestling Inc). Leppan mentioned that he had a sister die from drug use and does not want his kids to read misinformation about the situation several years later.

Shortly thereafter, Leppan posted and then reposted a photo of a note from his personal doctor after deleting the original post, which stated that he did not take anything without WWE’s consent or with malicious intent.

If this arrest paves the way for Leppan’s WWE departure, it will end a well-traveled, six-year journey in WWE. His first major character was Leo Kruger, a South African fighter in WWE’s developmental program Florida Championship Wrestling (FCW). However, despite some initial success, the gimmick eventually floundered and was replaced with a party organizer character under his current “Adam Rose” name.

After spending time in NXT under that character, Leppan debuted on the main roster debut shortly afterWrestleMania XXX. However, the popularity of his new character did not resonate with the WWE Universe. Until the suspension, Rose was a member of the Social Outcast stable alongside Bo Dallas, Curtis Axel, and Heath Slater.

Last year, Leppan was a heavy focus in the ESPN E:60 documentary WWE Behind the Curtain. He gained a lot of sympathy from the WWE Universe due to the fact that Rose is taking care of his ill child who was born with a birth defect. However, he was not given any major push from the company to coincide with the fans’ sympathy, as the Inquisitr wrote.

Last Friday, the WWE had its annual “spring cleaning,” where a total of eight contracted performers were released from their contracts. Earlier this week, there was a report that more releases are coming in the coming days/weeks. Longtime employee Steve “Brooklyn Brawler” Lombardi was also released. That ended a 30-plus year run with WWE for Lombardi.

Leppan cryptically referred to his standing within WWE last week. The South African native said he would be content with the company no matter what their next course of action would be, citing his family as his main responsibility.

[Image via WWE]

Share this article: WWE News: Suspended Superstar Adam Rose Arrested In Florida
More from Inquisitr