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More Details On Botched Kickout In WWE Money in the Bank World Title Match
Damian Priest failed to kick out of a pin during the World Heavyweight Title match at WWE Money in the Bank, and a new report has details on the matter. Saturday’s PPV saw Priest fail to kick out of a nearfall after Seth Rollins hit a Falcon Arrow, and referee only counted two. Fightful Select spoke to a number of people in WWE and has some details on the moment and aftermath.
According to the report, the referee in the match was Rod Zapata, who was the referee that got fined after WrestleMania 35 when he counted a three-count after Ronda Rousey didn’t keep the shoulder down because the decree was that matches should be counted as shoots. According to the report, people in the company noted that the times are different as are the circumstances and that there was no heat on Priest or Zapata.
According to the site, sources stated that Priest was supposed to kick out based on chatter after the show. Priest was said to have been fine in the aftermath. Had Zapata counted the three, the title would have switched to Rollins and the Drew McIntyre cash-in would have been a one-on-one match which would have made CM Punk’s attack on McIntyre difficult, as it wouldn’t be under triple threat “no DQ” rules. In addition, Rollins’ stipulation of not challenging for the title would have been null and void, and Priest would have been out of Judgment Day.
One WWE backstage source noted that “it was an unfortunate situation, but those don’t usually happen with Damian Priest, and he was probably more bothered about it than anyone. Considering how much he gives of himself, it would be silly for anyone to hold that against him. It’s just a ‘shit happens’ situation.”
Some people assumed that Drew McIntyre’s music hitting was supposed to interrupt the count but no one confirmed that and one person, a producer, said that wasn’t the vibe they had. They also noted that shouldn’t stop a pinfall count anyway.
Priest retained the title thanks to Punk’s run-in.