PWInsider.com reports that the finish of the match between Chelsea Green and Zelina Vega on Friday’s episode of SmackDown did not proceed as originally planned. The match ended when the referee counted Green out of the ring while yelling at people at ringside.
According to reports, “The belief after the match was that Green legitimately did not hear the referee’s count as it was getting to ten, so the count out was 100% legit. When the referee made it to the end of the count, they had no choice but to call for the finish as a shoot, as they couldn’t ignore hitting the ten count on live television.”
One source believes that when Vega was thrown back into the ring, Green might have assumed the referee would restart the count. She resumed interacting with the announcers and fans at ringside, unaware that the referee was still counting. By the time the count neared ten, she did not hear the referee in time, leading to the match being called.
Sources indicate that the match was intended to last several more minutes. Mike Johnson believes the original finish was for Vega to win, and the actual finish still involved everyone to set up a six-woman tag team match. It was also reported that there was no backstage heat on anyone involved in the match.
