WWE originally announced a match between Matt Riddle and Seth Rollins for the SummerSlam card, but days before the event, the bout was pulled. WWE did a storyline injury where they noted that Riddle suffered a stinger due to an attack from Rollins on Raw.
WWE did do a brawl segment at SummerSlam. The bout being pulled was due to WWE wanting to save it for a later date, which is today’s Clash at the Castle event.
While speaking with Ariel Helwani of BT Sport, Rollins discussed how he felt about the decision.
“Okay, we could use a few more weeks to build this story as it was, but yeah, they made the choice to ax our match and make sure all the other matches were maximized with time and story and all that. Totally understood that and respected that. I was a little upset that we advertised the match and not given it to them. At the level I have been performing for the last year, I felt like a bit of a slap in the face as a performer that I wasn’t able to be on what is essentially the second biggest show of the year for us.”
Riddle was asked whether he felt disrespected by the decision.
“Of course. I think anybody in my position who takes pride in what they do would think there’s gotta be a little bit of disrespect felt there. Did I go about it the right way? Maybe, maybe not…The tweet.”
He noted that when he got word about the decision, he didn’t take too kindly to it and knew a couple of days before the announcement. Rollins then spoke about the statement that was not in character.
“I feel bad for people who wanted to see the match who had paid money to maybe to see that match, specifically that we had been building towards a few weeks and had been advertising it for a week or two. I felt the need to control my own narrative, so to speak, in that regard.”
"I was upset we advertised the match and not given it to them"
"At the level I have been performing for the last year It felt like a bit of a slap in the face as a performer"@WWERollins talks about his match with Matt Riddle being scrapped at SummerSlam.#WWECastle pic.twitter.com/sNFP44BILS
— WWE on TNT Sports (@wweontnt) September 3, 2022
Rollins also addressed his real-life issues with Riddle. Click below for the entire interview:
If you use any portion of the quotes from this article, please credit BT Sport with an h/t to WrestlingNews.co for the transcription.
