At WrestleMania 35 in New Jersey, Samoa Joe defended the United States Championship against Rey Mysterio. Following a shot build, there was considerable excitement t to see what they'd come up with, only for the bout to last a mere minute.
It started with the Master of the 619 hitting Joe with a 619, only to be caught by the heel's Coquina Clutch, a move which made the WWE Hall of Famer pass out almost immediately. With that, it was over and the crowd went...well, mild.
Fans have long wondered whether something went wrong, but former WWE referee Mike Chioda has now shared some additional insights into how a 15-minute match ended up taking less time than Rey and Joe's respective ring entrances.
Here's what Chioda said on a recent edition of his podcast:
"I always love when Rey worked big guys like Kane and Undertaker. He had phenomenal matches with these guys. Small guy, big guy, you know, and it’s just, there was so many times near the end of the false finishes that we had them off the seats because they thought Rey was going to go over. Those were the matches that I liked the most when Rey was always working somebody bigger with the Kane’s and The Undertaker’s and other guys."
"The worst match I’ve done with Rey, which it sucked because me and him were very close and sh*t went down horrible at WrestleMania in New Jersey. He had to face Samoa Joe. I know Rey got this badass costume. This Japanese dude from Japan and this other guy from Mexico make his gear, and these guys are so good at making his gear, and he spends so much money on his gear. I’m talking like 15 grand, you know. He flies these guys in, he gets their hotel, and he puts his gear together every year."
"The match went down from 15 to 12 or something, and then 12 to something like nine or eight. And when I got in the ring, and Rey Mysterio was just about on his entrance, they said you gotta go home. As soon as Rey and Joe gets in the ring, you gotta go home. You have two minutes."
"It was literally like a two or three, four minute match, man, and he just squashed Rey pretty much, and boom, and won. And I know Rey was stunned, shocked, because they didn’t take off anybody else’s match during the show basically, you know. These people went long and they didn’t b*tch at them, and all of a sudden they just pull the last second, you know, man. And I was like, ‘Are you f**king kidding me, Billy?’ He’s like, ‘You gotta go home.’ As soon as they go in, tell him to get to something, do something, go home. It was a title match too. I think it was a title match."
"I mean, I know they’re going to still get a big paycheck and all that, but sometimes, you know, money ain’t there. It’s your pride."
WrestleMania 35 was painfully long so we're not surprised that a match had to be cut for time. However, to give Joe and Rey only 60 seconds seems ridiculous, particularly as an additional two or three minutes more surely wouldn't have made that much of a difference to the event.
What do you think? As always, let us know your thoughts in the comments section.