Seth Rollins was integral in Daniel Cormier’s upcoming WWE appearance.
It was recently announced that former UFC Heavyweight and Light Heavyweight Champion, Daniel Cormier would be the special guest referee for Seth Rollins and Matt Riddle’s Fight Pit Match, which takes place WWE’s next premium live event, Extreme Rules on 10/8.
When speaking with ESPN’s Marc Raimondi, Daniel Cormier, who’s a lifelong professional wrestling fan, delved into how Rollins was the one who initiated talks between he and WWE, leading up to this weekend’s event:
“So, it wasn’t really from the people in charge. It was Seth Rollins, he texted me goes, ‘Real life-fighting in the fight pit and we may be in the market for a special guest referee, would you have any interest in it? ‘So I said, Yeah, I’d be interested in doing it. I think that it’s fun. I think that what you guys have done has been a pleasure to watch.
I think it’s gonna be intense, I think that I can add to the story,’ because the reality is all you’re trying to do is add to the story, right? These guys that are professionals, they’re gonna make magic as they have done on so many occasions. So hopefully, I can add a little bit to what they’re doing in there. I said I’d be interested and put them in contact with my agent and then it just so happens that his wife and I shared the same agent. So it worked.”
While no longer an active competitor in MMA, Daniel Cormier is still under a deal with the UFC as a commentator and analyst. However, Cormier said he received the green light from UFC President, Dana White, who, according to Cormier, is all for the cross-over:
“I called Dana right away. He was like, ‘Dude, you in the WWE? How could I say no?’ He was like ‘I would never say no to you in the WWE. I know how much you enjoyed it.’ I enjoyed it. So yeah, they were all for it, man. UFC is all excited. I mean, honestly, and gave me permission to say UFC, you know, so I know that we don’t say different organizations. I will say UFC every time I’m out there,”
The updated card for Extreme Rules can be found below:
- Liv Morgan (C) vs. Ronda Rousey — SmackDown Women’s Championship, Extreme Rules Match
- Bianca Belair (C) vs. Bayley — RAW Women’s Championship, Ladder Match
- Seth ‘Freakin’ Rollins vs. Matt Riddle — Fight Pit Match with Daniel Cormier as Special Guest Referee
- Drew McIntyre vs. Karrion Kross — Strap Match
- Edge vs. Finn Balor — ‘I Quit’ Match
- Imperium (GUNTHER, Ludwig Kaiser, and Giovanni Vinci) vs. The Brawling Brutes (Sheamus, Ridge Holland, and Butch) — Good Ole Fashioned Donnybrook Match
Betting odds for this weekend’s big WWE premium live event can be found by clicking here.
(h/t to Fightful for the transcription)