WWE Hall of Famer Road Dogg has addressed his decision to allow Rachael Ellering to continue to wrestle at Ric Flair’s Last Match despite suffering an injury.
On the undercard for the ‘Ric Flair’s Last Match’ pay-per-view, Rachael Ellering competed in a Three-way match against Jordynne Grace and Deonna Purrazzo with Grace’s IMPACT Knockouts World Championship on the line.
Early in the bout, Ellering sustained a badly sprained ankle but worked through it to the finish which saw her submit to Grace when she locked in a Rear Naked Choke.
One of the producers for the show, former SmackDown lead writer Road Dogg, has discussed the controversial decision to let Rachael Ellering continue the match despite the injury.
Speaking on the latest edition of his ‘Oh…You Didn’t Know’ podcast (available early on AdFreeShows), Road Dogg explained that he wanted to leave the decision to Ellering as it was a “big deal” for her.
“I know two of these ladies really well from NXT. I know of Jordan Grace. I’ve met her a few times at some signings, but she was a real professional. They had a great match. They put it together. We kind of let them do what they wanted to do and they did that.
“Sadly enough, there was that injury to Rachael Ellering. So yeah, they were very professional. It was awesome. That injury, unfortunately, happened early on. I actually talked with Rachael before we started recording today. It was a high sprain. It’s not broken. But it could have been bad. We all saw it and we’re horrified for her.
“The shout started coming around me to make it a singles match, but I wanted her to let it be her choice. I knew this was a big deal for Rachael Ellering. I knew it was a big deal for everybody who was performing that night. It was a big deal for me, and I wasn’t performing that night. But I knew how important it was to Rachael.”
Road Dogg went on to say that he got the ringside doctor and referee to check that Ellering could continue.
“So I asked the doc and the referee to ask her if she can continue. I’m not going to change anything until she tells me, ‘I can’t continue.’ Look, I’ve been there. I’ve been on that side. I’ve been wanting to finish this match and the doctor said no. I’ve told doctors no and finished matches.
“So I know that this decision was totally hers, and with adrenaline and endorphins and all of the above, and emotions, she pushed through it, and she pushed through a high ankle sprain that looked like it could have been a compound fracture, a Joe Theismann situation. She fought her way through it and finished the match.”
The multi-time WWE Tag Team Champion said he had discussed the situation with Rachael Ellering ahead of the podcast and she was glad he made the decision to let her keep going.
“We talked about that today, what a warrior she was and she was so glad. She told me, ‘That’s the biggest crowd I’ve ever worked in front of. It was one of the biggest moments of my career. I’m so glad you let me continue.’
“I didn’t want to let her continue, but I didn’t want to stop her from continuing and I knew she knows her best. She knows how she’s feeling right now. She knows how she’s feeling. Let’s ask her and let her decide.
“She came back and started hobbling a little bit and I thought, ‘Oh, no, is this a bad idea?’ Man, that stuff kicked in, that adrenaline kicked in, emotions kicked in, and she killed it. She was there for every spot with a high sprained ankle. That’s a warrior.”
H/T to WrestlingNews.co for the above transcription.