WWE fans who watched the November 6th edition of Raw may have noticed confusion regarding one of the match finishes.
The match in question saw Riochet, The Miz, Bronson Reed and Ivar battle it out in a 4-Way match to determine the next number one contender for Intercontinental Champion Gunther.
The ending of the match saw Reed and Ivar each dive off the top rope onto Miz and Ricochet respectively, but Miz moved out of the way. As Miz and Ivar pinned Reed and Ricochet at the same time, the referee began to count. While Reed did not kick out, Ricochet did before the ref reached 3, allowing Miz to win the match.
There seemed to be confusion as the commentary team stumbled over who won the match and demanded an instant reply. Ring announcer Samantha Irvin announced The Miz as the winner even though the referee attempted to wave it off. The confusion all appears to stem from the fact that Ricochet was not supposed to kick out and a double pin was the original finish.
As posted in an update by Dave Meltzer on social media, the finish was supposed to be a double pin and neither man was scheduled to kick out. It is believed that the former Intercontinental Champion suffered a blow in the match which caused the confusion:
Just a note regarding Raw last night. Ricochet was not supposed to kick out of the Ivar moonsault and it was supposed to be a simultaneous double pin. That’s why it came across so awkward on television. I believe Ricochet was rocked earlier in the match when his head hit the mat.
After the bell, Ivar attacked Miz to set up a singles match between the two on the November 13th edition of Raw. It should also be noted that although the title match was scheduled for Survivor Series, there is no official graphic on the event page at the time of writing, seemingly indicating that plans are set to change.
Ricochet Possibly Suffers A Concussion On WWE Raw
Bryan Alvarez discussed the confusing match finish on Wrestling Observer Radio, stating that the high flyer was tested for a suspected concussion when he got to the back:
“Everyone in the ring is confused, they’re all looking around like, ‘what the hell is going on here?’ The referee is trying to stop The Miz from celebrating and trying to stop the ring announcer for announcing The Miz as the winner.”
“I am 99% positive that Ricochet was supposed to be pinned, but he kicked out, because he was messed up. Everyone is confused, and the referee makes a deal and it ends up with Ivar laying out The Miz afterward and destroying him with a giant moonsault and leaving him for dead. The crowd chants ‘You suck’ … Ricochet was led off, and he is in the concussion protocol.”
H/t to SEScoops.