Undisputed WWE Champion Sami Zayn retained his title against Kevin Owens In the main event of WWE SmackDown, but the end of the match was confusing. After CM Punk hit Owens with the belt and Zayn covered his opponent, the referee appeared to count to three. The bell didn’t ring though and Zayn had to pull Owens up for the Helluva Kick for the pin.
Bully Ray Breaks Up the Messy Ending “Destroyed open radio,” and said he saw the ref’s hand hit the mat a third time, but didn’t hear the usual noise of the count. He noted that the YouTube version of the match was corrected to WWE, and he was referring to the original version of the error.
“The referee’s hand hits for the third time, and then he gets up and signals for the bell,” he said. “But we never get it. For those of you who can tell. “Well, Kevin raised his hand.” No, he didn’t. The only thing that came off the mat was the back of Kevin’s forearm and a small part of his ribcage… Every part of Kevin Owen’s shoulders was on the mat for the three count… Where the miscommunication happened, I don’t know.”
Bully Ray said that over the past 10 years, he has been able to pinpoint where mistakes happen in the ring, no matter what company they are in. For that, all he knows is that the referee’s hand hit the mat three times and everything went awry.
“Now some might say… ‘Hey, he didn’t hit that hard for the third count,'” he said. “But even if his hand had hit the mat, you would have heard something. There was no noise, period.”
If you use any quotes from this article, please credit Busted Open Radio and credit ah/t Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.
