5 WWE backstage stories we learned this week: Superstar nearly quit before SummerSlam, why Renee Young stopped commentating
As regular readers of this weekly series will know, the backstage news involving WWE Superstars is sometimes just as interesting as the storyline developments that we see every few days on RAW, SmackDown and NXT.
This week, the on-screen invasion storyline between WWE’s top three shows continued ahead of their battle of brand supremacy at Survivor Series, while it was announced that Rey Mysterio is set to challenge Brock Lesnar for the WWE Championship.
Away from the in-ring action, plenty of stories have emerged following the company’s delayed flight back from the Crown Jewel event in Saudi Arabia, while we even learned at the start of WWE’s European tour that a former World Heavyweight Champion threatened to leave before SummerSlam if he was not allocated more time for his match.
With another busy week out the way, let’s take a look at five of the best backstage stories that have been told over the last seven days.
#5 Dolph Ziggler ‘threatened to quit’ at SummerSlam
One of the most memorable matches from the 2019 SummerSlam pay-per-view came when the returning Goldberg defeated Dolph Ziggler in 1 minute and 50 seconds.
Speaking to talkSPORT’s Alex McCarthy during WWE’s trip to Manchester, England, Ziggler revealed that he threatened to quit if the original finish to their match – a squash match, involving one Spear and a pinfall – did not change.
After trying all day to get WWE’s decision-makers to alter the finish and give the match at least two minutes, Ziggler ended up gaining the upper hand in the early stages by hitting Goldberg with two superkicks.
The Hall of Famer responded with a Spear and a Jackhammer to pick up the win, while Ziggler ran his mouth post-match and received another two beatdowns.
Overall, the Ziggler vs. Goldberg segments and match lasted a total of 12 minutes, so it seems that “The Show Off” got his way!