Released WWE star on Vince McMahon giving him a pay-per-view match due to his entrance
Ariya Daivari has revealed that he faced Tony Nese on the main show at WWE Money in the Bank 2019 due to his car entrance.
Nese recently told Matt Rehwoldt (f.k.a. Aiden English) on Straight Shooting that Daivari pitched the idea of driving a car during his entrance. An unnamed WWE higher-up rejected the idea, so Daivari approached Vince McMahon and received approval from the WWE Chairman instead.
On the latest episode of Straight Shooting, Daivari said WWE's decision-makers almost always used to book cruiserweight matches on pay-per-view kickoff shows. However, McMahon made an exception for his match against Nese simply because of his unique entrance.
“No matter what, it [cruiserweight matches] was always the pre-show,” Daivari said. “And because I got the car entrance, they’re like, ‘We can’t do this car entrance on a pre-show.’ That’s why we were put on the main show.
“So many people were like, ‘Why the f*** is Daivari on the main show? You could’ve put Drew Gulak on the main show, you could’ve put this guy, Buddy Murphy on the main show, but you’re gonna put Daivari on the main show?’ I was like, ‘I had a cool f***ing entrance. That’s why!’ They couldn’t waste that on the pre-show.”
Daivari and Nese both received their releases from WWE in June, while Bray Wyatt surprisingly left the company last week. Watch the video above to hear Sportskeeda Wrestling’s Kevin Kellam and Rick Ucchino discuss Wyatt, WWE’s latest releases, and much more.
Tony Nese defeated Ariya Daivari at WWE Money in the Bank 2019
Ariya Daivari was told by Vince McMahon that he also needed permission from WWE Executive Vice President Kevin Dunn to drive a car in his entrance. Dunn approved the idea after making sure a car would fit into the WWE Money in the Bank arena (the XL Center in Hartford, Connecticut).
Nese, who won the Cruiserweight Championship from Buddy Murphy a month earlier at WrestleMania 35, defeated Daivari in a nine-minute match. Nese’s reign lasted 77 days, while Daivari never held the title during his five years in WWE.
Please credit Straight Shooting and give a H/T to Sportskeeda Wrestling for the transcription if you use quotes from this article.