"Thank him when there is no mic involved" - Female WWE veteran gets honest on Solo Sikoa's character-breaking moment
Solo Sikoa breaking character and thanking Rey Mysterio during their WWE RAW match is being widely discussed online, and ECW legend Francine shared her honest thoughts on the viral clip on her podcast this week.
Rey Mysterio put Solo Sikoa over in their first-ever singles match in WWE, and the ringside mics caught him saying "thank you" while he leaned in during the pinfall.
While Francine didn't have a problem with Sikoa's "endearing" gesture, she said he could have probably waited until they went to the back to tell Mysterio how he felt about their bout.
The Queen of Extreme said acknowledging a rival's efforts was a common courtesy in the wrestling business, and she explained why on her YouTube channel:
"We've said it in the ring before, but they are so heavily mic'ed; like you said, the ring is mic'ed, you can hear everything. He might have wanted to wait to get to the back to do something like that (laughs). But yeah, it's endearing; I mean, you're out there protecting each other. You want each other to look good. It benefits both of you; it benefits the company; it elevates you; why would you not thank somebody?" [1:22 onwards]
Francine continued talking about Solo Sikoa's moment with Rey Mysterio and understood why the young superstar believed it was necessary to let the Hall of Famer know how grateful he was to get a victory over him.
The former WWE star, however, advised Solo Sikoa to probably be aware of the microphones the next time he decides to say something kayfabe-breaking:
"But for something like this, a thank you, you can't hide something like that. So, endearing, yes. It's a great moment for him (Solo Sikoa), and he should be thanking him, but you know, next time, you know, thank him when there is no mic involved. When people can't hear you." [4:00 - 4:40]
Former WWE star Francine shares a few tips on how to call spots during a match
The ECW Original has been in the wrestling industry since the early 1990s and even had a brief spell in WWE between 2005 and 2006 when the company rebooted the Extreme Championship Wrestling brand.
Francine has studied many matches, and whenever she saw two competitors lean over toward each other, she was confident they were doing it to discuss the upcoming spots. The 51-year-old explained that wrestlers needed to create a distraction and divert the crowd's attention if they wanted to talk about something during a bout.
She was firmly against fans hearing stars calling out their spots loudly and stated there are ways to avoid it from happening:
"Anytime that I noticed two guys leaning over to each other, in my head, I'm thinking, 'Okay, they are calling a spot; they are talking about something.' So, I would try and pull a distraction. Bang on the mat, make the crowd come up to cover that so that nobody can hear what they are talking about because at times, especially if I saw things saw go not the way they are supposed to go, sometimes things happen. You don't ever want the fans hear a spot being called or something being discussed in the ring. So, I always try to keep my eyes open." [3:00 onwards]
Were you a fan of the moment between Solo and Rey on WWE RAW? Sound off in the comments section below.
If you use quotes from this article, please give a H/T to Sportskeeda Wrestling for the transcription.