Details on Vince McMahon changing the finish midway through a WWE tag team match (Exclusive)
Dutch Mantell recently recalled how Vince McMahon once altered the outcome of a tag team match involving Cesaro and Jack Swagger at short notice.
Mantell, formerly known in WWE as Zeb Colter, managed The Real Americans (Cesaro and Swagger) between July 2013 and April 2014. The two men faced many of WWE’s top teams during that time, including The Usos and The Shield.
Riju Dasgupta asked Mantell, a Sportskeeda Wrestling Awards panelist, whether WWE shows are sometimes chaotic backstage. The wrestling legend confirmed that late changes occasionally happen, as he once witnessed from ringside during a Real Americans match:
“The finish was that Cesaro and Jack were gonna go over, so I’m watching and all of a sudden I see a completely different finish.” Mantell continued, “And I went, ‘Well, what the hell happened, guys?’ Jack told me, he said, ‘Well, Vince changed his mind halfway through the match,’ and that’s how it ended.” [11:19-11:45]
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How Dutch Mantell reacted to Vince McMahon’s last-minute change
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Vince McMahon produces WWE shows from a monitor backstage. That means, in rare circumstances, he can contact the referee via a headset midway through the match if he wants to make any late adjustments.
Dutch Mantell said he reacted to his team’s defeat like a fan, but WWE cameras did not show his face at the time:
“When you say spur of the moment, you couldn’t get more spur of the moment than Vince changing the outcome about halfway through. I’m like a fan now going, ‘What the hell?!’ Of course they didn’t get me on camera, but it’s been known to happen. I don’t know if it’s happened to anybody else, but it happened to us.” [11:45-12:11]
Cesaro and Swagger were among WWE’s most prominent tag teams during their nine-month alliance. The duo separated on the post-WrestleMania 30 episode of RAW when Cesaro aligned himself with Paul Heyman.
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