Wrestling legend thinks Roman Reigns had people "freaking out" backstage on SmackDown due to unnoticed detail (Exclusive)
Roman Reigns has been a part of the most talked-about moments in WWE and some of the highest-rated segments since his run as The Tribal Chief began three years ago. Wrestling legend Dutch Mantell thinks that while many people didn't notice something, it may have led to people freaking out backstage.
On the latest episode of Sportskeeda Wrestling's Smack Talk, Dutch Mantell spoke mostly about Vince McMahon and his return to WWE. But he brought up the fact that Zelina Vega vs. Bayley on the July 14 episode of SmackDown only went on for two minutes.
He then pointed out that the previous week, the Tribal Court segment with Roman Reigns ran well past the scheduled time, and it may have led to some people freaking out backstage. He then said that they were likely reassured by the three million viewers that the segment pulled in:
"The girls only went two minutes, Zelina Vega and Bayley. They went two minutes, and I thought 'Why?', then I got to thinking and because last week I'm watching the Tribal Court and I thought 'Damn this is long!' and they were freaking in the back going, 'it's going over [time]', 'it's going over'. And when they got those ratings back - 3 million at its peak. When was the last time RAW or SmackDown got 3 million people?" [0:42 - 1:20]
Mantell went on to describe the July 14 Bloodline segment and praised the way it played out, although he didn't seem to be a fan of Paul Heyman's bumping:
"Actually, it went a little longer than I thought it should have gone, but Paul Heyman laid out the story, and when Solo [Sikoa] took the mic, the crowd got quiet. And then he started talking and they started their little fighting in the ring, it was perfect. [Referring to the July 14 SmackDown segment] And when Paul Heyman was left alone in the ring with Jey [Uso] and the chair was there. Paul Heyman, he's not a top guy you can hit a bunch of stuff." [1:26 - 2:10]
You can watch the full video below:
Solo Sikoa was teased as Roman Reigns' replacement in the Tribal Court segment
Should @WWESoloSikoa be the next Tribal Chief?!
@WWERomanReigns #SmackDown pic.twitter.com/fEitBUpx8r
What was incredible about the above-mentioned Tribal Court segment was the fact that Solo Sikoa was teased as his replacement – an idea that Roman Reigns simply laughed off.
The Usos decided to acknowledge Solo Sikoa as the next Tribal Chief, leading to some big tensions being hinted at.
While Sikoa is very much on Roman Reigns' side, that may not last for very long, depending on how things play out.
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