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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.
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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.
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#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!
#4 Why Renee Young disliked doing RAW commentary
Renee Young became the first permanent female commentator in RAW history when she joined Michael Cole and Corey Graves at the announce desk in August 2018, replacing Jonathan Coachman.
Unfortunately, the former Talking Smack host received a lot of criticism from people on social media about her commentating skills, and she even admitted in a tweet earlier in 2019 that she knows she’s “not great” but she is trying to improve.
Following the 2019 draft, it was confirmed that Young would no longer be a commentator on RAW and she will now be the host of a weekly show on FS1 – WWE Backstage – as well as a correspondent on SmackDown.
Speaking on the SI Media Podcast this week, Young revealed that she “never felt comfortable” doing commentary, adding that she did not enjoy calling the action when her husband, Jon Moxley (fka Dean Ambrose), participated in matches on RAW.
"So one week Michael Cole and Triple H pulled me aside and said that I am going to be doing commentary on Monday Night Raw next week. I was like, what? Why? Whose idea was this? And on top of that, trying to call my husband's matches when he was still with WWE, so there is a lot of different weird factors. I'm not trying to make any excuses but it just wasn't the right gig for me."
#3 Corey Graves’ story behind the Saudi Arabia flight delay
WWE confirmed shortly before the November 1 episode of SmackDown that the majority of the roster who participated at Crown Jewel, plus dozens of company employees, were still in Saudi Arabia due to mechanical issues with their plane.
As a result, several NXT Superstars invaded SmackDown to promote the upcoming battle between WWE’s top three brands at Survivor Series, with NXT Champion Adam Cole recording a clean victory over Daniel Bryan in the main event.
While many fans praised the episode, which turned out to be one of the best of 2019, various Superstars complained on social media about their travel situation coming back from Saudi Arabia, especially after WWE chose 20 Superstars and talents, including Corey Graves, to board an earlier plane than everybody else in the hope of getting them to Buffalo in time for SmackDown.
Speaking on his new After The Bell podcast this week, Graves called on Superstars to stop complaining and explained that he was one of the ‘Saudi 20’ for the simple reason that he was needed for SmackDown commentary.
“If you’re mad because your flight got delayed and you weren’t one of the ‘Saudi 20’ and you weren’t important enough to get on the jet, that’s on you. Quit crying about it on Twitter. You’re a WWE Superstar. This happens, this is part of our life. We all have travel woes, we all have travel issues.”
#2 Seth Rollins reveals what happened during the RAW meeting
Prior to the November 4 episode of RAW, Vince McMahon and Triple H gathered the entire roster to explain the issues that the company had with their flight coming back from Saudi Arabia.
One report suggested that Seth Rollins gave a “rah-rah speech” during the meeting, but the man himself denied that any such thing happened by telling Fightful that he did not say a single word while the meeting took place.
"Vince and Triple H held an all talent meeting to explain the travel situation returning from Crown Jewel. They commended the talent for their conduct in a tough spot and fielded questions and allowed anyone to voice their feelings on the matter. Some talent spoke up and overall it was a productive forum. I said zero words. I made no speech. Pretty simple."
Rollins has also had a very busy week from a storyline perspective, with Triple H offering him the opportunity to return to NXT ahead of the RAW vs. SmackDown vs. NXT battle at Survivor Series.
After initially refusing to answer his long-time mentor, the former Shield member has now been announced as the captain of Team RAW’s five-on-five-on-five elimination match against the opposing two brands.
#1 Cesaro’s response to Vince McMahon’s 2014 comments
Sportskeeda’s Tom Colohue spoke to Cesaro during a media roundtable event in Manchester, England ahead of WWE’s tapings of SmackDown and RAW on Friday.
One of the most interesting comments came when the six-time WWE Tag Team Champion gave some insight into how he reacted when Vince McMahon claimed during a 2014 interview with Steve Austin that he struggles to connect with fans.
“I tried to prove him wrong a lot. The ‘Cesaro Section’ came right after, where at one point there was thousands of signs out in the crowd. That may have proven him wrong a little bit, but it’s also a constant thing to keep proving that."
He added that WWE is “like a kingdom where Vince McMahon sits at the top”, and he believes he has been “fighting an uphill battle” ever since the WWE Chairman made those comments.
Regarding a possible reunion with The Bar when Sheamus returns to in-ring action, Cesaro said he is “really stubborn” about being as successful as possible as a singles competitor, so he has no plans to be in a tag team again right now.
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