As seen at Saturday night’s 2024 WWE Money in the Bank pay-per-view event, Damian Priest failed to kick out of a pin attempt by Seth Rollins during their World Heavyweight Title match.
After Rollins hit a Falcon Arrow, the referee only counted to two while Priest’s shoulders were clearly on the mat. This was a major botch, which Triple H later confirmed during the post-show media scrum.
According to a report from Fightful Select, the referee in the match was Rob Zapata. He is the same referee that got fined after WrestleMania 35 when he counted a three-count after Ronda Rousey didn’t keep her shoulder down because the decree at the time was that matches should be counted as shoots. Of course, this happened during the Vince McMahon-era. With the new era, there is said to be no heat on Priest or Zapata over what happened.
Numerous sources have confirmed that Priest was supposed to kick out, and although he was frustrated, he was doing okay backstage after the match. It was said that if Zapata counted the three-count, the title would have switched to Rollins. This would have meant that Drew McIntyre’s cash-in would have been a one-on-one match which would have made CM Punk’s attack on McIntyre difficult, as it wouldn’t have been under a Triple Threat “No DQ” rules stipulation. Additionally, Rollins’ stipulation of not challenging for the title if he lost to Priest would have been null and void, and Priest would have been kicked out of The Judgment Day.
One source stated, “It was an unfortunate situation, but those don’t usually happen with Damian Priest, and he was probably more bothered about it than anyone. Considering how much he gives of himself, it would be silly for anyone to hold that against him. It’s just a ‘sh*t happens’ situation.”
While many fans assumed the reason for the botch was because Drew McIntyre’s music was supposed to interrupt the count, no one has confirmed that at this point. One producer openly stated that this wasn’t the vibe they had. They added that entrance music shouldn’t stop a pinfall count anyway.
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