If you were watching WWE Raw this week and felt like the end of the Intercontinental Championship No. 1 Contenders Fatal 4-Way match looked wonky, you weren’t wrong.
The match featured Bronson Reed, Ivar, Ricochet and The Miz competing for the right to take on Gunther for his title at Survivor Series later this month. As the bout headed toward its conclusion, there was a spot that saw the two biggest men, Reed and Ivar, come off the top rope at the same time. Ivar landed squarely on Ricochet, but Miz got his knees up to fend off the Tsunami from Reed.
Ivar covered Ricochet while Miz covered Reed, and the referee looked at both situations and counted both pins simultaneously. But a bit of confusion spread between everyone from the ref to the TV announcers to the ring announcer when Ricochet kicked out and Reed did not.
The Miz was announced as the winner, which actually wasn’t that hard to follow on TV, though it was clear everyone was thrown off by something. That’s because that wasn’t the way the match was slated to end.
According to Wrestling Observer’s Dave Meltzer, the match was planned to have a double pin, but Ricochet kicked out unexpectedly.
Just a note regarding Raw last night. Ricochet was not supposed to kick out of the Ivar moonsault and it was supposed to be a simultaneous double pin. That's why it came across so awkward on television. I believe Ricochet was rocked earlier in the match when his head hit the…
— Dave Meltzer (@davemeltzerWON) November 7, 2023
One one hand, the idea that Ricochet was “rocked” during the match and kept wrestling is a bad look for WWE. It’s far from the only time something like this has happened, and there are difficulties on the fly sometimes at identifying potential issues. But in a day and age where concussion awareness is much stronger, it’s the kind of thing you don’t like to see.
As far as booking goes, The Miz and Ivar are wrestling each other on the Nov. 13 episode of Raw. One presumes that match would have been to settle things after the double pin with the winner going on to face Gunther — and that still would have been The Miz. Now it’s Ivar looking for payback after he felt he got hosed, which still works.
In the end, it doesn’t appear WWE’s plans for Survivor Series were affected, but it’s another example of how when you’re watching weekly wrestling TV and something seems off, there’s a good chance it really is.
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