The feud between Seth Rollins and Matt Riddle has been pretty heated, and even in a Fight Pit match at Extreme Rules, may get out of hand. A normal referee may not be able to keep things under control, but what about a former two-division UFC Champion?
That’s exactly what the match will have on Saturday, Oct. 8 in Philadelphia. Prominent MMA journalist Ariel Helwani broke the news on Saturday night that Daniel Cormier, the former UFC Light Heavyweight and UFC Heavyweight champion, will serve as guest referee when Rollins and Riddle square off in the Fight Pit.
No, really. This is legit.
“The Rollins-Riddle feud has gotten very intense and personal. There’s only one person qualified enough to oversee this brutal match at Xtreme Rules and it’s me. I’ll see you guys in Philly next Saturday.”
– @dc_mma, special freakin’ guest ref.
— Ariel Helwani (@arielhelwani) October 2, 2022
Though the 43-year-old Cormier has never dabbled in pro wrestling himself, his bona fides as an amateur wrestler rank up there with some of the very best. Cormier has made the US World or Olympic team six times, has medaled at the World Wrestling Championships and was an NCAA Division I national finalist during his college days at Oklahoma State.
His presence adds even more of a shoot fight feel to the Fight Pit match, which can only be won by submission or referee 10-count and takes place in a steel cage (with a catwalk around the top) that doesn’t have the typical ropes or turnbuckles. That environment would seem to favor Riddle, who had a successful career as an MMA fighter before he turned to pro wrestling.
However as numerous people have pointed out on social media, Cormier and Rollins are friends who have supported each other for big events in the past. If WWE chooses, it can have some fun with accusations that perhaps D.C. might not call things right down the middle, though with the announcement coming just a week before Extreme Rules, there isn’t a whole lot of time for that.
In any case, having Cormier on one of the typically less important premium cards is a shrewd move for WWE that might get some people to check it out who would normally skip it. It’s hard to ask more of a guest referee than that.