WWE has removed a top match from this weekend’s WWE SummerSlam. Following a vicious attack from Seth Rollins on Monday Night Raw, Riddle suffered a brachial plexus injury, which WWE’s statement described as a “stinger.” The injury occurred after Raw’s main event, which saw The Bloodline defeat Riddle and the Street Profits. Rollins came out to confront Riddle after he was pinned by Roman Reigns, and led an assault on the King of Bros. The attack culminated in Rollins stomping Riddle on the ring steps, which is where he suffered the injury. Fightful Select reports that this is a storyline injury, and Rollins vs. Riddle has been “postponed” to a later date.
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Fans have begun to speculate that this could set up Rollins to have a mystery opponent, something which The Visionary is no stranger to. This past April at WWE WrestleMania 38, Rollins faced a returning Cody Rhodes, the American Nightmare’s first match in WWE since 2016. Theories have ranged from Rhodes returning from his current pectoral injury extra early to Johnny Gargano, a noted favorite of Triple H, making a WWE comeback to stand opposite Rollins at SummerSlam. All possible opponents, and Rollins still having a match altogether, is pure speculation at this point.
Riddle’s injury is the latest in WWE’s laundry list of competitors currently on the shelf. As mentioned, Rhodes is out of action with a torn pectoral muscle and is not expected to be back until 2023. Randy Orton is suffering from a back injury and does not have a recovery timetable at the moment. Over in NXT UK, Ilja Dragunov was forced to relinquish his NXT UK Championship due to an undisclosed injury.
Rollins and Riddle’s now postponed match has been a long time coming, and there was once a time that some didn’t think it would ever happen.
“I’ve got no interest in facing Matt Riddle at any point in my career,” Rollins said during the 2020 WWE Draft.
Riddle had said in the past that he doesn’t believe he’s been on Rollins’ good side.
“I’ll be honest, I’ve met Seth multiple times and he’s met me and I don’t think we’ll ever be best friends [laughs],” Riddle said in 2021. “I don’t think we like one another, we’re just two different people. [Although] we both love wrestling.”
The beef between Rollins and Riddle stemmed from comments that Riddle’s ex-wife made about Rollins’ partner, Becky Lynch. Riddle made an effort to apologize about the situation after WWE Survivor Series 2020.
“We talked. I told him – and this is exactly what I said – I said ‘Hey man, what was said, I don’t agree with it. I thought it was bullcrap. It’s not cool. I just want you to know I apologise, I apologise on her behalf as well. On top of that I think you’re a great performer and if you would ever have it in your heart to work with me, I would love that. And, I know you’re taking some time off because Becky is pregnant, about to have a kid, just want to wish you luck, congratulations, enjoy your time with your beautiful girlfriend – at the time, now wife – and your beautiful child.’ And he literally looked at me and he goes ‘Holy s–t. I didn’t expect that. Everything I hear from people and what I expected… that was really cool. Thank you.’ And that’s where we ended it.”
Stay tuned to ComicBook.com for updates on Rollins’ SummerSlam status.
