WWE's Giovanni Vinci Loses SmackDown Debut in Record Time
WWE's Giovanni Vinci is defeated by Apollo Crews on SmackDown in just 3 seconds
The WWE Universe was rather intrigued by recent vignettes for Giovanni Vinci, who was shifting to a much different persona than when fans last saw him as part of Imperium. Tonight was supposed to be his big debut, ringing in a new era for the returning superstar, but unfortunately for Vinci, that is not at all what happened. Vinci ended up getting pinned in just 3 seconds by Apollo Crews, who scored a much needed win on his return path and left Vinci speechless and confused as to how to proceed next.
Clearly Distracted
Vinci came out and took a minute to greet the crowd, and that extended to his time in the ring. Vinci would head to his corner and start to take off his jacket, and he was moving at a rather nonchalant pace while doing so. Then the bell was rung, but Vinci was still removing his jacket and in no rush to speed up the process.
Crews was on a very different wavelength however, and he charged forward towards Vinci's corner. As Vinci still was still taking off his jacket and getting ready, Crews darted forward and brought down Vinci into a quick roll-up cover, and he managed to get the 3-count and get the win. Vinci was completely shocked and trying to yell at the referee that he wasn't ready, but Crews was already out of the ring and celebrating his win.
Vinci has now lost his big return match, which would be a bummer in and of itself, but losing it in just 3 seconds? Well, that's got to sting, and odds are Vinci will be looking for a way to get some payback and forward momentum next week. He might even want a rematch against Crews, and if he takes that long to get ready for the match again, Crews might just get back to back wins.
WWE Week on USA Network
Next week is SmackDown's big premiere on USA Network, as it moves from FOX after a five-year stint. There is already an Undisputed WWE Championship match set for the premiere, and WWE will look to add even more big matches to the card to make it as special as possible.
For three weeks, fans will actually find all of WWE's shows on USA. Next week SmackDown will move to USA Network full-time, while Monday Night Raw is staying put until January of 2025 when they move full-time to Netflix. As for NXT, it will be on USA Network until October, when it moves full-time to The CW. Until then though, you can catch everything WWE on USA.
What did you think of Vinci's debut? You can talk all things wrestling with me on Threads and Twitter @mattaguilarcb!
