Reason Revealed For R-Truth Not Being In WWE Super ShowDown Battle Royal
Where was the 24/7 Champion?
R-Truth definitely made the flight from the United States to Saudi Arabia for WWE Super ShowDown - he'd lost the 24/7 title to Jinder Mahal on an airport tarmac, and then regained the title mid-flight while Mahal was asleep.
Anyone not in a singles or tag match in Jeddah was put into the 50-man battle royal, which ended up being the 51-man battle royal, after some post-show head-counting. With R-Truth there, it could have been a 52-man battle royal (note to AEW: a "52-Pick Up" Battle Royal is feasible), but the 24/7 titleholder did not appear once during the event.
According to Dave Meltzer on the post-show Wrestling Observer Radio, the decision to leave Truth out of the battle royal came down to keeping the focus on the battle royal itself.
Meltzer noted that if the focus was on guys trying to pin Truth in order to win the novelty belt, it would take away from what WWE was billing as, "the largest battle royal in WWE history."
Per Meltzer, "...he didn’t even wrestle in the battle royal because, to their credit, they realized having him in the battle royal would make absolutely no sense, because everyone would have to pin him."
Anyone not in a singles or tag match in Jeddah was put into the 50-man battle royal, which ended up being the 51-man battle royal, after some post-show head-counting. With R-Truth there, it could have been a 52-man battle royal (note to AEW: a "52-Pick Up" Battle Royal is feasible), but the 24/7 titleholder did not appear once during the event.
According to Dave Meltzer on the post-show Wrestling Observer Radio, the decision to leave Truth out of the battle royal came down to keeping the focus on the battle royal itself.
Meltzer noted that if the focus was on guys trying to pin Truth in order to win the novelty belt, it would take away from what WWE was billing as, "the largest battle royal in WWE history."
Per Meltzer, "...he didn’t even wrestle in the battle royal because, to their credit, they realized having him in the battle royal would make absolutely no sense, because everyone would have to pin him."
Written by Justin Henry
In addition to writing lists and commentaries for Cultaholic, Justin is also a features writer and interviewer for Fighting Spirit Magazine, and is co-author of the WWE-related book Titan Screwed: Lost Smiles, Stunners, and Screwjobs.
