Backstage Update On WWE Scrapping Braun Strowman Vs. Randy Orton
New details on how Strowman vs. Orton found itself removed from the Raw card.
The pre-advertised Randy Orton vs. Braun Strowman match was pulled from last night's episode of WWE Raw before yesterday's production meeting began.
This is according to PWInsider's Mike Johnson, who reports that Orton vs. Strowman had been scrapped and replaced by Orton vs. Riddle ahead of the meeting, with Strowman added to Drew McIntyre's storyline opposite former RETRIBUTION members Mace and T-Bar instead.
As reported by Fightful Select, Vince McMahon was "significantly late" to Raw last night and made several swooping creative changes upon arrival. This report was released after WWE had ceased advertising Strowman vs. Orton.
PWInsider notes that scrapping the match was a Vince McMahon call.
Last night would have been the first time Orton and Strowman had ever gone one-on-one in WWE. Legitimate first-time matches are hard to come by in this era, but while these two well-tenured wrestlers have shared a WWE ring over a dozen times throughout their careers, they have never had a singles match - not even on a house show.
Strowman and McIntyre wrestled Mace and T-Bar to a disqualification on Raw. Elsewhere, Orton ate a clean defeat to Riddle.