Dave Meltzer Apologises To Seth Rollins Over WWE Backstage Meeting Story

Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer has apologised to Seth Rollins and issued a full retraction of his story suggesting that the former Universal Champion spoke up during a Vince McMahon-led roster meeting prior to Monday's episode of WWE Raw.

A statement published on Figure Four Online yesterday afternoon saw Meltzer apologise for the error, noting that "it is our policy in our newsletters and on our podcasts to correct mistakes as soon as possible and to always clarify if there are misunderstandings."

This came after Rollins issued several vociferous denials of the story, including a number of Twitter jabs at the Observer head honcho, as well as a statement to Fightful Select in which he said "I said zero words. I made no speech. Pretty simple."

So, what happened here? The likeliest explanation is that Meltzer was fed misinformation by a source. As pointed out brilliantly by journalist David Bixenspan last night, the threat of a potentially career-ending defamation lawsuit means that anyone suggesting someone in Meltzer's position would straight-up fabricate a story doesn't understand the journalistic process:-

Whatever the case, let's hope this situation can now be put to rest.