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WWE There was a possible botched finish as GUNTHER was crowned the winner of the 2024 WWE King of the Ring tournament.
UPDATE: Triple H has now addressed the finish – find out what he said at this link.
With Randy Orton having nailed GUNTHER with a second RKO of the match, he went for the pin on the Austrian, but GUNTHER kicked out.
In kicking out, he further injured Randy Orton’s leg which had been a target throughout the match, and then turned things around into a pin of his own.
With GUNTHER now pinning Orton, the referee counted to three and GUNTHER was crowned the winner.
However, Orton’s left shoulder was very clearly not down on the mat throughout the three count, which in theory means the referee should not have counted the pin as they are told to officiate matches as if the rules are legitimate, unless the plans call for something different.
Famously, a referee was fined after he counted Becky Lynch pinning Ronda Rousey in the main event of WrestleMania 35 a few years ago which looked to be a very similar situation when Rousey’s shoulder was up.
At this point, it’s unclear if this was unplanned or part of a plan leading to a storyline. If it’s the latter, that was not made obvious as of tonight.
Corey Graves made a very slight reference to it on commentary, quietly saying he’d love to see a replay of the pin, but one wasn’t shown – in fact they showed a replay from a different angle, hiding Orton’s shoulder being up – and the show moved on.
Triple H then appeared in the ring and crowned GUNTHER the new WWE King of the Ring.
In a post-match promo, GUNTHER said he will go on to win the World Heavyweight Championship having earned the title shot via winning the tournament.
He will likely face either current champion Damian Priest or Drew McIntyre who challenges Priest at Clash at the Castle in three weeks.
You can keep up with all the latest news from around WWE including the premium live event today in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia by clicking this link.
GUNTHER is crowned the winner and the 2024 WWE King of the Ring, but Randy Orton’s shoulder wasn’t down, was it? pic.twitter.com/dX6OH21Chv
— WrestleTalk (@WrestleTalk_TV) May 25, 2024
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