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The term “squash match” is used in WWE when someone defeats an opponent in a match which lasts a short amount of time.
For example, Karrion Kross lost a 100-second match against Jeff Hardy on his WWE main-roster debut on the July 19, 2021 episode of RAW. The general consensus amongst fans after the match was that Kross had been “squashed” on his debut.
The same phrase was also used by fans during WWE SummerSlam 2021 following Becky Lynch’s return. The Man was accused of “squashing” Bianca Belair after defeating the then-SmackDown Women’s Champion in a 27-second match.
While some WWE stars have made a career out of defeating opponents quickly, others have been reluctant to win matches in such a destructive way.
In this article, let’s take a look at five WWE stars who did not want to squash their opponent.
#5 Goldberg did not want to squash Rodney Mack (WWE RAW)
Although his undefeated streak was nowhere near as impressive as Goldberg’s, Rodney Mack also put together a winning run at one stage in his career.
Mack, who worked for WWE for a combined three years in the 2000s, represented Teddy Long’s Thuggin’ and Buggin’ Enterprises faction in 2003. He defeated several white opponents in White Boy Challenge matches before finally losing against Goldberg on the June 23, 2003 episode of WWE RAW.
In an interview with Wrestling Inc’s Nick Hausman, Mack revealed that the WCW legend was reluctant to squash him in their 26-second match.
“It was great to work with Goldberg,” Mack said. “Bill’s a great guy, I remember I was one of the first guys he met coming through the locker room in WWE. We just hit it off right off the bat, but it’s really easy to do that since Bill’s a great guy. You know, he didn’t really want to do it [end the streak].... But I’m like, ‘I’m not in position to make a decision on that.’”
The squash match began with a brawl at ringside. Goldberg then hit Mack with a Jackhammer inside the ring before picking up a quick pinfall victory.
#4 Seth Rollins did not want to squash Kofi Kingston (WWE SmackDown)
Seth Rollins defeated Kofi Kingston on the June 20, 2014 episode of WWE SmackDown in a squash match which lasted two minutes and 55 seconds.
At the time, Rollins had just aligned with The Authority and he was on the verge of winning the Money in the Bank contract. By contrast, Kingston was struggling as a singles competitor and he had not yet formed The New Day with Big E and Xavier Woods.
Rollins said on Edge & Christian’s Pod of Awesomeness in 2019 that he respects Kingston and he did not want to squash him.
“Now Kofi’s someone who I have a lot of respect for,” Rollins said. “I would never – even in a match that’s meant for me to look good in – I would not want to just squash Kofi. I wouldn’t want to do it. I would want to give him something. That’s just my nature.” [H/T Wrestle Zone]
Unfortunately for Rollins, his respect for Kingston ended up landing him in trouble backstage. WWE Chairman Vince McMahon was furious that Rollins did not have more offense against Kingston, so he sent both men out to re-shoot the match.
In 2014, WWE taped SmackDown shows three days before they were broadcast on television. Per McMahon’s instruction, the second Rollins vs. Kingston match was shown three days later, while the original match never made it to air.
#3 Drew McIntyre did not want to squash Andrade (WWE RAW)
Drew McIntyre defeated Brock Lesnar in the main event of WrestleMania 36 to win the WWE Championship. In the weeks following the event, he briefly feuded with Andrade before defending his title against superstars including Seth Rollins and Bobby Lashley.
Andrade, who left WWE in 2021, lost one-on-one matches against McIntyre on the April 13 and May 11 episodes of WWE RAW in 2020. The first match lasted only five minutes and 35 seconds, while the second match lasted eight minutes and 30 seconds.
Speaking to Lucha Libre Online, Andrade said McIntyre did not want one of their matches to be as one-sided as their producer had hoped.
“Drew was great with me and behaved well with me in NXT and on the main roster,” Andrade said. “We had the matches and a producer came to me and said, 'Make sure Drew looks like a monster, because he's the champ.' Drew came to me and told me to wrestle how I know to wrestle, saying that he doesn't need me to make him look good, but to wrestle how I wrestle best.” [H/T Fightful]
McIntyre and Andrade also feuded during their time in NXT. In November 2017, Andrade won the NXT Championship from McIntyre in a 15-minute match at NXT TakeOver: WarGames.
#2 Ronda Rousey did not want to squash Ruby Riott (WWE Elimination Chamber 2019)
Ronda Rousey defeated Ruby Riott in a 100-second match at WWE Elimination Chamber 2019 to retain the RAW Women’s Championship. The two women had several ideas for the match before their time was cut at short notice.
Rousey said on her Facebook Gaming channel in 2020 that she did not want to defeat Riott at the pay-per-view in such dominant fashion.
“They were like, ‘Dude, it’s a squash, you can’t do the match [that was planned]. We just have too many people on the card. We don’t have time. You gotta just do a squash,’” Rousey said. “We’d been working on this great match all week and we were so stoked about it. We were like [to Ruby Riott], ‘Oh, God… sorry, dude, we have to do a squash.’”
Rousey used to prove her “fighting champion” status by defending her title on the following night’s episode of WWE RAW after a pay-per-view.
Alexa Bliss was due to challenge The Baddest Woman on the Planet on the post-Elimination Chamber episode of RAW. Instead, Rousey defeated Riott in a 12-minute match after convincing WWE’s higher-ups to let her have a rematch against the Riott Squad leader.
#1 Batista did not want to squash Daniel Bryan (WWE RAW)
One of Daniel Bryan’s biggest WWE moments came in 2014 when he defeated Batista and Randy Orton in the main event of WrestleMania 30.
Four years earlier, Batista and Bryan met for the first time in a televised match on the May 3, 2010 episode of WWE RAW. On that occasion, The Animal picked up a win over the then-WWE newcomer in a five-minute Beat The Clock challenge match.
In 2014, Batista clarified in an interview with CBS Radio in Washington that he had no issues with Bryan in real life. He also revealed that he refused to squash his WrestleMania 30 opponent during their match on RAW in 2010.
"Years ago, before everybody was, you know, on his jock, when they wanted me to job him out, and I was like, 'Hell no,'" Batista said. "He's just too good. He had been coming around for years and I could never figure out why they didn't give him a job.
"But he had come out and they wanted me to work a match with him and squash him and I was like, 'No, not gonna happen. He's way too good, man, we could have a good match,' and we did. I mean we gave 'em a version of what they wanted, but we gave 'em a hell of a match." [H/T Cageside Seats]
Rumors about Batista allegedly disliking Bryan began in 2011 after Bryan won his first World Heavyweight Championship. Batista reacted to the title win by tweeting, "Excuse me! Did i hear that right? Daniel Bryan World Heavyweight Champ. ummmmmmm.....ok."
The six-time WWE World Champion further clarified during the CBS Radio interview that his reaction was not a dig at Bryan. He said the tweet simply expressed his confusion at WWE’s decision to book Bryan as a World Champion at an early stage in his career.
