'You buried the business' - Backstage reaction after WWE referee superkicked Rusev

Matt Rehwoldt (fka Aiden English) has revealed what happened backstage after WWE referee Danilo Anfibio superkicked Rusev in a WWE dark match. The unscripted moment took place in the closing stages of a six-man tag team match one week before WWE WrestleMania 34.

Rehwoldt joined forces with Rusev and Baron Corbin to face AJ Styles and The Usos after a WWE SmackDown taping. The light-hearted finish saw Styles trade positions with the referee, who hit Rusev with a superkick. Rehwoldt said on his Drama King Matt YouTube channel that some of the people involved, including himself, were threatened with releases and fines.

“We get backstage and we get chewed a new one. Vince McMahon wasn’t there, Triple H wasn’t there, but the producers, the TR [Talent Relations] people, and for some reason, I’m convinced because it was us and not some other major star, ‘That’s not how you do it, you buried yourselves out there, you buried the business, you made us look like… all this and that, people are not gonna like this.’

“This was the SmackDown, I believe, before WrestleMania [34]. We had to fly right down to New Orleans for WrestleMania and we get sat down. We get threatened with release, gigantic fines… 10 thousand, 20 thousand dollar fines. All this stuff. The referee was gonna get fired, even though we were telling him, ‘Hey, great, do it, this is fun.’ The poor guy, I think he got fined and everything.”

Rehwoldt added that the Superstars who participated in the segment received a warning in the green room at the WrestleMania hotel a few days later.

Please credit Drama King Matt and give a H/T to SK Wrestling for the transcription if you use quotes from this article.

Why did the WWE referee superkick Rusev?

WWE dark matches are known to be less serious than the company’s regular on-screen product. Matt Rehwoldt mentioned in his video that the likes of Chris Jericho and Steve Austin used to have fun after WWE shows all the time.

During the six-man tag team match, The Usos hit a series of superkicks on Rehwoldt. Every time he received a superkick and rolled to the outside of the ring, Rusev and Baron Corbin threw him back in.

LMAOOOOOOO #SDLive @WWE_Ref123 pic.twitter.com/5WycX2Ir4U

— Bill Kauff (@BillKauff) March 28, 2018

The WWE fans in attendance began chanting for the referee to get involved, which is why AJ Styles took Danilo Anfibio’s shirt. Anfibio went on to hit Rusev with a superkick at the same time that The Usos landed the move on Rehwoldt and Corbin. Styles then counted the pinfall while The Usos and Anfibio covered their opponents.

Is it MACHKA time for @RusevBUL on #RusevDay?! #SDLive pic.twitter.com/7v5LSOGIAT

— WWE (@WWE) May 9, 2018

Rusev attempted to protect the business by kicking out of Anfibio’s pinfall before the three-count. However, as Rehwoldt explained, that was not enough to prevent the WWE Superstars from getting reprimanded backstage.