Before the Cruiserweight Title became part of NXT, the belt was often defended on the kick-off show, if it was defended at all.
That wasn't the case at Money in the Bank 2019 when Ariya Daivari challenged Tony Nese for the title. The match was part of the main show and Daivari received a special entrance as well.
Speaking to Matt Rehwoldt on Straight Shooting, Daivari recalled how he was able to land the unique entrance.
"I was doing the Davairi Dinero thing and the pay-per-view was Money in the Bank, it just popped into my head; the reason why I thought it was it's a pay-per-view and a title match, 'I wonder if I could get a cool entrance.' At that time, I had been in WWE for two-and-a-half years and I hadn't done anything like that so I was like, 'Who knows if this will be my only (shot).' I wondered if I could do the Alberto Del Rio entrance and pull up in a cool car. I asked the writer, pretty quickly he's like, the way he just looked at me, 'Ahhh, I don't think so.' I thought it would be cool and fits my gimmick. When I first switched to Daivari Dinero, when I pitched it to Vince, he got me a Corvette the next week, just to pull up in a backstage (segment), so it's not out of the realm of possibility because they had done it before. I was like, I just think (the writer) didn't want to ask Vince. He thinks it might be to small of an issue to bother the boss with. I said, 'You know what, fuck it. I'll ask him myself.' He digs that kind of shit, he got Alberto Del Rio a car every single week, no matter where they were," he said.
Daivari continued by recalling going into Vince's office to make the request.
"I knocked on his door and I asked him. I said, 'Hey, I do Davairi Dinero, it's Money in the Bank, Cruiserweight Title match, I know you don't normally do this for cruiserweights, but I think it'd be a cool thing for my character if I could pull up in a car like Del Rio did.' He doesn't say anything for like 10 seconds, and Triple H is in the room, he looks at Hunter and goes, 'What building are we in?' 'Hartford, CT.' 'I'll talk to Kevin Dunn and if we can logistically make it fit in that building, we can do it.' Let me go speak to Kevin and I'll get back to you next week.' I come back next week, 'Hey boss, we talked about the car, is there any chance I can do it? Does it work in that building?' He's like, 'That's a Kevin Dunn question.' There's silence and he's like, 'Well, go ask him.' I've never spoken to Kevin Dunn, I've never seen Kevin Dunn. You just know about him. I found Kevin Dunn's protege at the time and said, 'Vince said I need to talk to Kevin Dunn, I've never spoken to Kevin Dunn, I don't even know where he is.' We go into the truck, I've never met him but I'm like, 'Hey, how are you,' knowing he's been watching me for the past two years, 'Yeah, I know who you are.' I gave him (the pitch I gave Vince McMahon) and he does the same thing, 'What building are we in?' 'I believe it's Hartford, CT.' 'Yeah, we can make that work, we'll do it,'" he said.
Daivari closed out the story by addressing anyone who may have been upset that his title match was on the main show while so many Cruiserweight Title bouts sat on the kick-off show.
"A lot of fans are upset that my Cruiserweight Title match was the only one on the main card. Every other Cruiserweight Title match was on the pre-show. No matter what. Because I got the car entrance, they were like, 'we can't do this car entrance on the pre-show. We have to put it on the main show.' So many people were like, 'Why the fuck is Daivari on the main show? You couldn't put Drew Gulak or Buddy Murphy on the main show but you put Daivari on the main show?' Well, I had a cool fucking entrance and we couldn't waste it on the pre-show," he stated.
Daivari noted that Vince is the idea man and Kevin makes everything happen.
Nese would be successful in his Cruiserweight Title defense at the pay-per-view.
Elsewhere during the podcast, Daivari discussed the COVID outbreak at the Performance Center. You can find his full comments by clicking here.
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