Though he may not use the moniker anymore, Seth Rollins continues to be "The Architect."
On Saturday, October 8, UFC Hall of Famer Daniel Cormier will be the guest referee for Seth Rollins and Matt Riddle's Fight Pit match at Extreme Rules. The former UFC Heavyweight Champion made his first WWE appearance on the October 3 episode of Raw, encouraging both men to keep it clean and train smart until Saturday's event.
Speaking with ESPN MMA’s Marc Raimondi, Cormier revealed that it was Seth Rollins who initially reached out to him about getting involved at Extreme Rules, not WWE executives.
"So it wasn't really from the people in charge. It was Seth Rollins, he texted me goes, 'Real life-fighting in the fight pit and we may be in the market for a special guest referee, would you have any interest in it? 'So I said, Yeah, I'd be interested in doing it. I think that it's fun. I think that what you guys have done has been a pleasure to watch. I think it's gonna be intense, I think that I can add to the story,' because the reality is all you're trying to do is add to the story, right? These guys that are professionals, they're gonna make magic as they have done on so many occasions. So hopefully, I can add a little bit to what they're doing in there. I said I'd be interested and put them in contact with my agent and then it just so happens that his wife and I shared the same agent. So it worked," Cormier said.
He continued on, saying that he called UFC President Dana White right away, who was all for him appearing and even granted him permission to say UFC.
"I called Dana right away. He was like, 'Dude, you in the WWE? How could I say no?' He was like 'I would never say no to you in the WWE. I know how much you enjoyed it.' I enjoyed it. So yeah, they were all for it, man. UFC is all excited. I mean, honestly, and gave me permission to say UFC, you know, so I know that we don't say different organizations. I will say UFC every time I'm out there," Cormier concluded.
Jimmy Smith, the voice of WWE Raw, recently commented on Cormier's Raw debut. You can find his comments here.
Fightful will have live coverage of WWE Extreme Rules on Saturday, October 8. You can view the full card for the event by clicking here.
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