Mansoor recalls Vince McMahon freaking out about his match with Claudio Castagnoli.
Even from an creative and in-ring standpoint, Crown Jewel 2019 was a very controversial event for WWE. The show featured heavily criticized matches like Braun Strowman vs. Tyson Fury and 'The Fiend' Bray Wyatt vs. Seth Rollins, as well as Brock Lesnar/Cain Velasquez bout that barely hit the two minute mark.
Many fans would agree that the best match on the show by a fair margin was the singles contest between Mansoor and Cesaro (Claudio Castagnoli). As it turns out, both stars were performing under a huge amount of pressure.
On the latest edition of Talk Is Jericho, Mansoor was discussing his infamous winning streak in WWE when he brought up the match with Cesaro, revealing that Vince McMahon thought that the fate of the deal between WWE and Saudi Arabia depended on the quality of the bout.
“I think he just didn’t want the Saudis to get hot. I honestly think that he believed if the Saudis saw me in a compromising position, that they would perhaps jeopardize the deal. I had a match with Claudio, it was Crown Jewel, I don’t remember the year. But, apparently the deal was in jeopardy. Vince was telling our producer Shane Helms that this has to be a WrestleMania level match, the fate of this deal depends on it. Vince believed that if this match didn’t go well, it was going to ruin the whole thing. He needed the Saudi boy to have this amazing and spectacular performance and what a better wrestler to [face] than Claudio, 100%."
Mansoor then recalled getting some love from Vince McMahon after the match.
“So, I came out and there’s like fireworks and pyro, and this pomp and circumstance. By the way, I’m like an 180 pound schlump, okay? I got in pretty good shape later in my career. I go out there with Claudio and he carries me to what was probably the best performance of my life and my career at the time. I get to the back and Vince gets up and he’s like, ‘Wow.’ Shakes my hand, gives me the hug and says, ‘Oh, you have tremendous facials.’ Thanks, Vince. [laughs] It went really well but once I got home, that was kind of it for me.”
Elsewhere in the interview, Mansoor and Mason Madden talked about signing with AEW/ROH. Check out their full comments by clicking here.
If you missed anything from AEW Dynamite, catch up on the show by checking out Fightful's written recap.
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