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WWE Higher-Ups Were Not Too Thrilled About Recent Celebrity Involvement
Roman Reigns and Jalen Brunson stand tall at Madison Square Garden - WWE Saturday Night's Main Event 45 - Source: WWE.com
Reactions to WWE’s latest edition of Saturday Night’s Main Event were polarizing, with many fans around the world finding it bewildering that the show was heavily focused on the NBA. Turns out, some within the company were not “exactly enthusiastic” about it either.
Saturday Night’s Main Event 45 took place on July 18. The show was headlined by CM Punk and Cody Rhodes vs. Gunther and Sami Zayn, but it closed with an in-ring segment featuring Roman Reigns, Seth Rollins, and NBA stars Jalen Brunson and Tyrese Haliburton on their respective sides. The segment was more about Reigns and Brunson acknowledging one another rather than about the former’s ongoing rivalry with Rollins.
Jalen Brunson’s massive surge in popularity and stature stems from leading the New York Knicks to an NBA Championship and securing the finals MVP Award. Reigns hoisted the Larry O’Brien NBA Championship trophy during the segment, while Brunson held up the World Heavyweight Championship.
Now the thing here is, outside the United States, NBA is not particularly a popular sport. More importantly, the continued celebrity involvement in WWE programs has alienated fans, with many often openly stating through social media that the company has lost its way and the product is of subpar quality nowadays. This past weekend’s Saturday Night’s Main Event was no different.
WWE Higher-Ups Were Also Reportedly Not Thrilled With The Recent Celebrity Involvement
Per WrestleVotes, day-to-day decision-makers in WWE weren’t “exactly enthusiatstic” about the amount of New York Knicks integration throughout Saturday Night’s Main Event. Reportedly, some backstage are not that big into sports.
While they understood the atmosphere surrounding the event at Madison Square Garden and the Knicks’ NBA Championship win, there was an internal feeling that the presentation went further than many would have preferred. Other than Jalen Brunson and Tyrese Haliburton, NBA star Karl-Anthony Towns was also featured on the show, with Towns actually getting involved in one of the matches.
Veteran Vince Russo was especially critical of this, as the basketball player dominated WWE’s rising prospect and AAA Mega Champion, Dominik Mysterio.
Nevertheless, Saturday Night’s Main Event’s wrestling department delivered in the main event, as the tag team match set up Undisputed WWE Champion CM Punk vs. Cody Rhodes and Gunther vs. Nick Aldis for SummerSlam.