The finish to the SmackDown match between Chelsea Green and Zelina Vega did not go as planned.
The Women's US Champion did not have Piper Niven and Alba Fyre in her corner as usual for her match because the two were banged up from competing in the Women's Gauntlet match earlier in the night. The lack of support cost Green the fight as she was counted out of the bout while complaining to the commentary team about not having her Secret Hervice with her.
PWInsider is now reporting, however, that the count-out finish was not the original plan. The match was slated to go a few minutes longer and the belief is that Chelsea legitimately did not hear the referee's count.
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One person believed that Green thought the count would be broken up when she tossed Vega back into the ring, so she focused on playing the announcers and the audience. Though when the referee reached the 10 count, they had no choice but to call the match, and the count out was said to have been '100% legit.'
The site confirmed that the ending was not changed due to any injury, and the early finish was caused by just a miscommunication. Vega is believed to have been the planned winner all along so the abrupt finish did not cause any major harm. None of the involved personnel had any heat coming out of the bout and it was chalked up as one of those things that 'happen when it's live television being broadcast without a net.'
This finish set up a six women tag team match for next week's WrestleMania go home SmackDown where Zelina Vega will team up with Kayden Carter and Katana Chance to face Chelsea Green and her Secret Hervice. Since Vega did not pin the Women's US Champion, it'd be interesting to see if she gets a title shot in the future.