Je’Von Evans wanted to keep wrestling after getting his bell rung against El Grande Americano, but telling the referee he was “seeing stars” changed everything. Evans has now revealed exactly what happened during the commercial break that led WWE to stop the match.
Speaking to Chris Van Vliet, Evans looked back at his match against El Grande Americano during the January 19 episode of Monday Night RAW in Belfast. The match abruptly ended during a commercial break, with Evans being helped from the ring when the broadcast returned.
Evans said the trouble started shortly before the break when he and Americano accidentally butted heads. Evans was stunned and began seeing stars for a few seconds, but his first instinct from years of working on the independent scene was to keep going.
“Basically, I think before we went to commercial, me and Grande butt heads, right? And for, like, a couple seconds I was, like, seeing stars or whatever. But, like, I’m from the indie scene, bro. Like, you get hurt, bro, you keep going. You know what I mean? Unless you can’t go no more, you know? So, we butt heads and I was kind of stunned for a little minute, but then I continued and then we went to break.”
Evans did exactly that and continued wrestling until RAW went to commercial. Once the cameras were off, however, he decided to tell the referee what had happened. That was all she needed to hear. Evans tried to make it clear that he had been seeing stars but felt fine by that point. He quickly realized there was no talking his way out of a medical check after mentioning a potential head injury.
“So I went to the ref. I’m like, ‘Hey, look, I’m seeing stars — but I was seeing stars — but I’m good. I’m going good.’ She’s like, ‘What?’ And then I’m like, ‘I was seeing stars, but I’m okay.’ She said, ‘Do we need to call medical?’ And I’m like, ‘No, no, we don’t. We don’t. I just got here, dude. Like, I’m okay.’”
Evans was particularly desperate to continue because he had only recently arrived on RAW. He repeatedly insisted he was okay, but the referee wasn’t taking any chances once his head was involved.
“And then she’s like, ‘No, no, we gotta call medical because it’s a head injury.’”
Medical personnel came out during the break and began checking Evans. He still wanted to continue, but the combination of the head collision and his admission that he’d been seeing stars was enough for WWE to call the match.
“So we got medical and then they was asking me questions. I was like, ‘I promise I’m okay.’ But because we hit heads and because I was seeing stars, yeah, we had to call it.”
That clears up some of the mystery surrounding the strange ending. At the time, Bryan Alvarez reported that Evans and Americano had accidentally smashed their heads together during a mistimed spot. Evans continued wrestling afterwards, leading to speculation that somebody backstage noticed something during the commercial and ordered the match stopped.
Evans now says the decision came after he personally told the referee what he had experienced. Thankfully, he felt fine afterwards. Evans described himself as simply getting stunned and admitted he’d experienced worse during his career.
“Oh yeah. I was feeling great. I was like, ‘I just got stunned, bro. Like, I’ve been through worse.’”
He may have fought the decision in the moment, but Evans isn’t arguing with WWE’s reasoning now. Once a potential head injury entered the equation, continuing the match wasn’t worth the risk.
“It is, bro. You just gotta be careful. You gotta be careful, bro. Like, head injuries are nothing to play about.”
Evans wanted to finish what he started that night in Belfast, especially so early into his RAW run. Instead, one honest answer to the referee brought everything to an immediate halt. Considering he was back to feeling good afterwards, getting pulled from one match was a much better outcome than turning a scary collision into something worse.
What do you make of Je’Von Evans revealing what really happened during the commercial break? Let us know in the comments below.
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