34-year-old star breaks silence after humiliating 3-second defeat on his SmackDown return

Giovanni Vinci suffered a humiliating 3 second defeat to Apollo Crews, which left him utterly embarrassed.

34-year-old star breaks silence after humiliating 3-second defeat on his SmackDown return

Giovanni Vinci breaks silence after losing to Apollo Crews (via WWE)

The company had been hyping up Giovanni Vinci‘s return to WWE programming. The 34-year-old finally returned to WWE after nearly five months of absence and was set to face Apollo Crews on the latest episode of SmackDown. Furthermore, he also debuted his new gimmick on the blue brand.

Unfortunately for the returning superstar, the match ended almost immediately as soon as it began. The Nigerian caught his opponent in a crucifix pin, and the match was over in a matter of seconds. Vinci addressed his loss in a WWE interview after the match. He blamed the loss on the referee, claiming that the match official started the bout without first checking whether both competitors were ready.

YouTube video

Furthermore, Vinci alleged that his opponent used unfair means to win the match. The 37-year-old came up from behind him while he still had his entrance gear on. Thus, if Apollo Crews wanted to play dirty, so would he.

FS Video
So if Apollo wants to come up from behind, when clearly I still have half my entrance gear on, and roll me up, he wants to play that way? Alright. We can play that way. We can play that way
Giovanni Vinci during post-show interview

On the April 22nd, 2024 edition of Raw, Vinci and Ludwig Kaiser lost a Tag Team match to the New Day. After the match ended, the German turned on his teammate and kicked him out of Imperium. Since then, he has been off WWE TV. During his absence, Gunther has won the World Heavyweight Championship and his sidekick has continued to grow in popularity. The Italian has seemingly been left behind and his recent return to the blue brand has not done him any favors.

RELATED
“Whatever that means,” Liv Morgan seemingly confirms Bad Blood match against Rhea Ripley amid ongoing heated rivalry
Rhea Ripley and Liv Morgan

‘Key Figures’ in WWE were reportedly unhappy with Giovanni Vinci losing in 3 seconds on SmackDown

The promotion created a lot of hype surrounding Giovanni Vinci’s return to WWE programming. They had teased him returning to the blue brand with a gimmick similar to that of his NXT 2.0 days. However, this all seemed pointless when he bit the dust in a few seconds.

Giovanni Vinci Apollo Crews
Giovanni Vinci vs Apollo Crews (via WWE)

Although some members of the WWE Universe criticized this change, it appears that several figures within WWE were not fans of what happened either. According to Wrestlevotes, several key figures within the company hated how the return angle of Giovanni Vinci was treated.

There wasn’t much of a follow-up to the angle either, other than what the 34-year-old said during the post-show interview. Vinci’s words hint that he is not done with Apollo Crews, and the two are likely to have another match on SmackDown soon enough. Fans of the Italian hope that this could lead to something bigger for him in the future.

In case you missed it: