“I got flashbacks to Brock vs Kofi”- WWE Universe hysterical after 34-year-old star suffers humiliating defeat in return match on SmackDown

Former NXT Tag Team Champion finally returned on SmackDown, debuting under a new persona after months of absence from television.

“I got flashbacks to Brock vs Kofi”- WWE Universe hysterical after 34-year-old star suffers humiliating defeat in return match on SmackDown

Giovanni Vinci loses return match on SmackDown (via WWE)

After weeks of vignettes and teases, Giovanni Vinci finally arrived on the latest episode of SmackDown. WWE hyped up the re-debut of the Italian Superstar, showing his arrival to the arena. However, the hype faded away once Vinci finally got inside the ring. The 34-year-old star was set to face Apollo Crews in his first singles match on the blue brand.

An ‘arrogant’ Vinci took his time before the match began. As such, the referee rang the bell while he removed his coat. Taking advantage of the distraction, Crews rolled the former Imperium member from behind to pick up the win in just a few seconds. The result certainly sent shockwaves around the wrestling world, given that many had high hopes for Vinci’s return.

YouTube video

Shortly after the loss, WrestleVotes reported that a few “key” figures weren’t fans of the direction. This marked Vinci’s first appearance on television since his split from Imperium. On the April 22nd edition of Raw, Ludwig Kaiser turned on his teammate and unleashed a vicious assault on him. Surprisingly, WWE never followed up on the breakup as Vinci was drafted to SmackDown.

FS Video

For unknown reasons, WWE didn’t acknowledge the former NXT Tag Team Champion for months. Therefore, when video packages of Giovanni Vinci began to air, teasing a new persona similar to his NXT one, fans couldn’t wait for his return. Nevertheless, only time will tell if this embarrassing loss leads to something of substance in the coming weeks.

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WWE Universe is in tatters over Giovanni Vinci’s befuddling re-debut on SmackDown

Needless to say, the WWE Universe wasn’t happy with the direction of Giovanni Vinci on SmackDown. The humiliating loss sent several fans a flashback of the first FOX episode. Similar to this, Brock Lesnar squashed Kofi Kingston for the WWE Championship in 7 seconds. A decision which to this day receives heavy criticism online.

Giovanni Vinci
Giovanni Vinci (via @VinciWWE/X)

One user hilariously stated that fans should be celebrating a ‘rare’ Apollo Crews win instead. Continuing with the jokes, another fan claimed that this bout should’ve been put on WWE Speed. Furthermore, some fans believed that Triple H‘s booking of this match was reminiscent of something Vince McMahon would do. 

Meanwhile, a few users suggested that WWE purposely did this to ‘screw’ with FOX on the final SmackDown episode on the network. Further, a fan said that the angle was perhaps a way to garner attention toward Vinci, which worked successfully.

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