Former WWE star David Otunga has explained why Roman Reigns wasn’t disqualified in his match against CM Punk at WrestleMania 42 despite using the steel steps on Punk.
Otunga — who is a lawyer — deferred from the opinion of many fans and pundits about that moment, backing the referee Rod Zapata, and arguing why it wasn’t a disqualification. While he agreed that the steps being dislodged from their natural position make it a foreign object and should have led to a disqualification, he referenced a previous incident in WWE that supports his argument.
“A foreign object is generally defined as any item not naturally occurring within the ring environment. Now, the steel steps naturally occur within the ring environment. You know, they’re always attached to the ring. There’s two sets of them. So, in that manner, they are part of the ring environment. But, what happens if you pick up the top portion, if you separate them? Now, that’s not in their natural state,” he said on his YouTube channel. “So, it could be argued that once the steel steps are removed or any portion is picked up from where they are originally placed, that they are now considered a foreign object.”
However, Otunga believes that a disqualification could have been enforced if Reigns had used the steel steps inside the ring rather than outside it. He cited an incident from 2017 to support his argument, stating that Reigns exploited a loophole from a match between John Cena and Braun Strowman, in which the latter used the steel steps on his opponent outside the ring. Strowman had first thrown Cena into the steps before using it on him.
“And my argument would be that it is legal to use the steel steps as a weapon provided you are on the outside of the ring. The moment you bring the steel steps inside the ring, they are now considered a foreign object,” he said.
Referring once again to the same match between Cena and Strowman, the latter was disqualified for using the steel steps inside the ring, which Otunga noted in support of his argument.
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