This past Monday on “WWE Raw,” Dragon Lee defeated Ethan Page to earn himself an Intercontinental Title shot against Chad Gable when the red brand returns to Mexico City for the first time in 15 years on Monday, September 14. Although it makes sense for Lee to be given a title opportunity in his home country, many were surprised that it came at Page’s expense, who had seemingly been set up as one of Gable’s next challengers the week prior. WWE still tried to protect Page in defeat by having Gable prevent “All Ego” from cheating to win, resulting in Lee to capitalize on the champion’s distraction, which was a finish that wasn’t popular with Dave Meltzer.
“Sometimes they overdo it on protecting the loser and in this situation, this was one of those times,” he said on the “Wrestling Observer Radio.” “That finish, he should’ve won a lot better than that for that finish. I mean, it was obvious that finish was there to protect Ethan Page because they think that Ethan Page, and they’re not wrong, that Ethan Page is actually the money match for Chad Gable and they’re obviously holding it off … based on that, yeah they had to protect him.”
Meltzer’s co-host Bryan Alverez suggested that WWE should’ve had Lee defeat a different heel on the “Raw” roster to become the number one contender for the Intercontinental Title, which would still allow the luchador to challenge Gable in Mexico City while still protecting Page in the process.
If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit “Wrestling Observer Radio” with a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.
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