Marty Scurll has denied going over his allotted time limit for his match against Kazuchika Okada at the original All In.
The Villain battled The Rainmaker in one of the top-billed matches at the original All In in 2018. The match went on before the main event, which featured Kota Ibushi, the Young Bucks and Rey Mysterio competing in a six-man tag match.
Okada won the match but both men received huge praise from the crowd. However, backstage there was talk of heat as they were said to have wrestled for too long, which forced the main event to cut their time to make sure they didn’t overrun.
Despite this, Marty Scurll denies going long – well, no more than two minutes!
The now-disgraced wrestler chatted with the I Love Wrestling Podcast about his match with the Japanese star. Marty Scurll said he was told not to cut any time for his match with Kazuchika Okada, even when the Englishman offered to do just that.
The match lasted 26 minutes and was one of the best on the show, even if Marty Scurll got heat following it.
Marty Scurll vs Kazuchika Okada: What Really Happened
“I remember Nick Jackson had the idea that he wanted me to meet a wrestler, Okada. I thought it was awesome, but I was also a little hesitant because I didn’t want to go on late in the show. I knew how these shows went, and it’s so hard to follow everyone else who’s trying to steal the show.”
“The match with Okada was bittersweet. It was the first time we had worked together, and I felt like we really tore the house down. We told a great story, and the people were really invested. But unfortunately, the match went over the allotted time.”
“Here’s the longer version of the story: both Okada and I were told how much time we had, and they specifically said not to cut any time. They were like, ‘Go out there, still the show, don’t cut anything at all.’ We even asked, ‘Are you sure you don’t want us to trim some time?’ And they said, ‘No, go do the match as planned.'”
“So, we went out, and yes, we did go a bit over. Technically, it was only by about two minutes beyond the time we were given. But even so, I ended up being the target of the blame, which I found kind of funny. Every time I’d see Okada, I’d joke with him, ‘Why did I get all the heat for this?'”
“I mean, I’m in the ring with what many at the time considered the best wrestler in the world—do you really think I’m going to tell him what to do?”
If you use any quotes from this article, please give a H/T to BritWrestling for the transcription.