Marty Scurll Responds To "All In" Controversy
All In was a commercial and critical success as it sold out in mere minutes and then delivered in production as Sports Illustrated called it a "near perfect PPV debut."
One criticism from the show was that some of the matches seemed rush due to time constraints. All it takes is one early match to run longer than expected and it affects everything else on the card.
Some thought that the penultimate match between Marty Scurll and Kazuchika Okada running long is what led to a shortened main event, but Scurll addressed that report on the Prime Time with Sean Mooney podcast.
"[Laughing] Normally I don't like to reveal the curtain back too much, but in this case I will," said Scurll. "[My match] went a minute over. People were saying like 14 minutes over. No, the show ran 14 minutes over. A bunch of the other matches went over.
"Our match is crucified because we were the match before last. It looks like 'oh these guys went over.' No, no, no?the show went over."
The show was already running off-schedule by the time Scurll was due to face Okada. Often times the wrestlers or a producer will decide to take out certain elements of the match, beforehand, to get the timing back on track but co-promoter Nick Jackson told Scurll and Okada to not change a thing.
"Before I went out [Nick] Jackson said to me and Okada, 'Guys whatever you do, don't cut anything," Scurll stated. "Just do whatever you do. Even if we go dark tonight, it's fine. Just do what you gotta do.'"
Okada defeated Scurll in a match that lasted 26 minutes and 5 seconds, which was the longest of the night. The main event then lasted just under 12 minutes, which reportedly was 16 minutes shorter than planned.
Scurll also addressed his absence from the curtain call following the show. Many speculated that he didn't appear because he had heat from his match running long, but he squashed that rumor.
"In terms of the curtain call, I didn't know it was going on," Scurll revealed. "I was in the semi-main match so I finished my match. I've cooled down and I was in the shower I didn't know it was going on. I didn't have a clue."
If any portion of these quotes is used, please be sure to credit Prime Time with Sean Mooney with a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.
Source: Prime Time with Sean Mooney