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The Tragic Truth Behind The Seth Rollins Fan Altercation On Monday Night RAW

Seth Rollins in the wrestling ring WWE
By BJ Colangelo/

"You know it's fake, right?" has been said time and time again to wrestling fans by people who don't realize we're in it for the costumed soap opera dramatics and muscle ballet, but the conflict on this week's episode of Monday Night RAW at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York was very, very real. Following Seth Rollins' match with Finn Balor, he headed up the ramp toward the backstage area when a fan rushed him from the stands, attempted a spear, and took him to the ground. Rollins defended himself by putting the man in a front facelock until security and WWE referees could detain the attacker and escort him away.

The attacker was 24-year-old Elisah Spencer, who was subsequently charged with attempted assault and attempted violation of arts and cultural affairs (disrupting a live sporting event). In a statement made to the New York Daily News, Spencer said, "I apologized to the WWE for my actions. I had a legitimate beef but as a grown man I could have settled it a different way ... If I saw him today I wouldn't attack him. I've moved on."

Okay, so you caught the weirdness of this random man having "beef" with one of the most famous sports entertainers in the world, right? As it turns out, Spencer is as much a victim in this peculiar story as was Rollins.

Spencer was Catfished By a Fake Seth Rollins

Spencer attacking Rollins on Monday Night RAW WWE

According to Spencer the supposed beef he was looking to settle dates back to 2019 when he was duped by a catfishing scam by someone posing as Rollins. Unfortunately, despite the overwhelming evidence proving that the scammer was not Seth Rollins (or Colby Lopez, Rollins' real name), Spencer is still convinced that WWE Superstar Seth Rollins scammed him out of hundreds of dollars and sent him a fake check that lead to the arrest of Spencer's partner when she tried to cash it.

He first met Rollins at a meet-and-greet a few years back, asking him for help with his own wrestling career, and shortly after, Spencer began communicating through messenger services with someone he thought was Rollins. In typical scammer fashion, the catfish asked Spencer to send him gift cards in exchange for money, usually in the totals of $500 or more in order to "prove his loyalty." Spencer claimed the catfish (who again, he still thinks is Seth Rollins) asked him to be a wrestling blogger, and ended up spending $3,000 in gift cards. The scammer used WhatsApp profiles under both the Rollins and Lopez names through messenger accounts.

When A Work Becomes a Shoot

Seth Rollins on WWE WWE

In the world of wrestling, the lines between reality and kayfabe (the fact or convention of presenting staged performances as genuine or authentic) are often blurred. For example, while someone like Seth Rollins uses a stage name, someone like John Cena wrestles under his actual name. In professional wrestling parlance, a "work" is anything scripted (i.e. anything that's part of kayfabe), while a "shoot" is anything "real" (i.e. not scripted). Oftentimes, we get so invested in the storyline that we "work ourselves into a shoot," meaning, we lose sense of the fictional story being presented in front of us and believe it to be true. Spencer got worked into a shoot, and the consequences of his actions are very, very serious.

Fortunately, no one was injured during the attack, but Rollins has requested that Spencer be banned from future WWE events, at least for the time being. Rollins spoke to TMZ and noted the incident was "terrifying." He continued:

"It happened very quickly. I was mostly just reacting and hoping that our security would come and do their job. Which they did very quickly. And then I was just trying to detach and move on. Hope that everybody is okay."

The Need To Break Kayfabe

Seth Rollins and women's wrestling champion and wife, Becky Lynch on Carpool Karaoke: The Series CBS

As of four hours ago, Spencer has taken to Instagram continuing to insist that he was in fact, scammed by Seth Rollins. It's genuinely and wholeheartedly sad to see someone caught up in work so severely that it also appears that he doesn't understand the severity of the charges brought up against him. In response to a commenter on his Instagram, Spencer said the following:

"I am saying the truth look I don't got time for this ok I made my peace and so did mr Colby Lopez did make peace so that's what matters and it shouldn't be talked bout anymore it's over and done dealt with."

As more information comes out regarding the attack, everything just gets stranger and sadder. Hundreds have taken to his Instagram begging him to "get help" as it seems he is not of sound mind. He commented that he was planning on attending the Friday episode of Smackdown in Greensboro, NC, which as we all know ... is not going to be possible. We don't know the details of how long Spencer was held in custody or why he was released in favor of being psychologically evaluated, but we do know that at the very least, he's somewhere where he has access to Instagram, and a head full of catfish.

Here's hoping that Mr. Spencer gets the help he needs and that Seth Rollins is able to put this behind him.

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