WWE Stomping Grounds 2019: Universal Championship match preview

Seth Rollins is set to defend his Universal Title against Baron Corbin at WWE Stomping Grounds but one question remains: who will be the special guest referee?

It’s been weeks of teasing leading into Stomping Grounds where Baron Corbin has the option of choosing the special guest referee for his match against Seth Rollins. This leaves a lot of speculation on exactly who is going to be in that coveted spot. Considering WWE hasn’t yet named the guest ref, it should suggest that the person getting to don the stripes is going to be somewhat of a shocker. A lot of names have been thrown around like Brock Lesnar or even Bray Wyatt. The latter would certainly be a surprise given his eerie Firefly Fun House segments.

The special guest referee stipulation is a way of spicing up this re-match especially considering Corbin already lost to Rollins at WWE Super Showdown. During the previous match, Corbin spent a great deal of time arguing with referee John Cone which led to him losing his advantage and the match. So in kayfabe, the story is that the referees are against him so now he gets to choose one.

It was during this same match where Rollins produced a steel chair to beat back Lesnar and fending off a potential Money in the Bank cash-in on his Universal Title. The “go-home” episode of Raw before Stomping Grounds saw Rollins once again with chair in hand threatening anyone who took a bribe from Corbin to be a deciding factor as the guest referee in their match.

Rollins tore through most of the roster with chair shots before falling to one himself at the hands of Corbin. The end of the show saw Rollins left laying at the hands of Corbin’s End of Days finisher as perhaps a prelude of what’s to come at Stomping Grounds. But there’s also Lesnar to consider. He still holds the Money in the Bank contract and could show up at any time to cash in.

Who will walk out of the Tacoma Dome with the Universal Title? Tune in to WWE Stomping Grounds, streaming live Sunday, June 23, at 7 ET/4 PT on the WWE Network to find out.