Backstage News On Original Plans For WrestleMania 38 Night One Opener

The WrestleMania 38 (night one) opening tag team match was originally set to be around 15 minutes long, according to Dave Meltzer on the latest edition of Wrestling Observer Radio.

The SmackDown Tag Team Championship match saw The Usos defeat Shinsuke Nakamura and Rick Boogs. In the end, this one didn't even last seven minutes, which was due to a legitimate injury to Boogs. He suffered a torn quadriceps and a torn patella tendon early on in the match. That led to the other three men having to call things on the fly, ending it early.

WWE then had some time to fill during the match, which did lead to more video packages being created. It is currently unknown whether or not the finish of the match had to be changed due to this issue.

In the WrestleMania recap that WWE put together, it was noted that Boogs was trying to squat both of The Usos when his already-injured knee gave out. Boogs had the same knee taped up at one point during the feud with The Usos in mid-March, but that was done just to sell during the storyline.

After suffering the injury, Boogs immediately rolled to the floor and was checked on by the medical team at ringside. He wasn't involved in the match again from that point, with Nakamura wrapping up the rest of the encounter. Boogs then had to be helped to the back. He was carried up the ramp as he was unable to place pressure on the area.

Rick Boogs is now set to undergo surgery in the near future. There is no set timeframe for how long the guitar-wielding wrestler will be out. However, it is expected to be somewhere between six-12 months.

Despite this match being shorter than planned, WWE was still unable to fit the planned New Day match onto the show. They were set to face Sheamus and Ridge Holland, but the tag team bout was cut due to time constraints. However, WWE has announced they will now be competing at WrestleMania 38 night two.