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The Brooklyn man who attacked WWE star Seth Rollins at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn on Monday night had been planning the ambush since 2019 because he was scammed out of hundreds of dollars by an imposter pretending to be the wrestling star.
Elisah Spencer, 24, released a bizarre video on social media Tuesday in which he identified himself as the fan who jumped over a guard rail at Monday Night Raw and tackled Rollins to the ground.
It all happened in full view of television cameras that were broadcasting live but then rapidly pulled away from the scene.
An internet sleuth, Steven Zoto, discovered Spencer’s Instagram account. He also found screenshots of messages that were sent two years ago between Spencer and a fake account pretending to be Rollins.
Spencer apparently blames Rollins for cheating him out of hundreds of dollars so that he could buy WWE tickets. When Spencer’s girlfriend – or ‘bae’ – tried to pay for it with a bad check, she was arrested, according to Zoto.
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Rollins (seen without his shirt lying on the ground) was knocked to the floor while Spencer (in red pants) pinned his head to the floor
Seth Rollins, whose legal name is Colby Lopez, is a WWE star. He is seen above on Monday at Barclays Center
Spencer, 24, released a bizarre video on social media in which he identified himself as the fan who jumped over a guard rail at Monday Night Raw and tackled Rollins to the ground
‘The guy attacked Seth because he was messaging a definite fake account and believed it and the “business deal” went the wrong way,’ Zoto tweeted.
‘This kid’s been planning this since 2019 because he messaged a fake Seth Rollins account and he just seemed to eventually stop replying.’
Zoto unearthed messages in which Spencer appears to be making threats to the imposter thinking it’s Rollins.
‘This account is really scary after Seth beat Dominik [Mysterio] he gets mad about it and says “its payback time for you say your last prayers and btw how your wife with her pregnancy”,’ Zoto writes, quoting Spencer.
Spencer posted a screenshot on his Instagram of an exchange between him and someone posing as Rollins
An internet sleuth, Steven Zoto, discovered Spencer’s Instagram account. He also found screenshots of messages that were sent two years ago between Spencer and a fake account pretending to be Rollins
Spencer apparently blames Rollins for cheating him out of hundreds of dollars so that he can buy WWE tickets. When Spencer’s girlfriend – or ‘bae’ – tried to pay for it with a bad check, she was arrested, according to Zoto
Zoto added: ‘The fake Seth seemed to have scammed this dude out of hundreds of dollars and then got the guys “bae” arrested because of a fake check.
‘This is sad all around.’
Rollins, 35, whose legal name is Colby Daniel Lopez, is one of WWE’s biggest stars and a former WWE champion.
As he was leaving the ring on Monday night and heading up a ramp toward the locker room, he was met by a spectator, Spencer, who had approached him from the other side.
The incident doesn’t appear to have been a stunt, since Spencer was arrested at the scene, and charged with attempted assault and attempted violation of arts and cultural affairs for disrupting a live sporting event.
It all happened in full view of television cameras which were broadcasting live but then rapidly pulled away from the scene.
Spencer released a video on his Instagram account explaining his actions, though he made several obscure references that weren’t immediately clear.
The images above show text messages between the fake Rollins and Spencer. It appears Spencer was cheated out of hundreds of dollars by a scammer
Spencer posted the above message on Instagram saying: ‘We here do be prepared for what’s bout to happen @wwe’
‘Good morning guys, I’m out. That was me on WWE,’ he said.
‘I was booked from Goldberg and Vince McMahon and I jumped over the barricade because I told Vince McMahon I had personal beef with Colby Lopez (Seth Rollins’ real name).’
Spencer continued: ‘This man did not tell Colby I was going to be there.
‘And the personal beef is between me and Colby and he knows what he’s done.
Spencer, a resident of the Red Hook section of Brooklyn, does not appear to have any prior arrests
Spencer, who goes by the nickname ‘Royal Fatu’, is seen in the above undated file photo
‘So as a…related to the Tribal Chief and Tribal Chief cousin, Royal 4 and Fatu Instagram, I did what I had to do.
‘I made my family proud because we are the ones.
‘And WWE Officials, I appreciate you for taking me off Colby Lopez, but you know what was about to happen.’
He added: ‘I did it for Rikishi! It did it for The Rock!
‘I did it for all my Tribal Family, and I appreciate this message worldwide.’
Shocked fans filmed the incident at Barclays Center on Monday night and jeered before posting the violent footage online.
WWE officials including security and referees quickly intervened to pull Spencer off Rollins before the attacker was escorted out of the arena by around six security guards.
WWE wrestler, Seth Rollins, 35, was gesturing to TV cameras when he was suddenly blindsided by Elisah Spencer, 24
The fan seemingly came out of nowhere giving Rollins little time to react to the man
Several referees in black and white striped shirts ran to separate the pair from one another
Rollins yelled at Spencer as he was being taken away and attempted to stay in character, but there was no further interaction between the pair.
The crowd yelled their support for the security guards chanting ‘F**k him up! F**k him up!’ as he was marched out.
Later, WWE released a statement regarding the incident:
‘WWE takes the safety of its performers very seriously. The individual who attacked Seth Rollins has been turned over to the NYPD and will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.’
Rollins sustained swelling to his lip after the attack, police say, but he refused medical attention.
Little is known about Spencer. He lives in Red Hook, a 30-minute transit ride from Monday’s event.
