– Kevin Owens was pulled from the last two WWE SmackDown live events this weekend due to an existing injury, according to PWInsider. Owens has been working through the injury and the belief is that it is not serious but WWE likely pulled Owens from the ring as a precautionary measure.
Owens is scheduled to team with Sami Zayn to face WWE Champion AJ Styles in a 2-on-1 Handicap Match at the January 28th Royal Rumble pay-per-view. He is expected to be at tonight’s SmackDown tapings but likely in a limited role.
– The WWE website has confirmed that the finals of the WWE United States Title tournament will no longer be taking place at the January 28th Royal Rumble pay-per-view. The finals will now take place at the January 23rd SmackDown episode from the Capital One Arena in Washington, DC.
Tonight’s SmackDown will still feature both semi-final matches – Xavier Woods vs. Jinder Mahal and Bobby Roode vs. Mojo Rawley. The winners of those matches will then meet the following week to crown a new champion.
Speculation is that the champion crowned on January 23rd will now face former champion Dolph Ziggler at the Royal Rumble. Ziggler never officially announced that he was relinquishing the title but the storyline is that SmackDown General Manager Daniel Bryan took Ziggler’s actions, laying the title down in the ring and walking away while later ignoring Bryan’s calls, as his way of relinquishing.
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