Reports: Backstage news on two names not at WWE SmackDown on Friday, including a current champion
There have been a few noticeable absences on WWE SmackDown lately, and one of them could impact tonight's WWE Royal Rumble show.
According to Sean Ross Sapp of Fightful Select, Jey Uso was not backstage at SmackDown on Friday. Uso was initially announced to be part of the Men's Royal Rumble Match. It was also expected that he would be getting involved in tonight's Last Man Standing Universal Championship Match between Kevin Owens and Roman Reigns.
Uso has not been seen on WWE SmackDown since January 15, when he lost to Shinsuke Nakamura. It will be interesting to see how the company handles tonight's match between Reigns and Owens if Uso cannot appear to help out "The Head of the Table."
As of this writing, the reasoning for Uso's absence is currently unknown. Sportskeeda will provide more details as they become available.
Before Uso's absence, he had been a featured player on the blue brand. He regularly did Reigns' bidding once he acknowledged the champion as his "Tribal Chief." Uso also competed in several main event matches throughout the fall of 2020.
WWE SmackDown Tag Team Champion Robert Roode wasn't at the show on Friday
Sapp also reports that one-half of the WWE SmackDown Tag Team Champions, Robert Roode was also not backstage on Friday. This absence is even more glaring, as fans haven't seen Roode since he and Dolph Ziggler defeated The Street Profits to win the SmackDown Tag Team Championship on January 8.
Much like Uso, the reasoning for Roode's absence is unknown. But it makes sense why the Street Profits' involvement on SmackDown has been dramatically decreased since they lost the titles. One of the people they are supposed to be feuding with isn't currently available.
What are your thoughts on the noticeable absences of Robert Roode and Jey Uso? Sound off in the comments below.