SmackDown team reportedly removed from TV, Cesaro and Shinsuke Nakamura replace them in title feud
The Forgotten Sons could very well be forgotten. Dave Meltzer reported in the latest Wrestling Observer Newsletter that Steve Cutler, Wesley Blake, and Jaxson Ryker have been taken off TV on SmackDown following Ryker's controversial comments.
Shinsuke Nakamura and Cesaro have replaced The Forgotten Sons in a SmackDown Tag Team titles programme against The New Day. Sean Ross Sapp was the first to report on Fightful Select about The Forgotten Sons being taken off TV due to Ryker's political comments.
There were people backstage who believed that running the Forgotten Sons gimmick on SmackDown programming during these troubled times would not be the ideal thing to do.
Meltzer noted the following in the Newsletter:
Nakamura & Cesaro are replacing The Forgotten Sons in a planned program with The New Day. It's unfortunate because the comments by Jaxson Ryker, which both Steve Cutler and Wesley Blake immediately and publicly distanced themselves from, has led to all three of them being taken off television. And Cutler & Blake were the team in the ring as Ryker was used more in an outside interference role. There are those who felt the gimmick itself wasn't the right thing in these turbulent times.
The Forgotten Sons' SmackDown stint could be in jeopardy
Jaxson Ryker attracted a lot of heat following his tweet in support of Donald Trump when the American President reportedly ordered a tear gas attack on a peaceful group of supporters.
Various WWE Superstars publicly condemned Ryker's statement, and there was also a report about the talents in question violating an unwritten rule of the company.
The locker room was also reportedly furious at Ryker for his comments. Ryker's teammates, Wesley Blake and Steve Cutler also distanced themselves from the growing controversy.
The Forgotten Sons were brought to SmackDown with the hopes that they would be pushed into the SmackDown Tag Team titles picture. However, Ryker's tweet and the subsequent uproar seems to have negatively affected the prospects of the three-person team.
There are no updates on when the Forgotten Sons may return, and if they'd still have their current gimmicks. For now, Cesaro and Nakamura will feud with The New Day for the SmackDown tag titles, and that should spawn a few solid matches.