Top SmackDown backstage rumors: Management not happy with top Superstar; McMahon's decision on Reigns' situation; Who will Otis challenge as MITB winner? (15th May)
After a splendid Money in the Bank PPV, WWE will look to deliver an entertaining edition of Friday Night SmackDown for the fans. With Otis winning the MITB contract, it will be interesting to see what direction the company decides to go with him.
In today's top backstage rumors we will also see what Vince McMahon thinks of the ongoing situation with Roman Reigns, the reason behind the big change in WWE and much more!
Apart from Roman Reigns who had indicated that he will not be performing due to the COVID-19 situation, another top SmackDown Superstar and current IC Champion Sami Zayn has followed Reigns' footsteps. Let's find out what WWE feels about his decision:
#5 Backstage heat on Sami Zayn for refusing to return
The IC Champion Sami Zayn reportedly refused to return to WWE citing the pandemic as the reason. WWE have themselves given all the employees the choice not to come to work if they so feel given the current status of the virus. However, it looks like Zayn's choice of exercising that option has not gone down well with WWE Management:
Here is what Dave Meltzer of The Observer has stated:
Even though nobody can say it publicly for obvious reasons, there is a lot of unhappiness that Zayn exercised the option that they gave everyone regarding not wrestling if you don’t want to right now.
WWE has announced that they will be holding a tournament to crown the next Intercontinental Champion on SmackDown. Sami Zayn replied to this announcement by stating that since he has not been defeated, he is still the IC Champion.
One way WWE could have gone with the storyline would have been to have Zayn hand the title to his teammate Cesaro or Shinsuke Nakamura and taken the Championship back once he returned.
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