Former Universal Champion Was Meant To Appear On Most Recent Episode Of WWE SmackDown
This major name was originally due to appear on last Friday's SmackDown.
As many have speculated, Kevin Owens was originally intended to be a part of this past Friday's WWE SmackDown.
This most recent outing for WWE's blue brand set up John Cena and KO to face Roman Reigns and Sami Zayn on the 30 December episode of Smackers, and Owens was planned to be in attendance on Friday to go face-to-face with the Bloodline and introduce the Cena video that fans saw air.
Per Fightful Select, the Prizefighter ended up not making it to Chicago's Allstate Arena due to a "nightmare travel situation". As such, "major" production and writing changes were made in order to rework this SmackDown episode.
Friday saw WWE also tape next week's SmackDown offering, with Owens likewise intended to have been a part of that episode before his travel issues.
Away from the aforementioned 30 December tag team contest, there's been plentiful rumblings and speculation that Kevin Owens may face Roman Reigns for the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship at the Royal Rumble next month. Similarly, many are predicting that Owens and Sami Zayn will eventually be the ones to take the Undisputed Tag Team Titles from the Usos down the line - potentially at WrestleMania 39.