Why Murphy Has Disappeared From WWE Television
Murphy has vanished after his WWE SmackDown with Aalyah Mysterio. Here's what's going on...
Murphy? Sorry, pal. Creative has nothing for you.
Per Dave Meltzer on today's episode of Wrestling Observer Radio, this age-old excuse is the reason Seth Rollins' former disciple has disappeared from television after connecting with Aalyah, Rey, and Dominik Mysterio. WWE doesn't have a spot for him at the moment. They have run out of ideas after the ill-advised Aalyah romance storyline and can't come up with anything fresh to bring Murphy back into the fold.
Meltzer states that Murphy is a knock-on casualty of the Steve Cutler situation. Cutler was released last week, after his positive COVID-19 diagnosis had angered Vince McMahon (per the report). The former Forgotten Son had been pulled from television prior to this, which hurt Murphy as he was supposed to join forces with Rey and Dominik to face Cutler, Wesley Blake, and Baron Corbin. When Cutler was taken off television, WWE decided to go two-on-one instead: Rey and Dominik vs. Corbin. This is currently playing out on SmackDown.
Murphy hasn't wrestled since losing to Corbin on SmackDown's 4 December episode. Blake is another unfortunate casualty here, having not appeared since WWE canned the Knights of the Lone Wolf angle when Cutler tested positive.