Why Sami Zayn Hasn't Been On WWE SmackDown Lately
Here's what's going on with 'The Great Liberator.'
Recent episodes of SmackDown have gone down without Intercontinental Champion Sami Zayn, leaving his charges - Shinsuke Nakamura and Cesaro - without a mouthpiece in their extended feud with Daniel Bryan and Drew Gulak. This is despite 'The Great Liberator' successfully retaining his secondary strap against Bryan at WrestleMania 36, seemingly giving him more singles momentum than he has had in years.
The reason behind Zayn's absence is covered in the latest edition of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, with Dave Meltzer writing that the 35-year-old made the choice not to come to recent tapings, presumably taking advantage of WWE's recent concessions to anyone that doesn't wish to work through the ongoing global health crisis.
Meltzer notes that Sami was originally scripted to be part of last week's SmackDown but was written out after deciding he'd rather not travel to Orlando, Florida.
The Intercontinental Champion follows in the footsteps of Roman Reigns, who became the first WWE wrestler (that we know of) to remove himself from the current schedule ahead of WrestleMania, though he is immunocompromised after two battles with leukaemia.
There's currently no word on when we'll next see Zayn on television.