Why WWE Offered Fans REFUNDS For Friday's SmackDown

WWE not only announced LA Knight's removal from last Friday's SmackDown card in advance, but also offered fans refunds for their tickets to compensate.

Knight, who had previously been advertised for SmackDown, was forced off the show after testing positive for COVID-19. Fightful noted that Knight's role on the show would have involved assisting John Cena in the main event segment, which ended up playing out largely as it would have despite the popular star's absence. Later, Fightful Select reported that a Cena/Knight vs. Street Profits dark match was also scrapped.

Now, in the Wrestling Observer's Daily Update, Dave Meltzer writes that WWE offered ticket refunds after announcing to fans that Knight wouldn't be on the show.

This is a notable move from the promotion, as it doesn't typically announce no-shows unless it's a wrestler pushed to the same extent as Roman Reigns or Seth Rollins. Meltzer states that this is another sign of how high WWE's opinion of Knight is at the moment.

WWE also informed media outlets of Knight's removal from SmackDown - another step atypical for the promotion. There is currently no word on whether or not this is a policy change following Endeavor's takeover of the company.