There were major changes to WWE’s live events on Sunday night with several key stars missing.
The company held shows at Madison Square Garden in New York City and the Amalie Arena in Tampa, Florida with multiple champions missing the shows after being advertised.
WWE Universal champion Roman Reigns, WWE champion Big E., Raw women’s champion Becky Lynch, Seth Rollins, and Bianca Belair missed Sunday’s events.
Reigns was scheduled to team with The Usos against Drew McIntyre, King Woods & Kofi Kingston in Tampa.
The rest were scheduled for Madison Square Garden including Big E. advertised to defend the title against Rollins and Kevin Owens and Lynch defending the women’s title against Belair.
UPDATE: PWinsider.com listed a full list of talent absences including Shinsuke Nakamura and King Woods in Tampa as well as Bobby Lashley and Zelina Vega in New York. The article noted that each event began with a message that some would be missing the show “due to the effects of COVID-19”.
“Just a note that not everyone off tonight’s WWE shows tested positive. There are people being kept off the shows who haven’t tested positive to minimize risk so the PPV headliners are at less risk of having to miss the event on Saturday”.
Edge appeared as a surprise at Madison Square Garden with the announcement that he would face Kevin Owens in a steel cage match.
Seth Rollins posted the following tweet on Sunday evening:
Merry Covid Christmas to me!!!! I LOVE FOOTBALL!!!
— Seth Rollins (@WWERollins) December 27, 2021
Monday’s schedule includes Raw taking place from Little Caesars Arena in Detroit with the SmackDown crew has a live event at the Amway Center in Orlando, Florida.
WWE has yet to issue an official statement on the talent missing the events.
POST Wrestling has reached out for more information regarding the talent missing Sunday’s events.
