Amid speculation, one WWE SmackDown star has indeed been pulled from Friday’s episode.
WWE SmackDown this week will emanate from the Delta Center in Salt Lake City. It’s a massive edition of the blue brand show because Dwayne Johnson will be returning along with the Undisputed WWE Universal Champion Roman Reigns. The Rock is expected to have some words for the 2024 Royal Rumble winner Cody Rhodes and top WWE executive Paul “Triple H” Levesque.
Unfortunately, one superstar will be forced to miss SmackDown this week due to an injury.
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In a video announcement from on-air WWE SmackDown General Manager Nick Aldis, it was confirmed that Shotzi is now out of her planned Elimination Chamber qualifying match against Tiffany Stratton. Shotzi suffered what appears to have been a knee injury during a recent taping on WWE NXT. She was challenging Lyra Valkyria for the NXT women’s gold.
Dave Meltzer reported on Wrestling Observer Radio that Shotzi left the NXT taping on crutches.