The mystery surrounding two matches temporarily disappearing from WWE’s official SmackDown preview appears to have a pretty simple explanation.
WWE briefly removed Blake Monroe vs. Giulia and Tama Tonga and Talla Tonga defending the WWE Tag Team Championships against Damian Priest and R-Truth from the company’s “Quick Hits” section for the August 21 episode of Friday Night SmackDown.
Both matches had been advertised just one day earlier, so their sudden disappearance naturally raised questions about whether WWE had changed tonight’s lineup. The company eventually added both matches back to the official preview around 3 PM ET.
Now PWInsider has provided an update on what happened. After asking around about the situation, the belief is that there was never a creative change involving either match. Instead, the matches disappearing from WWE’s website was simply an error.
“The impression when asking around is that was simply a website error that was corrected once the company was aware.”
That explanation also lines up with WWE’s own social media activity throughout the day. Even while Monroe vs. Giulia was missing from the main SmackDown preview page, WWE UK & Ireland continued promoting the match and specifically noted that SmackDown General Manager Nick Aldis had made it official.
Once WWE became aware of the website issue, both matches returned to the official preview. The lineup once again includes CM Punk defending the Undisputed WWE Championship against Kevin Owens, Cody Rhodes and Randy Orton appearing ahead of Sunday Night’s Main Event, Tama Tonga and Talla Tonga defending against Priest and R-Truth, and Monroe taking on Giulia.
So it appears there was no last-minute cancellation or major shakeup behind the temporary disappearance. WWE’s website simply had the wrong information displayed for a period of time before the mistake was fixed.
Did you think WWE had pulled the matches when they disappeared from the SmackDown preview, or did this always look like a website mistake? Let us know what you think and leave your feedback in the comments.
