UPDATE: Here are some additional notes on Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn being sent home from WWE’s ongoing tour of Europe, courtesy of ProWrestlingSheet.com.
According to sources, Owens and Zayn reportedly went against a creative direction given to them prior to SmackDown! Live on Tuesday night. Owens and Zayn were supposed to have been “fed” to The New Day following the Zayn/Kofi Kingston match. For whatever reason, the two didn’t follow WWE’s creative direction and left the ring instead. PWTorch’s “glossary of insider wrestling terms” defines “feeding” as the following: “The heel’s role during a babyface comeback where he runs at the babyface only to be repeatedly fended off, with the hope that the series of bumps by the heel will generate positive fan heat for the babyface.”
As seen on Tuesday night’s SmackDown! broadcast, Owens ran down to the ring immediately after Kofi Kingston defeated Sami Zayn and attacked Kofi, which was planned ahead of time. Owens and Zayn then quickly bailed from the ring and headed up the ramp while The New Day stood there and waited for them to come back. Some of the guys on WWE’s sound crew became confused and didn’t play anyone’s music. The segment, which was scheduled to end with The New Day beating Owens/Zayn down, then came to an awkward end.
According to one source, Owens and Zayn have become “difficult to work with” as of late and seem unhappy backstage. For what it’s worth, both Owens and Zayn were close to former WWE writer Jimmy Jacobs and Neville. Jacobs was fired while Neville reportedly “walked out” on the company several months ago.
Stay tuned for more information as it becomes available.
ORIGINAL: We reported earlier today here on eWrestlingNews.com that Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn were both sent home from WWE’s ongoing European tour. The two were told to leave following last night’s WWE SmackDown! TV tapings in Manchester, England.
In an update on this, Sports Illustrated is reporting that Owens and Zayn were sent home due to disciplinary reasons. According to sources, the reason WWE is giving is for “conduct deemed detrimental” to the company. The site also notes that they were sent home due to “going into business for themselves” on Tuesday’s WWE SmackDown! Live broadcast. Vince McMahon reportedly approved the decision to send the two men home. As seen during Tuesday night’s SmackDown! broadcast, Owens and Zayn cut a promo during the opening of the show. The two went back and forth with Shane McMahon, which led to Shane setting up a match between Zayn and Kofi Kingston. Kofi wound up winning that match.
