It was reported on Saturday night that Finn Balor had been pulled from the Smackville special due to an “injury.” That was WWE’s storyline for him not being there. In real-life, Balor was reportedly dealing with an illness. Balor posted the following photo to his Instagram account, showing himself in a hospital bed with the caption, “Summerslam.”
Balor was originally set to face Shinsuke Nakamura for the Intercontinental title. Ali replaced Balor instead. Nakamura ended up retaining the title.