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Bleacher Report catches you up on the latest news from the WWE Universe.
Reed vs. Rollins Was Reportedly Scheduled for SNME Match Before Injury
WWE reportedly had to pivot away from a planned Saturday Night’s Main Event match due to an injury suffered by Bronson Reed.
According to PWInsider.com (h/t Steve Carrier of Ringside News), original plans called for Reed and Seth Rollins to culminate their feud with a rubber match at Saturday Night’s Main Event, but Reed is not medically cleared to compete.
Reed made a high-risk dive off the top of the cage during a WarGames match at Survivor Series, but CM Punk moved Roman Reigns out of the way, resulting in an awkward landing for Reed.
It was then announced on last week’s episode of SmackDown that Reed suffered a broken foot on the move, and Dave Meltzer of Wrestling Observer Radio (h/t Subhojeet Mukherjee of Ringside News) reported that he is expected to be out for months.
Per PWInsider, the Rollins vs. Reed match was replaced by Drew McIntyre vs. Sami Zayn, which was announced this week on Raw.
On last week’s episode of Raw, McIntyre made a surprise return after being out for the past couple of months by taking out Zayn with a Claymore Kick.
Although McIntyre vs. Zayn is a strong replacement, being without Reed for an extended period of time is a major blow to WWE since he was establishing himself as one of the top heels in the company.
Cargill Reportedly Dealing with Undisclosed Injury
Amid confusion regarding Jade Cargill’s status, a new report suggests that she is indeed dealing with an injury.
According to Meltzer (h/t Carrier), “someone high on the food chain” in WWE confirmed that Cargill is injured and has been seeing doctors during her absence from WWE programming.
A few weeks ago on SmackDown, Cargill was shown laid out on the hood of a car. She was taking away in an ambulance and the identity of her attacker remains a mystery.
Due to the injury, Cargill had to be removed from the women’s WarGames match at Survivor Series, and she was subsequently replaced by Bayley.
Following the injury angle, PWInsider.com (h/t PWMania) reported that the Cargill injury was not legitimate and was part of a storyline, which led to even more uncertainty regarding where she truly stood.
Before his most recent report, Meltzer (h/t PWMania) reported that there were multiple stories making the rounds about Cargill, ranging from an actual injury to a storyline to a cover for a “political backstage issue.”
Current indications are that Cargill is indeed injured, although the nature of the injury and the timeline for her return are unclear.
Cargill was establishing herself as one of WWE’s top female Superstars, and she was one half of the WWE women’s tag team champions with Bianca Belair, who is still in possession of the titles.
WWE would undoubtedly love to have Cargill back soon with the Royal Rumble in February and WrestleMania 41 in April on the horizon, and she will provide a huge boost to the women’s division when she returns.
Tonga Loa Reportedly Undergoes Surgery
Bloodline member Tonga Loa has already undergone surgery to repair a torn biceps suffered at Survivor Series: WarGames, according to Meltzer (h/t H Jenkins of Ringside News).
WWE announced Loa’s injury last week on SmackDown, along with Reed’s broken foot and Jimmy Uso’s broken toe.
The WarGames match between the new Bloodline and OG Bloodline was a highly physical and dangerous affair as evidenced by the fact that 30 percent of the competitors in the match suffered some kind of injury.
Meltzer (h/t Mukherjee) reported earlier this week that Loa required surgery and would be out an estimated seven to eight months.
Loa, 41, was originally under contract with WWE from 2009 to 2014 under the names Donny Marlow and Camacho, but after his release from the company, he made a splash in New Japan Pro-Wrestling.
Teaming with his brother, Tama Tonga, Loa became a seven-time IWGP tag team champion, which put him back on WWE’s radar.
WWE brought in both Tonga Loa and Tama Tonga this year to be part of the new Bloodline, and they have made an instant impact, already holding the WWE Tag Team Championships once.
With Loa out for the foreseeable future, the new Bloodline is down to only three healthy members in Solo Sikoa, Jacob Fatu and Tama Tonga.
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