Last night’s episode of Smackdown LIVE saw a dramatic shift in the WWE Championship picture, less than 24 hours after Kevin Owens unsuccessfully challenged Kofi Kingston for the title at Money in the Bank.
While WWE has been teasing a potential cash-in from Brock Lesnar on Kingston, it looks like “The Beast Incarnate” is going to have to get in line, or move on, as Kingston was brutally attacked by a returning Dolph Ziggler.
Shortly after the attack it was announced that Ziggler would challenge Kingston for the WWE Championship next month at the WWE Super Showdown. WWE generally doesn’t do one-off world championship matches, so it seemed that Owens had at least one more title opportunity. At least for now, it would appear that he’s been replaced at the top of the card.
According to a report by Fightful, Owens told WWE officials that he doesn’t want to work WWE Super ShowDown, which takes place on Friday, June 7 at King Abdullah Sports City Stadium in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
While a specific reason was not given, it’s worth noting that Sami Zayn has not been allowed to work WWE’s two prior events in Saudi Arabia due to strained relations between the country and his home country of Syria.
