WWE was scheduled to have two special shows on December 26, the day after Christmas; the company ran a pair of live events on Sunday, one in Madison Square Garden (New York City, New York) and one in Tropicana Field (St. Petersburg, Florida). But several of the promotion’s top stars were pulled from their respective scheduled matches.
Ashley Colten of PWInsider, providing live coverage of the event in Florida, noted that WWE announced some Superstars weren’t able to attend the event due to COVID-19. Likewise, PWInsider’s Billy Krotchsen, while covering the New York event, reported that WWE made a similar announcement. Ethan Renner of The Wrestling Observer specifically stated that WWE Universal Champion Roman Reigns was scheduled for the Florida show, and he didn’t appear. Becky Lynch, Seth Rollins, WWE Champion Big E and Bianca Belair were all pulled from the card for the Madison Square Garden show. Edge was unexpectedly brought in for the show, and he’ll face Kevin Owens in a Steel Cage Match.
It is not currently clear why these changes were made.
Earlier on Sunday afternoon, Rollins tweeted the following:
Merry Covid Christmas to me!!!! I LOVE FOOTBALL!!!
— Seth Rollins (@WWERollins) December 27, 2021
Update: in a tweet, Dave Meltzer of The Wrestling Observer Newsletter noted that some of these stars were held out for precautionary reasons ahead of the Day 1 pay-per-view on New Year’s Day.
WrestleZone will provide more details as they become available.
