Several top WWE Superstars missed Monday’s RAW live event from the Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio.
Local stars Seth Rollins and Alexa Bliss missed the show, which led to “we want Rollins!” and “we want Alexa!” chants from the crowd. Becky Lynch and Bobby Lashley also missed the show, and word is that other wrestlers arrived late due to travel issues.
Johnny Gargano ended up pulling double duty due to the schedule changes. He defeated Baron Corbin early in the show, then worked the Triple Threat Steel Cage main event with Damian Priest and WWE United States Champion Austin Theory, who won the match. The match was originally announced as Rollins vs. Theory, but Gargano and Priest were added to make up for Rollins being absent.
One of the reasons WWE passed on running a live RAW last night was to give the production crew some time off. Had they ran a TV event, Fightful Select notes that it would’ve been the hampered Columbus show.
It was noted by PWInsider that much like the wrestlers and staff who went to New York City for last night’s SmackDown event from Madison Square Garden, the crew that went to Ohio also dealt with a “complete nightmare” of a travel experience. Some talents arrived “very late” to the Ohio show, and talents from both brands have described this week’s travel as being “beyond frustrating” already.
Rollins took to Twitter and revealed that he and Lynch missed the Columbus show due to an issue with their bus. One fan tweeted that travel issues must have prevented Rollins from making the show. He responded and confirmed that their bus was stuck on the side of the road.
“It did. And I’m very sorry! We tried, but by the time the bus broke down on the side of the road we had no other recourse,” he wrote.
You can click here for our report on the MSG show, and click here for our report on the Columbus show. WWE will continue their annual post-Christmas tour tonight with a RAW and SmackDown Supershow at the State Farm Arena in Atlanta, GA.
Below is the full tweet from Rollins:
It did. And I’m very sorry! We tried, but by the time the bus broke down on the side of the road we had no other recourse.
— Seth Rollins (@WWERollins) December 27, 2022
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