Update on Jaxson Ryker heat; why Steve Cutler and Wesley Blake returned without him

Jaxson Ryker has not appeared on WWE television since he posted a controversial tweet supporting Donald Trump in June 2020. The other two members of The Forgotten Sons, Steve Cutler and Wesley Blake, made their returns on this week’s WWE SmackDown. However, Jaxson Ryker was nowhere to be seen on the show.

Writing on Fightful Select, Sean Ross Sapp reported that Jaxson Ryker still has heat with WWE officials. He has not been at WWE television tapings for several months and his name has even been removed from a backstage roster list.

“As if Friday wasn't indication enough, there's still heat on Jaxson Ryker within WWE. As we mentioned recently, Ryker had been home in North Carolina and hadn't been brought to Orlando to the site of WWE tapings in months. At one point, Ryker wasn't even featured on internal WWE roster sheets.”

Sapp reiterated that, unlike Jaxson Ryker, Blake and Cutler have not had internal heat backstage. One source mentioned that WWE using Jaxson Ryker “wasn’t worth the risk of bad publicity of being on TV” right now. WWE officials were reportedly “not high on him” even before he received backlash on Twitter.

Jaxson Ryker deleted his social media accounts four weeks ago and it is unclear if he will return to WWE television. Sapp previously reported that WWE’s creative team had been working on ideas for Cutler and Blake, which explains their alliance with King Corbin.

Steve Cutler and Wesley Blake without Jaxson Ryker

SK Wrestling's Rick Ucchino and Denise Salcedo discussed every match and segment from WWE SmackDown on Smack Talk. Watch the video above to find out their thoughts on Roman Reigns, The Forgotten Sons' new direction, and more.

This week’s SmackDown saw King Corbin pick up a victory over Murphy. The 2019 King of the Ring winner was accompanied to the ring by two clean-shaven Superstars wearing hoods. WWE’s commentary team did not mention the Superstars’ names initially, but they eventually revealed the two men to be Steve Cutler and Wesley Blake.

Looks like #King @BaronCorbinWWE has brought some backup...#SmackDown pic.twitter.com/Oz0JQn1KCb

— WWE (@WWE) December 5, 2020

With a little help from his friends, #King @BaronCorbinWWE picks up the win on #SmackDown. pic.twitter.com/Zb1A1yu6Po

— WWE (@WWE) December 5, 2020

With Jaxson Ryker absent, Cutler and Blake attacked Rey Mysterio and Dominik Mysterio at ringside. They then rushed into the ring to distract Murphy, who lost the match after running into an End of Days from King Corbin.