WWE Rumors: Drew McIntyre vs. Kofi Kingston match nixed by WWE

What's the story?

The latest episode of SmackDown Live was headlined by a 6-Man Tag Team Match featuring Drew McIntyre and 5 other Superstars.

However, it was McIntyre's sudden disappearance from the matchup that has been the focal point of several discussions in the professional wrestling community ever since.

Although initial speculation suggested that McIntyre may have suffered a legitimate injury, it was later revealed by Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer Radio that his disappearance was pre-planned by the WWE...On that note, PWInsider has now revealed additional details regarding McIntyre's strange disappearance.

In case you didn't know...

The most recent episode of SmackDown Live was closed out by a 6-Man Tag Team Match: The New Day (WWE Champion Kofi Kingston, Big E & Xavier Woods) vs. Drew McIntyre and The Bar (Sheamus & Cesaro).

While McIntyre seemed to have the upper-hand during a certain phase of the matchup, when SmackDown Live returned from a commercial break, "The Scottish Psychopath" was nowhere to be seen.

The New Day eventually ended up winning the matchup, and subsequently celebrated in the ring, closing out the episode of SmackDown Live.

The heart of the matter

As we'd reported earlier, Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer Radio, asserted that WWE planned Drew McIntyre's exit from the matchup, since the aim was to protect the momentum of his character, by not featuring him on the losing side of things.

The WWE intends on planning to portray McIntyre as a formidable heel and one of the company's biggest stars; hence, after his "clean" loss to Roman Reigns at WrestleMania 35, the WWE ensured that the fans don't see him with The Bar while they lose the 6-Man Tag Team Match against The New Day on SmackDown Live.

PWInsider is now reporting that WWE had initially planned to have a singles match between WWE Champion Kofi Kingston and Drew McIntyre on SmackDown Live. Nevertheless, plans changed, and instead, we ended up getting the aforementioned 6-Man Tag Team matchup.

As of this time, the reason behind the WWE nixing the singles match between Kingston and McIntyre is yet to be revealed. Moreover, PWInsider also explained that the WWE cut time from the 6-Man Tag Team match, and the focus was primarily on The New Day defeating The Bar.

Furthermore, it's being added that there simply wasn't enough time to explain why McIntyre suddenly disappeared from the SmackDown Live main event. Ergo, the show was closed without the commentators explaining McIntyre's abrupt exit, owing to which he was simply instructed to return backstage during the commercial break.

What's next?

Fans in attendance for the SmackDown Live tapings have noted that McIntyre seemed to be hurt when he headed toward the backstage area during the commercial break.

Regardless, all signs point toward McIntyre continuing to be featured as a monster heel on RAW in the days to come.

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What are your thoughts on Drew McIntyre and his disappearance from the SmackDown Live main event match? Sound off in the comments!