WWE Rumors: Real reason why Finn Balor was replaced at Smackville

What's the story?

WWE announced shortly before the Smackville event that Finn Balor would be unable to face Shinsuke Nakamura after suffering an “undisclosed injury”.

According to various reports, the Irishman had a stomach bug and WWE is hopeful that he will be available for the July 30 episode of SmackDown Live.

In case you didn't know…

It was revealed on July 18 that a one-hour live event, WWE Smackville, would air on the WWE Network on July 27, with matches including Kofi Kingston vs. Dolph Ziggler vs. Samoa Joe (WWE Championship) and Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Finn Balor (Intercontinental Championship).

However, 32 minutes before the show began, WWE tweeted that Balor, who turned 38 two days prior to the event, had not been medically cleared to compete and it was unknown if Nakamura would defend his title.

During the week, @FinnBalor suffered an undisclosed injury. @WWE Medical has unfortunately not cleared him for competition tonight at #SMACKVILLE. It is unknown who or if @ShinsukeN defends his title tonight. Stay tuned as we learn more.

— WWE (@WWE) July 28, 2019

“The King of Strong Style” looked set to defeat the absent Balor via forfeit, but Ali stopped the referee’s count-out and stepped in to challenge for the Intercontinental Championship.

In the end, Nakamura avoided an 054 and hit a Kinshasa to retain, while there was uncertainty about Balor’s status as the show went off the air.

The heart of the matter

It is being reported that Finn Balor is not injured and he missed Smackville due to illness.

Sean Ross Sapp wrote on Fightful Select that the former Universal Champion was pulled from the show after being hospitalized with a stomach flu, while POST Wrestling’s John Pollock said it is a "24-hour bug type situation" and WWE is hopeful that he will be back in time for SmackDown Live.

WWE advertised a few hours before Smackville took place that Balor vs. Dolph Ziggler was scheduled for the upcoming episode of SmackDown, so it is unclear if the match will still happen.

What's next?

Regardless of whether or not the Dolph Ziggler match takes place, it is safe to assume that Finn Balor will be available to face Bray Wyatt in one of the featured matches at SummerSlam on August 11. Beyond that, it has been widely reported that he is due to take a two-month sabbatical following the PPV.