WWE Rumors: Here’s Why The Usos And Naomi Reportedly Weren’t Included In Superstar Draft
Although the recently concluded WWE Superstar Draft made sure to include almost all of the company’s male and female wrestlers in the respective talent pools for Monday Night Raw and Friday Night SmackDown, there were some notable omissions, including multiple-time tag team champions The Usos and former SmackDown Women’s Champion Naomi. It wasn’t clear at first why these established talents were left out of the two draft pools, but a new report has shed light on the possible reason.
As noted by WrestlingNews.co, brothers Jimmy and Jey Uso have been off television and off the road since July, with their last TV appearances taking place shortly before Jimmy Uso (aka Jonathan Fatu in real life) was arrested in Florida for allegedly driving under the influence. Similarly, Jimmy’s wife, Naomi, has been on the sidelines for the past two-and-a-half months, as she announced on Instagram toward the end of September that she was dealing with health and family issues. She did, however, promise to return to the ring as soon as “the time is right.”
While The Usos and Naomi were all present when Friday Night SmackDown made its Fox premiere on October 4, the latest update from Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter suggests that there’s a simple reason why they weren’t used on that episode and why they were left out of the Superstar Draft. Citing Meltzer, WrestlingNews.co wrote that there is “currently no creative” for the three former champions.
Neither Naomi nor The Usos have a confirmed return date, and as further noted, WWE has yet to decide on which brand they will represent when they return to TV. Per Sportskeeda, all three wrestlers are still listed on WWE’s website as part of the Monday Night Raw brand.
As of this writing, it’s unclear whether or not WWE has any concrete plans for The Usos and/or Naomi going forward. However, the former act has often been brought up as a tag team that could make the jump to All Elite Wrestling, despite the fact they have been receiving solid exposure on WWE television over the past several years.
According to Sportskeeda, there are multiple reasons why Jimmy and Jey Uso could soon take their talents to AEW, such as how they’ve won five tag team championships in their WWE run and have “done all they can.” The publication also mentioned Jimmy and Jey’s separate legal issues through the years, their friendship with AEW executive and wrestler Cody Rhodes, and the newer company’s greater focus on tag team wrestling as other factors that could influence The Usos to leave WWE for the competition.
