WWE Rumors: ‘Raw’ Superstar Was Quietly Removed From Major Storyline, Per Dave Meltzer

Amid the fallout from the segment on this week’s Monday Night Raw that featured Seth Rollins and Murphy attacking Dominik Mysterio, the latest rumors suggest that Kevin Owens was quietly removed from the ongoing storyline.

As cited by WrestlingNews.com, Dave Meltzer and Bryan Alvarez of Wrestling Observer Radio discussed the segment on Tuesday night, explaining “logic holes” such as the fact that the developmental wrestlers who surrounded the ring did nothing to help Dominik while he was getting beaten down by Rollins and Murphy. The two journalists also mentioned that there were several wrestlers backstage who could have assisted the WWE newcomer and saved him from the attack.

Regarding Owens, Meltzer singled him out as one superstar who should have helped Dominik, given how he was feuding with Rollins last month. The journalist added that this rivalry was supposed to be continued, but with Dominik’s father, Rey Mysterio, recently choosing to extend his stay in WWE, it appears that Owens was pulled from the storyline without any fanfare.

“He’s fallen out of his program. He was supposed to be in a program with Seth until they just dropped it when Rey agreed to stay.”

Although Owens did appear on this week’s Raw, the former Universal Champion didn’t do much as he was booked to lose against Randy Orton. This came before Orton and Ric Flair took part in an angle designed to write the 16-time world champion off television, with Orton turning on Flair and attacking him to build further heat in the lead-up to his title match against WWE Champion Drew McIntyre at SummerSlam.

Prior to this new development, Owens had missed a few weeks of action this summer due to concerns related to the coronavirus pandemic. However, Meltzer noted toward the end of July that the Canadian grappler was not used on that month’s final two episodes of Raw because the red brand’s creative team felt it wouldn’t be too plausible for him to run in and save Aleister Black — who was being written off television during those shows — from being attacked by Rollins and Murphy.

At the moment, Owens has yet to be booked for a match at SummerSlam, which is scheduled to air on Sunday, August 23. According to WrestlingNews.co, the fact that the pay-per-view will be taking place less than two weeks from now makes it unlikely that Owens will be given a new storyline that could lead to a match at the event.