Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn sent home after not following instructions on Smackdown, more on locker room rep (w/Keller’s Analysis)

Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn were sent home early from the WWE tour of Europe this week. PWTorch sources say it was due to not following instructions on the segment on Smackdown featuring Zayn vs. Kofi Kingston. After the match was over, Owens and Sami were suppose to engage in a longer battle with New Day and sell more for them before retreating. Instead, they retreated almost immediately and didn’t engage in more physicality with New Day.

If this was just a mistake or due to confusion, it would have blown over, but sources tell PWTorch that Owens and Zayn have developed a reputation with Smackdown management and fellow wrestlers as being difficult to work with and independent minded in a manner that is seen as insubordination. What happened Tuesday was seen as taking a stand against the way WWE operates. In general, they aren’t well liked in certain circles of the Smackdown locker room for how they carry themselves.

Keller’s Analysis: Owens appeared to one observer to be devastated once he found out the ramifications of what happened Tuesday, being sent home early. There are certainly multiple sides to this situation, but if Owens and Zayn are upset with their pay or how they’re treated by management or portrayed by the creative team and were trying to show some spine and make a difference, they may come across ultimately as sympathetic figures to some. WWE management, by design, wants a locker room filled with compliant wrestlers who don’t stir trouble.

Looking at the current landscape, Owens and Zayn are getting plenty of TV time, but certainly aren’t being treated at this moment as top tier wrestlers on the roster. Their job on Tuesday, though, was to make New Day look strong because New Day are headed into a major match against The Shield at Survivor Series. This isn’t the week for Owens and Zayn to be anything but team players when it comes to helping build the credibility of an act that sometimes comes across as more comedic than tough so The Shield look like they’re selling for and ultimately (likely) defeating a formidable team. Deciding now to try to protect themselves and avoid engagement with New Day, if that’s precisely what happened and their rationale for doing it, is bad timing in terms of when to “take a stand” against the way things are done in WWE. 

It’s probably worth saying, given the way WWE operates these days, that there’s an outside chance this is an elaborate work to build up some sort of meta-shoot-work storyline with Shane McMahon, or will transition into one, but our sources indicate the reputation of Owens and Sami predates this week’s incident and apparent disciplinary action and it doesn’t give off signs of being a storyline.

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