Top WWE producer Jason Jordan was reportedly absent from this week’s (July 8) SmackDown taping.
Per PWInsider, Jordan missed the taping as he and his wife are expecting a new baby any time now.
Jordan’s backstage role typically has him overseeing the other producers. Adam Pearce reportedly stepped in for Jordan for Friday’s edition of SmackDown.
It was also reported that Curtis Axel and Ariya Daivari, who were working for WWE as producers on a probationary basis, are no longer being called in due to budget cuts.
The remaining backstage producers were described as ‘extremely overworked’, as the probationary producers were initially brought in to ease the backstage workload following WrestleMania 38.
Vince McMahon was reportedly heavily involved with Friday’s episode of SmackDown, with the taping also being described as ‘the Vince McMahon show‘.
The taping took place on the same day a new report from the Wall Street Journal indicated that Vince McMahon has paid over $12 million in “hush money” over the past 16 years to “suppress allegations of sexual misconduct and infidelity”, including a $7.5 million payment to a former WWE wrestler. Click here to see the full report.
In the main event of WWE SmackDown, Drew McIntyre defeated Butch in singles action. McIntyre was originally slated to face Sheamus, with the winner set to go on to challenge for the Undisputed WWE Universal Title at Clash at the Castle in September.
Stay up to date with WWE win/loss records for 2022 using our tracker right here.
We send our best wishes to Jason Jordan and his wife.
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