Report: Scrapped WWE SmackDown Plans For Kevin Owens Revealed

WWE had big plans for Kevin Owens on the December 16 and December 23 episodes of Friday Night SmackDown that were taped from Chicago, Illinois last week.

Despite being a Raw Superstar, KO was set to be featured at the tapings, according to Fightful Select. Owens would have been involved in a face-to-face with The Bloodline on the December 16 show to unveil John Cena as his tag team partner against Roman Reigns and Sami Zayn for the December 30 SmackDown. Instead, the segment featured The Bloodline in the ring before the faction were interrupted by a video message from Cena.

How Owens would have been involved in the December 23 edition of SmackDown is unknown although The Bloodline taped a promo segment for the show.

Fightful noted that Owens missed the show because of a "nightmare travel situation." His absence prompted major production and writing changes for SmackDown.

Kevin Owens has been a featured performer on WWE programming in recent months, locked in a feud with The Bloodline as he tried to convince Sami Zayn to abandon the faction. KO will reportedly be involved in a major match at the Royal Rumble pay-per-view.