This Tuesday’s episode of Smackdown Live saw the return of Dolph Ziggler, who brutally attacked WWE Champion Kofi Kingston in order to set up a title match between the two at the upcoming WWE Super Showdown event in Saudi Arabia, which has caused the usual amount of controversy in recent weeks.
The decision to bring Ziggler back most likely made in the 11th hour, so to speak, as the Wrestling Observer Newsletter is reporting that Kevin Owens was originally slated for the show in a rematch from Money in the Bank.
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When Owens refused to return to Saudi Arabia WWE was left to find a new opponent to challenge Kingston, and at the time, all their obvious picks are either off the show or booked somewhere else on the card.
Andrade and Finn Balor have already been announced for an Intercontinental Championship match, Roman Reigns is booked against Shane McMahon, and Daniel Bryan was moved into the role of Smackdown Tag Team Champion alongside Rowan when the blue brand suddenly found itself without a tag team division — that, and he’s also refusing to work in Saudi Arabia.
Even Ziggler was supposed to be somewhere else that week, as he had to be pulled from a WWE promotional appearance in Australia. With the powers-that-be not wanting it to be a Raw star challenging for the WWE Championship, and Brock Lesnar already slated for Seth Rollins, he was really just the only available option without shaking up the rest of the card.