NXT Champion Sami Zayn is in Abu Dhabi right now to do promotional work for the WWE live events in the United Arab Emirates later this week.
Reports are saying Zayn will fly back to Orlando, Florida, for the NXT Takeover: Rival live special on Wednesday night before flying back to Abu Dhabi for live events on Thursday, Friday and Saturday. Unless Zayn is going to miss part of the UAE tour this week, it looks like he will be missing Thursday’s NXT television tapings at Full Sail University.
Zayn could be written off of TV for a weeks to explain his absence, but it doesn’t necessarily give away the result of his title match with Kevin Owens at the Takeover special. NXT will tape episodes this Thursday, in addition to a second taping next Wednesday. There is no announcement as to how many shows will be taped night, so Zayn may be back in time for next week’s round of shows. Zayn had previously been written off of television for a few weeks in December of this year, selling injuries caused by Owens after Zayn won the NXT championship.
For what it’s worth, Zayn previously did an interview last month while promoting the Abu Dhabi tour, talking like he would be competing on each leg of the tour. WWE still has Zayn advertised for Friday night’s NXT live event in Fort Pierce, Florida but he is not listed for the Abu Dhabi events as of right now.
