Unfortunately, Tye Dillinger will have to undergo surgery. The news was made by the WWE on Tuesday evening shortly before SmackDown Live went live on the USA Network in Atlanta, GA at the State Farm Arena where he was originally advertised to challenge Shinsuke Nakamura for the United States Championship on the blue branded show.
However, he suffered a hand injury and will require surgery. According to the statement that was posted on the official website of the company, the SmackDown star suffered the injury while competing at a live event on Monday night in Macon, GA at the Macon Centreplex. At this show, he lost to Shelton Benjamin in a singles match.
No other details were given on the nature of his injury or how long he is expected to be out of action for. The show must go on as WWE sent out this video that featured Mike Rome, who announced that R-Truth would replace Dillinger on SmackDown Live in order to challenge Nakamura for the United States Title. You can watch the video here:
EXCLUSIVE: With @WWEDillinger unable to compete against #USChampion @ShinsukeN tonight on #SDLive, who will answer the call?! @MikeRomeWWE has the answer… pic.twitter.com/VWEWtAwUXA
— WWE (@WWE) October 30, 2018
When more details are provided by the WWE, we’ll pass that along. We wish Dillinger a speedy recovery.
