No word yet on results from Zack Ryder’s MRI that he had on Wednesday but the Wrestling Observer reports that he was using crutches to walk backstage at Tuesday’s SmackDown after suffering the knee injury in the #1 contenders battle royal.

Ryder and partner Mojo Rawley were scheduled to work the Tribute to the Troops tapings after SmackDown, but they were replaced by American Alpha in the six-man match with Dolph Ziggler against The Wyatt Family. He tweeted on Thursday that he is now in Birmingham, Alabama “and not for a vacation” – a sign that the MRI revealed he needs surgery.

Regarding The Usos returning to action, they appeared on Talking Smack this week and confirmed that Jey Uso has been dealing with an ankle injury. The Wrestling Observer reports that they are scheduled back in the ring at the 12/26 WWE house show from Madison Square Garden. The brothers talked about wanting to challenge The Wyatt Family for the SmackDown Tag Team Championships, saying they were the only team that can beat The Wyatts. They also talked about how The Hype Bros shouldn’t be the #1 contenders. It will be interesting to see what WWE does with the #1 contendership if Ryder is out of action for an extended period of time.

Both The Usos and Naomi were brought into this week’s SmackDown but not used. There’s no word yet on when Naomi will be back in action, as she’s also been dealing with an ankle injury, but The Observer reports that she is not scheduled for any of the post-holiday house shows.