Why Paige Wasn’t On SmackDown This Week, Biggest Royal Rumble Surprise Appearances, Drew Gulak

– Citing medical reasons, Paige made the difficult decision to retire from in-ring competition during the April 9, 2018, edition of Monday Night Raw the night after WrestleMania 34. She didn’t stay away from the ring for long, accepting Shane McMahon’s offer to become SmackDown LIVE’s General Manager just 24 hours after she announced her retirement. However, in only her third week in charge, Paige was not on SmackDown LIVE.

Paige missed SmackDown LIVE this week because she was in England for a few days visiting with family. Her brother Roy Knight said on Thursday that she was heading back to the United States.

Lovely meal with my sister before she goes back to the states,it’s the happiest I’ve seen her in years thanks WWE for looking after her 😊 love you @RealPaigeWWE see you in October x pic.twitter.com/hgogSqsdxP

— Roy Knight (@RealRoyKnight) April 26, 2018

Paige documented her trip on Instagram Stories, so the reason for her absence from SmackDown LIVE wasn’t a secret. Her latest Instagram posts show that she’s back home.

Despite Paige’s absence, she was portrayed as if she was there. Bryan was portrayed as being attacked backstage, with the assumption that it came from Big Cass. Later in the show, Bryan told Renee Young in an interview outside of the trainer’s room that he asked Paige to set up a match between the two for WWE Backlash, which she granted.

– On the heels of Hornswoggle’s surprise appearance in the 50-Man Greatest Royal Rumble Match on Friday, WWE posted this video counting down 10 of the biggest surprise appearances to occur in the history of a Royal Rumble Match.

– Drew Gulak celebrates his birthday on Saturday as the 205 Live Superstar turns 31 years old.

Happy birthday to the submission specialist himself, @DrewGulak! #HappyBirthdayGulak

A post shared by WWE (@wwe) on Apr 28, 2018 at 12:08pm PDT

Gulak competed in the 50-Man Greatest Royal Rumble Match and got a few kicks in on Daniel Bryan before eventually being eliminated by NXT Superstar Tucker Knight.

#2️⃣3️⃣ = The submission specialist of #205Live @DrewGulak, and he goes RIGHT AFTER @WWEDanielBryan! #WWEGRR pic.twitter.com/legWSdAdTk

— WWE (@WWE) April 27, 2018

In this post-match interview, Gulak vented about being “cheated by some NXT halfwit” and said Bryan should consider himself lucky that he escaped his wrath.