Reason Why Aleister Black vs. Sami Zayn Happened On Smackdown and Not Summerslam

On this Tuesday’s episode of Smackdown, Aleister Black defeated Sami Zayn in a little over five minutes. The match was originally intended for Summerslam, as evidenced in the Zayn’s promos where he threatened to “expose” Black at the Toronto event. Instead, Black accepted the challenge with the caveat that it was happening last Tuesday. In the latest Wrestling Observer Radio, Dave Meltzer explained why this was done, and how it related to overhaul of the show hours before it went on the air.

He said: “The deal with Aleister Black and Sami Zayn was when Vince showed up and didn’t like Smackdown and he tore the whole show apart…when he was done with the stuff he didn’t like and then changing the main event, they had an hour to fill. It was, ‘Well, what can we do with this hour? Let’s put the Aleister Black match with Sami Zayn on. So that was one of the things they did to fill the hole. So they took that off the PPV. That’s the reason that’s off the PPV.“