Despite winning their semifinal match on Tuesday night, American Alpha won’t be competing in Sunday’s SmackDown tag tournament finals at Backlash.
Shane McMahon and Daniel Bryan announced on Talking Smack that Chad Gable will be out 2-4 weeks with a MCL sprain after being attacked by The Usos on SmackDown. The injury is part of the storyline.
After making quick work of The Usos in their semifinal match, Gable and Jason Jordan offered a handshake to their opponents, but The Usos instead turned heel and laid them out. They isolated Gable’s knee, hitting a splash from the top rope on it.
The Usos will get a chance to redeem themselves in the tournament as they’ll face The Hype Bros at Backlash. Whichever team wins that match will fill the spot vacated by American Alpha and face Heath Slater and Rhyno later in the night for the newly created SmackDown Tag Team Championship. Slater and Rhyno defeated The Hype Bros on SmackDown to earn their spot in the finals.
BREAKING NEWS: @ShaneMcMahon says #AmericanAlpha is OUT for #WWEBacklash due to @WWEGable’s injury. #TalkingSmack pic.twitter.com/0cgg87P3i6
— WWE (@WWE) September 7, 2016