Huge Update On Vince McMahon's Status For Tonight's WWE SmackDown

Vince McMahon is not present at tonight's "WWE SmackDown" in Portland, Oregon.

According to a report from Pro Wrestling Insider published in their Elite section, McMahon did not make the trip to Portland with the rest of the "SmackDown" crew, though PWI's sources say McMahon reviewed tonight's creative plans remotely. While where were minor changes made to the show, there was nothing major, which represents a dramatic change from the massive changes McMahon made to Monday's post-WrestleMania "WWE Raw" in Los Angeles.

PWI notes that backstage morale, which took a huge hit on Monday, is better without McMahon physically present, though some are waiting to see whether or not this remote approach becomes permanent — there's reportedly optimism that McMahon only took such a heavy hand on "Raw" because he was there in person. If McMahon continues to exert his influence over WWE creative from a distance, the feeling is that shows will run as they had been leading up to WrestleMania 39, as opposed to the way they went on Monday night. Some of PWI's sources also seem to believe that the entire situation will continue to be overblown by internet reactions.

Tonight's "SmackDown" is scheduled to include a singles match between Sami Zayn and Jey Uso, a tag team match between Rey Mysterio and Santos Escobar and Dominik Mysterio and Damian Priest, and a six-man tag team match between the Brawling Brutes and Imperium. Rhea Ripley is also set to appear on the show, as is Paul "Triple H" Levesque, who has been nominally running WWE creative for the past eight months.