LA Knight Missed Main Event Spot On WWE SmackDown After Testing Positive For COVID-19

WWE Fastlane is fast approaching, but the company has hit a speed-bump on the road there, with one of their hottest stars sidelined due to illness.

On the latest episode of "WWE SmackDown," John Cena and AJ Styles kicked off the show by calling out The Bloodline for a tag team match — but the duo of Solo Sikoa and Jimmy Uso denied the challenge. Later in the night, WWE official Adam Pearce revealed that a contract signing for Fastlane would take place at the end of "SmackDown," but a backstage attack on Styles left the 16-time world champion stranded and on the receiving-end of a prolonged beatdown by Sikoa and Uso.

Despite being targeted in a two-on-one assault, Cena was left to his own devices, and nobody came out to make the save. According to reports from both Fightful and PWInsider, LA Knight was initially locked in for the closing segment, but tested positive for COVID prior to Friday night's show and was forced to leave the building. 

Knight competed seven days ago in a victory over The Miz before claiming he would be coming for championship gold and confronting Paul Heyman backstage, leading to rumblings of a potential program with Roman Reigns down the line. With two weeks to go until Fastlane, Knight could still team with Cena against The Bloodline, provided he is able to recover swiftly from his illness.