Carlito will no longer compete at WWE Survivor Series: WarGames tonight, though his replacement at the Premium Live Event is already official.
Prior to last night’s episode of SmackDown, WrestleVotes reported that a Survivor Series match was set to undergo a major change less than 24 hours before the event. Specifically, the account claimed that Carlito was set to be replaced in his match against Santos Escobar.
During SmackDown itself, the two men got into a war of words before their battle turned physical when they got into a brawl. The segment ended with Santos delivering a diving knee strike from the barricade to Carlito’s back, which left the latter injured.
Later in the night, Nick Aldis announced that Carlito would not be able to compete tomorrow night but was interrupted by Dragon Lee, who had helped fend off a second attack on Carlito from Escobar backstage.
Lee pleaded with Aldis not to cancel the match tomorrow night and insisted that he had to teach Escobar a lesson. After a short back and forth between the two, Aldis made Dragon Lee vs. Santos Escobar official for WWE Survivor Series: WarGames.
This marks Dragon Lee’s first Premium Live Event match since joining the main roster last month. During his time in NXT, Lee competed on three of the black and gold brand’s own PLEs – most notably challenging for the North American Championship in his WWE debut at Stand & Deliver.
Why Was Carlito Pulled From WWE Survivor Series: WarGames?
At the time of writing, it seems as if Carlito’s SmackDown injury is not legitimate and is simply the kayfabe reason for his removal from Survivor Series. However, the legitimate reason as to why he was pulled from the Premium Live Event is unknown at the time of writing.