It looks as though Thursday of this week will not be “Rusev Day,” as the WWE Superstar has apparently backed out of his originally scheduled booking as one of the competitors in the Tuwaiq Trophy Gauntlet Match at the WWE Super ShowDown live WWE Network special in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

Rusev was scheduled to compete at Thursday’s WWE Super ShowDown event in the Tuwaiq Trophy Gauntlet Match but it appears he won’t be wrestling after all.

WWE has replaced him with Rey Mysterio both in the official WWE.com write-up of the match and in the graphic.

It is believed that Rusev isn’t going to be in the match due to his ongoing contractual situation with WWE has he has not signed a new contract and so the company decided to pull him from the match.

Another report, which perhaps makes more sense, suggests that it is Rusev who actually backed out of the match due to not having come to an agreement on a new contract with the company.

WWE is officially stating his absence as a result of an “injury.”

Featured below is the updated official listing for the Tuwaiq Trophy Gauntlet Match at the 2/27 WWE Super ShowDown live WWE Network special from Riyadh, Saudi Arabia:

“As first announced on Monday Night Raw, Super ShowDown will play host to the first-ever Tuwaiq Trophy Gauntlet Match, as Rey Mysterio, R-Truth, AJ Styles, United States Champion Andrade, Erick Rowan and Bobby Lashley will complete in the high-stakes contest.”

Make sure to join us here at eWrestling.com on 2/27 for LIVE WWE Super ShowDown Results coverage from Saudi Arabia!