Two of the most highly-anticipated WWE shows will be taking place next week. Both the 2023 Elimination Chamber PLE and the go-home episode of SmackDown the night before will take place in the same city: Montreal, Quebec Canada.
There is plenty of hype around both of these shows, especially since Sami Zayn will be in his hometown on both nights.
But two people that will not be there are both of the Usos. Even though both of them are critical to the Reigns/Zayn storyline, neither will be physically present in Montreal.
There are real-world reasons for this, but WWE has come up with an ‘in-universe explanation’ since the company doesn’t want to draw attention to bad decisions made in the past.
The Usos’ past legal issues bar them entry into Canada for WWE Elimination Chamber
Both Usos have been arrested in the past for Driving Under the Influence (DUI) in different states. Jimmy has had more DUIs than Jey, having been arrested for the same offense four times since 2011, three of which were between February 2019 and July 2021.
Because Jey had three DUI charges in such a short order, he is unable to enter Canada. And while Jimmy hasn’t had the same level of trouble, WWE likely doesn’t want to split the two brothers up ahead of Elimination Chamber.
Furthermore, WWE doesn’t want to explain the Usos’ absence from these shows with an explanation as mundane and unfortunate as “legal reasons”, even though the subject has been mentioned by the company at least once before.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=timC22aBQtA
Instead, Paul Heyman approached both Usos and explained that Roman Reigns wanted them to “sit out next week to get a ‘television perspective’” because sometimes one sees things on TV that can’t be seen live.
"Sometimes you see things on TV, that you don't see when you're here live."@WWERomanReigns told @HeymanHustle that he wants The @WWEUsos to stay home next week… 👀#SmackDownpic.twitter.com/QBjo1nSuN8
— WWE (@WWE) February 11, 2023
But since only one of the two Usos actually has restrictions on entry into Canada and the other one doesn’t, it’s still possible that one of them could still appear in Montreal either on SmackDown, at Elimination Chamber, or both.