Sami Zayn didn’t appear on this week’s episode of SmackDown (Picture: WWE)

WWE superstar Sami Zayn was absent from SmackDown this week due to ‘personal reasons’.

The former Intercontinental Champion – who has been a key component in The Bloodline over the past few months – wasn’t part of the blue brand’s broadcast on Friday night as The Usos faced The New Day in a huge tag team title match.

Longtime commentator Michael Cole revealed Zayn was missing from the show because of ‘personal reasons’, but didn’t give any more context.

Sami himself is yet to address his absence online.

Fans clearly missed the man recently hailed the Honorary Uce, as loud chants for Sami were heard during a very busy night for Roman Reigns and his family.

Jimmy and Jey tried to shush the crowd by pointing out that Zayn wasn’t in attendance, while they were focused on getting just days away from breaking New Day’s historic tag team record.

The Usos took care of business against The New Day (Picture: WWE)

The iconic trio, made up of Kofi Kingston, Xavier Woods and Big E, held the Raw Tag Team Titles for 483 days, which makes them still the longest running male champions ever in WWE.

However, with The Usos’ huge win in the opening match on SmackDown, their run with the gold hit 481 days, making them almost certain to break the record by the time Monday Night Raw is over.

Elsewhere in Bloodline business, the group found itself in a fight at the end of Friday’s show as Sheamus returned to be by the side of his Brawling Brutes pals Ridge Holland and Butch.

They took the fight to Roman, The Usos and Solo Sikoa, but the numbers game became too much until Drew McIntyre stormed the ring to even things up, and potentially set the stage for Survivor Series: WarGames.

The two factions are a perfect fit for the iconic and brutal structure, with plenty of talent and a range of styles to make for a fascinating battle.

WWE SmackDown airs Friday nights at 1am on BT Sport 1.

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The Bloodline star was absent from the show.