Reason why WWE removed Superstars from Clash of Champions; Nia Jax unhappy backstage

The Clash of Champions PPV, as you may have seen, had many unforeseen changes, which included WWE pulling three Superstars from the show. Nia Jax, Shayna Baszler and Nikki Cross were removed from their respective matches, and Dave Meltzer has now revealed the reason behind WWE's decision.

Real reason why Nia Jax, Shayna Baszler and Nikki Cross missed Clash of Champions 2020

WWE announced that Jax, Baszler and Cross were not 'medically cleared' to compete at Clash of Champions; however, their absence was due to the recent COVID-19 outbreak in the company.

Meltzer did note that Nia Jax was particularly 'mad' about the wording used to take them off the Clash of Champions PPV.

Lies https://t.co/XTvJsido1k

— 🌺 (@NiaJaxWWE) September 27, 2020

Meltzer had heard that at least one of the three stars mentioned above did not have COVID-19, and it could also be the case with two Superstars from the group; however, there was no confirmation from his end.

POST Wrestling was first to report about the changes to the Clash of Champions match card. A report from Fightful Select noted that there is a lot of frustration backstage regarding the changes.

Jax, Cross and Baszler were in contact with a person who had COVID-19, and WWE made the call to play it safe and pull them from Clash of Champions.

Here's what Meltzer revealed on the Wrestling Observer Radio:

"Ok so, Nikki Cross and Shayna Baszler and Nia Jax were all called medically, they weren't medically cleared. That was the wording. Nia Jax got really mad about that by the way.

"The actual issue is that you know it's the COVID situation. I believe that I know at least one of the three, and I think two of the three do not have COVID, but they were in contact with someone who does. So, it might even be all three, but I know for sure one, and I think two. But, it's still part of the COVID, they were afraid of the COVID spread as they were in contact, so they were not allowed on the show. I don't know how all their healths are, but at least two of three are not unhealthy as we speak. Hopefully they do not get unhealthy. So that's the situation there."

Nia Jax and Shayna Baszler were scheduled to face The Riott Squad for the WWE Women's Tag Team Championship, a match that was nixed.

As for Nikki Cross, Meltzer revealed that WWE was aware of her status on Friday before SmackDown. However, the company didn't take her off the show until the day of Clash of Champions.