NXT Talent Used On WWE's Madison Square Garden House Show Following COVID-19 Outbreak

NXT talent were used to fill the card on WWE Raw's house show from Madison Square Garden on Sunday, December 26.

WWE are currently suffering from a COVID-19 outbreak within the company and several talents and staff members have tested positive since the December 19 and December 20 shows.

With WWE's holiday live event tour running from December 26 until December 30, the company reportedly looked over alternative cards ahead of Christmas Day and it was noted WWE would use NXT Superstars on the shows in a worst-case scenario.

That worst-case scenario is exactly what happened, though, and the likes of Big E, Becky Lynch, Bianca Belair, Bobby Lashley, Zelina Vega and Seth Rollins were all absent from the Madison Square Garden house show. As a result, Tommaso Ciampa and Pete Dunne were last-minute additions to the live event, with The Blackheart defending the NXT Championship against Dunne.

An NXT Title match on the card wasn't the only change to the MSG show and Edge was booked at the last minute by WWE to work a Steel Cage Match with Kevin Owens in the main event in what was The Rated-R Superstar's first house show match since March 2011.