In somewhat surprising news Vince McMahon was absent from the 2021 Royal Rumble pay-per-view, according to Steve Carrier of RingSideNews.

The WWE Chairman and CEO recently missed a set of WWE television tapings due to the passing of his brother on January 20, but it remains unclear if missing the Rumble was for the same reason.

The report notes that McMahon was still "very involved" in the production of the event via telephone and also was in communication with those in the Gorilla Position during the entire show.

Kevin Dunn reportedly ran the production with Bruce Prichard representing creative writers, but ultimately Triple H ran the event from start to finish.

It will be interesting to see if McMahon misses tonight's WWE Raw.

The #RoyalRumble was a fun show, but Vince McMahon missed it. We were told he missed another show, but he still kept in constant contact all day. He just couldn't make another event in a row. Triple H ran the show with Prichard in charge of writers and Kevin Dunn over production.

, Steve Carrier of Ringside News (@steve_carrier) February 1, 2021