WWE Stars To Be Revealed As RETRIBUTION Members Were Reportedly Not Used For SmackDown Angle

There's been a lot of online speculation on who the masked men and women were in the RETRIBUTION invasion of Friday's WWE SmackDown episode, and if the same people were used for the debut parking lot angle on last Monday's RAW.

It was reported by Dave Meltzer on Sunday Night's Main Event podcast that the people used under the masks and hoods on SmackDown were not the wrestlers who will be playing the actual characters when the RETRIBUTION members are revealed. Meltzer noted that this was told to him outright.

There has been speculation on Tommaso Ciampa and Dominik Dijakovic possibly being affiliated with RETRIBUTION after their social media accounts were blacked out last week, but many fans pointed to how none of the people used on SmackDown resembled Ciampa or Dijakovic. There was a lot of negative attention brought to the fact that most of the people used on SmackDown seemed to be smaller in size, closer to the build of someone like The Singh Brothers than someone like Dijakovic.

There's also been a lot of speculation that Vanessa Borne was the key female talent under a mask on SmackDown, based on her hair and other factors. Meltzer speculated that during the RETRIBUTION attack angle in the crowd of developmental trainees on SmackDown, WWE went through some extra effort to show that a female member of the group was attacking the female developmental trainee, so it wouldn't look like a man was attacking a woman.

Borne has been planned for a main roster call-up from WWE NXT for a few months now and because of that, there is some extra speculation on her being used for the invasion angle on SmackDown. It should be noted again that just because WWE used a wrestler for the masked invasion on SmackDown, that does not mean they will be used as a member of the group when they are all revealed.

It's been reported that members of the RETRIBUTION stable are being kept close to the vest by top WWE officials, and will not be immediately revealed. There's no word yet on how long they plan to go without revealing the men and women behind the masks.

It's likely that we will see more from RETRIBUTION on this week's RAW.

Stay tuned for updates on the new faction. For those who missed it, below is WWE's post-SmackDown announcement issued this weekend:

RETRIBUTION's motivation remains unclear as streak of carnage continues on SmackDown

RETRIBUTION brought more carnage to SmackDown, but what exactly does the mysterious new faction want?

The masked members of RETRIBUTION entered the WWE Performance Center armed with baseball bats and other weapons and immediately started wreaking havoc by targeting the blue brand audience. The group would turn their attention to the ring and demolished the squared circle with the aid of a chainsaw.

With attacks on both Raw and SmackDown, where and when will RETRIBUTION strike next? And when will the identity of those behind the attacks be revealed?

Stay tuned to WWE digital and social platforms as the situation continues to develop.