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SMACKDOWN NEWS AND NOTES: DARK MATCHES, BACKSTAGE NOTES & MORE

After Smackdown went off the air, Drew McIntyre defeated Austin Theory in a dark match with the Claymore Kick.

Before the taping, Xia Li pinned Shotzi Blackheart.  Li has been backstage in recent weeks but just not utilized for some reason.  We are told it hasn't been an injury.

Ronda Rousey's mother was at the taping tonight in Birmingham.

We are told a lot of segments got shifted and changed over the course of the day as Vince McMahon was very hands on with today's taping, including the show-closing brawl with Ronda and Charlotte Flair.  That brawl was pre-taped and inserted into the end of the show, we are told.

Obviously, there was a lot of concern over Big E over the course of the night.  That was alleviated somewhat when he released his video message, but given how popular he is behind the scenes, he was on everyone's thoughts during and after the taping ended.

Natalya and Shayna Baszler were put into the match with Naomi and Sasha as a way to potentially slide them into the Wrestlemania Women's Tag Team Match.  That was a change that was made over the course of the day as it went from Zelina vs. Sasha Banks to Carmella & Zelina vs. Banks and Naomi to the champions not even wrestling.

Announced for next week's episode is Roman Reigns and Brock Lesnar facing off.

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