– The dark match before tonight’s WWE SmackDown tapings in Richmond, Virginia saw Kalisto defeat Curt Hawkins.
– Mauro Ranallo missed WWE SmackDown for the third week in a row tonight. His WrestleMania 33 status appears to be up in the air after missing tonight’s go-home episode. As noted, Mauro’s absence is related to his battle with depression, which he has fought since he was a teenager. Mauro’s friend and podcast co-host Bas Rutten commented on Mauro’s status and Mauro being bi-polar during an appearance on The Luke Thomas Show last week. He said:
“Yeah, he’s doing OK. As everybody knows, he’s very vocal about it but Mauro is bi-polar and sometimes, a few times a year, things are going too fast and he needs to just simply slow down. But he’s doing good and I talked to him… he’s sending me funny video clips, he just sent me something… It’s all in good spirits, I think he will be back to normal very soon.”
WWE noted the first week that Mauro was missing the show due to winter weather. Last week they said he was out sick but there was no mention of his absence tonight. SmackDown is being called by JBL, David Otunga and Tom Phillips.
– We’ve noted how Erick Rowan has been posting his own videos to hype his WWE return from injury. Below is the latest video, titled “Hide and Seek…” Rowan was recently cleared to return to the ring from a torn rotator cuff after being out since last fall.
Hide and Seek… pic.twitter.com/ttTjBChnkq— Erick Rowan (@ERICKROWAN) March 29, 2017
