Changes were made to WWE Smackdown due to talent reportedly being pulled for “medical reasons”

WWE initially advertised that Asuka’s match for Summerslam would be confirmed during the July 21st 2023 edition of Smackdown. However, WWE ended up announcing that Asuka will defend her women’s title against Bianca Belair and Charlotte Flair at Summerslam in a post via social media. Bianca did not make an appearance on Smackdown.

Mike Johnson of PWInsider.com noted the following regarding changes to the show…

“The word making the rounds at Smackdown is that the reason there were some changes to the scheduled plans tonight is that there were talents pulled for medical reasons. One version making the rounds is that there were COVID positives or talents who were at least in direct contact with someone who tested positive.”

During Smackdown, Charlotte defeated Iyo Sky and was attacked by Asuka afterwards. It’s believed that Iyo was originally supposed to have a match against Zelina Vega.