WWE SmackDown airs live tonight on FOX from the DCU Center in Worchester, MA.
WWE will be transitioning through various programming changes in the near future, with “WWE Raw” heading to Netflix come January 2025 as well as “WWE Smackdown” moving to the USA Network and “WWE NXT” going to CW in October. However, according to Chief Content Officer and Head of Creative Paul “Triple H” Levesque, “NXT” leaving the USA Network will not be the only change coming to the gold brand later this year.
Speaking at the Money in the Bank 2024 post press conference, “The Game” went into detail about WWE planning ahead toward making more changes to “NXT” in the fall. He also explained that, over time, the audience will see various differences to “Raw” and “SmackDown” as we inch closer to December.
“We are just getting started. I really feel like that. We got a whole fall thing coming up with CW for NXT. Which by the way Shawn is just killing it right… Whether that’s talent development, recruitment, NXT in general. I can’t say enough good stuff about it. I’m in awe of what they’re doing down there… When they move to CW, when SmackDown makes the move to USA, when Raw makes the move to Netflix. We’re just getting rolling. We’re lining up all this stuff that’s gonna happen. A lot of the changes you see now, we are slow rolling things out. When we get to the fall, when we get to the winter, there’s gonna be a lot.”
Triple H also expressed how excited he is about John Cena returning to the ring for a full year after announcing his retirement at Money in the Bank. Furthermore, he stated how grateful he is to be running creative with the current talent on the WWE roster.
Source: Wrestling Inc.
Tonight’s WWE SmackDown will air live on FOX and take place from the Scotiabank Arena in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
A new report has indicated WWE was frustrated over censorship during the FOX broadcast of “WWE SmackDown” on Friday, June 28. Many fans took to social media during the show to bemoan the censorship throughout the night, with transmission muted and cut-off to censor expletives picked up in audio.
After which, Fightful Select has reported that several within WWE indicated they were frustrated over the censorship, with one longtime talent reportedly looking forward to the impending move to USA Network quoted as saying, “it’s a chore to watch sometimes. I understand censoring ‘f**k the Pacers,’ but it feels like every segment is edited and it makes us look like it’s our production.”
Several expletives were censored during the match between Logan Paul, LA Knight, and Santos Escobar to qualify for the men’s Money in the Bank ladder match. Paul was joined by Indiana Pacers point guard Tyrese Haliburton for the bout, who attempted to retrieve Paul’s signature brass knuckles to win the bout. However, Jalen Brunson of the New York Knicks jumped the guardrail from his front-row seat to balance the odds. The confusion allowed for Knight to pin Paul to qualify for Money in the Bank, but there was an audible “F**k the Pacers” chant levied towards Haliburton. Elsewhere, the screen cut to black during Nia Jax’s entrance, aiming to censor what appeared to be a child flipping the bird in the audience. “SmackDown” will be moving to USA Network on September 13, with WWE’s broadcasting deal with FOX due to expire directly beforehand.
Source: Wrestling Inc.
The new Solo Sikoa-led Bloodline bookended last night’s “WWE SmackDown,” as Solo Sikoa awaited his official annointment as “The Tribal Chief,” “Head of the Table,” et al in an “Acknowledgment Ceremony.” With WWE Undisputed World Champion Cody Rhodes and his allies Randy Orton and Kevin Owens excused early on in the night’s show, there wasn’t much left to stand in the way of Sikoa accepting the ceremonial ula fala, but the Madison Square Garden crowd seemed to either anticipate a betrayal from the latest Bloodline inductee, Jacob Fatu, or perhaps a return from Roman Reigns or The Rock. Neither happened in the end, and ultimately, it was Paul Heyman as the lone resistor, with “The Wiseman” taking the beating of a lifetime as a result.
Sikoa, Tama Tonga, Tanga Loa, and Heyman all hit the ring together, and the group then introduced Fatu as its latest official member with a proper introduction, TitanTron, music, graphics and all. All of Tonga, Loa, and Fatu acknowledged Sikoa as their new Tribal Chief, but when it was Heyman’s turn, he hesitated, buried his head, told Sikoa that he loved him, but then admitted that he did not acknowledge him in assuming Reigns’ previous position.
At that point, things only got exponentially worse for Heyman, with Sikoa nailing his former “Wiseman” with the Samoan Spike, then ordering Fatu to hammer him with a diving headbutt. As the crowd roared “We want Roman!” Fatu then led the way in a Triple Powerbomb through the announce desk, with an assist from Tonga and Loa, and down went Heyman, with The New Bloodline raising “The Ones” as the show went off the air.
Source: Wrestling Inc.
WWE SmackDown live on FOX tonight from Madison Square Garden in New York City.
Wrestling fans in Indianapolis, Indiana, will have plenty to look forward to in the coming years, as WWE is bringing three of its tentpole events to the city. According to a press release put out by the company and the Indiana Sports Corp on Monday morning, the 2025 Royal Rumble and future WrestleMania and SummerSlam shows will emanate from the city as part of a unique partnership.
The first event to hit Indianapolis will be next year’s Royal Rumble, which is scheduled to take place from the Lucas Oil Stadium. No dates have been confirmed for the other premium live events at the time of this writing, but everyone involved is excited about WWE bringing three of its biggest shows to the city.
“We are excited to bring this groundbreaking partnership to Indianapolis and our state,” said Patrick Talty, President of Indiana Sports Corp. “For over four decades, our city’s sports strategy has brought in millions of visitors and priceless hours of international brand-building media coverage. This partnership with WWE continues to push that strategy forward in new and exciting ways. We look forward to welcoming the WWE Universe to our community and state and showing them all that Indy has to offer.”
The company will host “Raw,” “SmackDown,” and “NXT” live events across Indiana in the forthcoming months, but no dates have been confirmed yet. Similarly, WWE and the Sport Corp plan on introducing a collaborative program that will ensure the city benefits from the partnership after the announced shows are over.
While some of the announced Indianapolis shows remain shrouded in secrecy, other cities are already bracing for WWE’s biggest events. WrestleMania 41 has been confirmed for Las Vegas and SummerSlam 2026 is scheduled to emanate from the U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
Source: Wrestling Inc.
The newest member of The Bloodline made his debut after the main event of “WWE SmackDown” on Friday, making a big impression after sending Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes through the announce desk with a big splash. Jacob Fatu made his debut to help his cousin, the new “Head of the Table” Solo Sikoa, against Rhodes, Randy Orton, and Kevin Owens following a match between Rhodes and Sikoa.
Sikoa was set to face off against Rhodes with none of The Bloodline ringside, but Tama Tonga and Tanga Loa made their presence known shortly after the bell rang for the match, causing the disqualification. Orton and Owens ran down the ramp to help Rhodes against the stable, and all three men had Sikoa backed into a corner of the ring, where he started groveling to be spared before breaking his face broke into a grin. That’s when Fatu debuted, sneaking up behind Rhodes, Orton, and Owens, taking the latter two men out before beating down Rhodes. Fatu got him onto the announce desk and hit a big splash from the top rope of the ring, then got back into the ring and hugged Sikoa, and Fatu, Sikoa, Tonga, and Loa raised their “ones” in the middle of the ring as “SmackDown” went off the air.
Fatu, a former Major League Wrestling World Heavyweight Champion, revealed he had agreed to a deal with WWE over WrestleMania 40 weekend back in April. He had been a free agent for much of 2024.
Source: Wrestling Inc.
Tonight’s WWE SmackDown live on FOX from the Allstate Arena in Rosemont, Illinois.
Potentially one of the final QR codes surrounding the new Wyatt 6 faction honoring the late Bray Wyatt was revealed on “WWE SmackDown” on Friday, and scanning it led fans to even more than the still running countdown clock ending during the upcoming episode of “WWE Raw.” When fans click the top raven symbol on the page featuring the countdown, they’re directed to the previously revealed “kintsugi” page featuring Uncle Howdy’s old journal entries, but with a new addition.
When fans scroll down to the bottom of the page, a recycling bin now appears. When clicked on, a pop-up appears asking for a password. The hint included on the pop-up says, “You’re welcome.” When “thank you” is typed in the box, six image files are revealed, titled “U,” “E,” “D,” “N,” “J,” and “5.” The file names seemingly reference the rumored members of the stable, Uncle Howdy, Erick Rowan, Dexter Lumis, Nikki Cross, and Joe Gacy, with the five alluding to the five members mentioned. When each file is clicked, it directs a user to a photo. One the letter files, drawings are seen, seemingly depicting figures in masks, potentially what each character may be wearing when the faction debuts on “Raw.”
When the “5” file is clicked, an image is revealed showing the date “6.17.24” written on a piece of paper, the same date as when the countdown ends. The phrase “You will behold what we have become” is also written. Fans on social media also noted that one of the earlier QR codes had a link titled “uednj51a,” and many believe the “1a” alludes to Alexa Bliss being the final member of the Wyatt 6. Bliss has not been seen on WWE programming since revealing she was pregnant.
There were also several hand-drawn messages left on a desk, including some stick figures. Additionally, there were several drawings of a mysterious face and a framed image of a white rabbit.
The debut date for the Wyatt 6 was initially revealed in Monday’s QR code during “Raw,” which first led to the countdown. The biggest clues as to the date and just who may be involved were revealed during a Twitch stream on May 23, where Uncle Howdy seemingly wrote letters to his stablemates.
Sources: Wrestling Inc. and eWn
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