It looks like AEW purchased commercial time during WWE NXT and WWE SmackDown this week.
Fans on Twitter noted that they saw commercials for AEW on TNT during Tuesday’s SmackDown and during tonight’s NXT premiere on the USA Network.
The commercials aired in various markets, and it looks like DirecTV was the main provider.
You can see a few of the AEW ads on WWE TV below:
Source: Wrestling Inc.
FOX has announced two special preview shows to celebrate the arrival of WWE on FOX, and to build to the SmackDown premiere on Friday, October 4.
FOX will air a SmackDown’s Greatest Hits special on Friday, September 27 from 8pm-9pm ET. The special will be hosted by Charlotte Flair and The Miz. FOX will then air WrestleMania’s Legendary Moments on Sunday, September 29. The one-hour show will air at different times around NFL coverage in local markets. That special will be narrated by John Cena.
FOX will also air a thirty-minute Blue Carpet special on Friday, October 4 at 7:30pm ET, which will be the the lead-in to the premiere at 8pm ET. The special will feature Superstars and celebrities arriving to the Staples Center for the big SmackDown 20th Anniversary show that night.
It was also confirmed that SmackDown will air on the FOX Sports App. FOX Sports is also launching new social media accounts – @WWEonFOX on Twitter, @WWEonFOX on Instagram, and WWE on FOX on Facebook.
Below is the full announcement issued by FOX today:
FOX Sports Announces WWE Programming Ahead of FRIDAY NIGHT SMACKDOWN DebutSpecial “Blue Carpet” Preview Show to Celebrate Arrival of WWE on FOX
FRIDAY NIGHT SMACKDOWN Air Time Details Announced
Los Angeles – Leading up to the network debut of FRIDAY NIGHT SMACKDOWN on FOX on Friday, Oct. 4, FOX Sports presents a slate of special programming, pre-event coverage and cross-platform integrations in anticipation of the marquee event.
A pair of hour-long WWE specials lead the charge, beginning with WWE SMACKDOWN’S GREATEST HITS, on Friday, Sept. 27, on FOX (8:00 PM ET/7:00 PM CT/7:00 PM MT/8:00 PM PT). Hosted by WWE Superstars Charlotte Flair and The Miz, the show highlights the most memorable moments from the storied franchise. On Sunday, Sept. 29, John Cena narrates WWE WRESTLEMANIA’S LEGENDARY MOMENTS, offering viewers a chance to relive the most spectacular WrestleMania moments from the past 35 years. Check local listings for air times surrounding Sunday’s NFL on FOX singleheader action.
Less than a week later, FOX Sports rolls out the “blue carpet” at the Staples Center in Los Angeles for the FRIDAY NIGHT SMACKDOWN KICKOFF SHOW on Friday, Oct. 4 (7:30 PM ET/6:30 PM CT/6:30 PM MT/7:30 PM PT). This star-studded show features “blue carpet” arrivals and backstage access to celebrities and athletes, as well as past and present WWE Superstars to kick off the new era of WWE on FOX.
In front of a star-studded crowd in Los Angeles, FRIDAY NIGHT SMACKDOWN airs live at 8:00 PM ET/7:00 PM CT on FOX. For viewers in the Mountain and Pacific time zones, SmackDown airs at 7:00 PM MT/8:00 PM PT on FOX. For all authenticated viewers nationwide, SmackDown will be available to stream live at 8:00 PM ET/7:00 PM CT/6:00 PM MT/5:00 PM PT on the FOX Sports App.
Today, FOX Sports also launches its WWE on FOX social handles, which will provide insight, analysis and entertainment across social platforms. For more information, explore @WWEonFOX on Twitter, @WWEonFOX on Instagram and WWE on FOX on Facebook.
Additional details on FOX Sports’ WWE programming will be announced at a later date.
Source: Wrestling Inc.
“The Beast” Brock Lesnar will face-off against Kofi Kingston for the WWE Championship next month during the first episode of Friday Night SmackDown on FOX.
Lesnar and his advocate Paul Heyman made their presence felt during tonight’s episode of SmackDown Live after a six-man tag match in which Kofi and New Day were victorious.
Brock and Heyman then walked to the ring and challenged Kofi to a title match on October 4.
Kofi said he made a promise to be a fighting champion after winning the title, therefore he was accepting Lesnar’s challenge. His acceptance was met with a swift F5 before Brock left the ring.
Lesnar vs. Kingston for the WWE Title is the only match announced for the big SmackDown Fox premiere as of this writing. This will be Lesnar’s first SmackDown match in over 15 years, since 2004. Lesnar has not worked a match on weekly WWE television since returning to the company in 2012.
The first WWE programming on Fox is scheduled to air on Friday, September 27 at 8pm ET.
The one-hour “SmackDown’s Greatest Hits” special is scheduled to air at 8pm ET that Friday night, on the main Fox channel, according to PWInsider.
The September 27 special is designed to be a preview for WWE coming to Fox. We noted earlier this summer that a preview special was being planned as a way to show non-WWE fans what to expect, as a way to introduce them to Superstars and the brand in general.
As noted, SmackDown will premiere on Fox Friday nights beginning with the October 4 episode. The show will then air live each Friday night from 8-10pm ET. The October 4 premiere will air live from the Staples Center in Los Angeles, and will be the SmackDown 20th Anniversary special.
The final SmackDown USA Network episode is scheduled to air on Tuesday, September 24 in the regular time slot, which means there will be more than 7 days in between regular blue brand episodes. This September 27 special will make it so that there will be at least some SmackDown content on TV before the October 4 premiere.
Source: Wrestling Inc.
As previously reported, WWE cancelled an upcoming RAW weekend tour later this month, with shows scheduled in Louisiana and Alabama. WWE has confirmed that the events that weekend have been postponed, below are the new dates:
* Friday, August 23 in Bossier City, Louisiana postponed to Sunday, March 22, 2020.
* Saturday, August 24 in Lafayette, Louisiana postponed to Friday, January 17, 2020.
* Sunday, August 25 in Mobile, Alabama postponed to Thursday, March 19, 2020.
WWE will be presenting SmackDown live events in South America that weekend with shows in Lima, Peru on Saturday, August 24th and Panama City, Panama the following night. WWE added several RAW stars to those events this week, so the cancellations may just be to strengthen those shows. RAW stars AJ Styles, Braun Strowman, Drew McIntyre, Ricochet, Samoa Joe, Sami Zayn and Rey Mysterio are scheduled for those shows in South America. SmackDown talent booked for those events include WWE Champion Kofi Kingston, Roman Reigns, Daniel Bryan, Charlotte Flair, Randy Orton, Kevin Owens and Andrade, amongst others.
As noted, PWInsider reported that WWE also cancelled RAW live events on Friday, August 30 in Bangor, Maine and on Saturday, August 31 in Portland, Maine. It should be noted that there were no SmackDown live events scheduled that weekend.
Source: Wrestling Inc.
Tonight’s WWE SmackDown will be taped from the O2 Arena in London, England today with the final hype for WWE Money In the Bank.
* SmackDown LIVE’s Men’s Money in the Bank Ladder Match participants to throw down in pivotal Fatal 4-Way Match
* Will Kofi Kingston accept KO’s invitation to come on The Kevin Owens Show?
* Can Fire & Desire scorch Asuka & Kairi Sane on Tuesday night?
In the same year that Raw celebrated its 25th anniversary, SmackDown is also approaching a milestone of its own. Tonight the show will air its 1,000th episode and former WWE producer Bruce Prichard recently reflected back on the very first episode of SmackDown which aired in 1999.
The first seven years of SmackDown aired on UPN, and Prichard says that using that network didn’t come by accident.
“It was a big conglomeration with a lot of different things coming together at the same time, it was a perfect storm in a lot of ways,” Prichard says on Something to Wrestle With. “Part of the UPN deal also had to do with the XFL. The XFL was going to be debuting the next year, and Vince [McMahon] was getting out beyond that NBC bubble and was looking for different broadcast partners.
When SmackDown debuted on UPN, it became WWE’s first show on a broadcast network since Saturday Night’s Main Event ended it’s original run on NBC in 1992.
“The other thing was that UPN was a broadcast network,” stated Prichard. “It wasn’t cable cast. I don’t want to say that they were in dire straights at the time, but they were No. 5 of the 5 networks. It wasn’t like we were going to the strongest of networks, but they were looking for something to build them up. UPN-Viacom had seen what we had done for the USA Network and they felt that by bringing it onto a broadcast and putting it into a primetime slot it could be their signature show.
“We were reaching out and looking for partners for the XFL. Vince McMahon looks at all of the [UPN] programming and thought, what about pro wrestling? What about doing something else? Vince McMahon always wanted that broadcast spot; that primetime broadcast spot and when it became available he jumped at it.”
Prichard also talked about the possibility of making SmackDown an all-women’s show nearly 20 years before WWE Evolution became a reality.
“We definitely discussed it,” admitted Prichard. “We looked at it, but we just didn’t have the depth to do it on a consistent basis week after week. We really didn’t have enough talent to do that, and in addition to that, if you were going to do that maybe not do it on the broadcast show because Vince McMahon was looking at that the more eyeballs maybe if this broadcast show takes off to possibly make Raw an all-women’s show, but we definitely discussed that many times throughout the years.”
SmackDown stated on UPN and is currently on USA Network, but it also aired on four different networks in between. The show will then move to Fox in October 2019 and Prichard says many networks showed interest in becoming the home of SmackDown.
“We were talking to Viacom. We were talking to CBS, and talking to CBS and Viacom was when we came to terms with UPN,” Prichard revealed. “We were the prettiest girl in that dance. Here we are at UPN because they wanted us due to the fact that they knew what we could provide for their station, which we did. We were the #1 show on their station, and brought eyeballs to UPN and were able to help them with lead ins. If you wanted to do a new show on UPN you advertise on SmackDown; that was just the way it was.”
Sources: WrestlingINC and Something To Wrestle with Bruce Prichard
Rey Mysterio is set to return to WWE at the SmackDown 1000 show in two weeks from Washington D.C., according to a report from PWInsider.
Mysterio reportedly signed a two-year deal with WWE last month. He had been trying to negotiate an 18-month contract but WWE wanted a two year deal, which they settled on. Mysterio did manage to work in a clause where you could give notices at the 18-month mark if he wants to leave.
Mysterio returned to WWE at the Royal Rumble earlier this year and later worked the Greatest Royal Rumble event in Saudi Arabia in April. The two sides have been working on a deal since then.
Source: WrestlingINC
WWE and JBL took to Twitter this week to congratulate WWE Champion AJ Styles on breaking the record of the longest reigning WWE Champion in SmackDown history. Styles is currently #13 on the all-time list and is set to pass CM Punk for the 12th spot in just under 40 days.
https://twitter.com/WWE/status/1030257936994582529
https://twitter.com/JCLayfield/status/1029843189790912512
Source: WrestlingINC
The Undertaker is scheduled to appear at the 1,000th episode of SmackDown on Tuesday, October 16 from the Capital One Arena in Washington, DC.
The official website for the arena is also advertising a triple main event with WWE Champion AJ Styles vs. Samoa Joe, Daniel Bryan vs. The Miz and Randy Orton vs. Jeff Hardy.
You can check out the full listing from their website below:
WWE Smackdown 1000The 1,000th episode of WWE SmackDown Live will air on Tuesday, October 16th from Washington, DC. WWE SmackDown premiered on broadcast television almost 20 year ago on April 29, 1999. The show has switched days and networks several times since. For more information, visit: https://www.wwe.com/shows/smackdown
Triple Main Event!
AJ Styles vs Samoa Joe!
~ WWE Championship Match ~
Daniel Bryan vs The Miz!
Jeff Hardy vs Randy Orton!
See your favorite WWE Superstars including:
The Undertaker
United States Champion Shinsuke Nakamura
Tag Team Champions The Bludgeon Brothers
Women’s Champion Carmella…and many more!
Card is subject to change
Wrestling News Blog 