5 Reasons why WWE might currently be in panic mode

Modified May 09, 2019 04:07 GMT

Things might get stranger in WWE as the year goes on.

#2 The SmackDown move to Fox this Fall

SmackDown is slated to air on Fox starting this October.

WWE had to be both excited and slightly wary of the move to Fox. It will be the biggest network on which one of their shows will air, but along with that comes more demands on your current product.

The ratings have struggled mightily since last year, and if WWE wants things to go smoothly, they'll have to greatly improve them. That became apparent when Fox revealed that it might air WWE programming on FS1 or other networks if the ratings don't rise to where they want them to be.

John Cena's last PPV's name revealed by Kurt Angle? More details HERE

Fox also reportedly requested SmackDown to be more reliant on the athletic aspect of wrestling more so than the entertainment side. That meant certain stars were better suited for the blue brand (Finn Balor, Ali, Buddy Murphy, Asuka, Cesaro), while others were better suited for Raw (Baron Corbin, Heavy Machinery, Alexa Bliss).

While all of those superstars didn't end up where they would be better suited, WWE apparently moved certain superstars from one show to another at the request of Fox. Due to having a Fox Deportes channel on which to highlight programming for the Latino audience, Fox reportedly requested to have Andrade move back to SmackDown after having originally joined Raw during the Superstar Shake Up.

Rey Mysterio had been a big draw for SmackDown back in the 2000s, so Fox wanted to try to recreate that success with the top Latino star currently in WWE in Andrade. The 'Wildcard Rule' was also reportedly put into action because both NBC Universal and Fox wanted more star power on their respective shows in order to up the ratings.

About the author

Matt Serocki is a sports journalist from outside of Boston, Massachusetts who has written about sports for a local newspaper, the MetroWest Daily News.

Matt has written about professional wrestling for the past year but has been writing lyrics, short stories and novels in his spare time. He writes around 30-50 articles per month.

During his time on writing for Sportskeeda, Matt has written about a variety of topics including the history of the business as well as about the current stars and product. He follows numerous promotions like the WWE, AEW, ROH, MLW, NJPW, Championship Wrestling from Hollywood and WOW.

Studied Communications with a focus on writing at Framingham State University from 2000-2004.

Know More

Edited by Mustafa Ismail