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For those who don't know, WWE recently signed a new television deal with Fox Network for their weekly show 'Smackdown Live'.
Follow Sportskeeda for the latest WWE news, rumors and all other wrestling news.
“At Fox we are thrilled to welcome WWE to the Fox Sports family and bring SmackDown LIVE to broadcast television,” said Eric Shanks, President, COO and Executive Producer of Fox Sports. “We are huge fans and know that together Fox Sports will be the leader in live events for the foreseeable future.”
The deal is five years long with WWE getting paid a whopping 1 Billion Dollars for their services on Fox.
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As part of the deal, Smackdown Live will be moving from Tuesday nights to Friday nights beginning October 4th, 2019. The deal came about after Fox refused to renew their Broadcast rights for UFC after UFC demanded more money than Fox was willing to pay.
With the huge influx of cash for WWE, let's take a look at five new things (that are NOT named XFL) that WWE can do with the extra money.
#5 International Tapings
Apart from USA, Canada and their biannual trip to the UK, WWE seldom broadcasts their television shows from any other countries.
Previously WWE has had broadcasted Raw from countries like Mexico, Italy and Germany. They also held special Tribute to the Troops episodes of Raw from Iraq and Afghanistan.
In recent times, however, live events are about as far as WWE will go in terms of hosting shows in foreign countries.
The reason for this is likely budget related as it costs quite a chunk of money in transporting entire sets and staff all over the world in addition to the cost of hosting television in some of the biggest markets of Europe and Asia.
It would offer a huge boost to WWE's international appeal if they hosted televised shows instead of Live Events all over the world.
International tapings will give WWE more exposure and certainly make more money than what they will cost if done right. Also, they could be coming to your hometown real soon.
#4 A-List Writers and Producers
WWE is never going to deviate from being 'Sports Entertainment'. They will never completely shift to the more in-ring focused style of New Japan or Ring of Honor which is getting more famous than ever now. So given their soap-opera-like approach to wrestling,
we all can agree they need to step up their game if they want to continue their status as the No.1 Wrestling promotion in the world.
With terrible writing and production value of certain segments and sometimes entire episodes of Raw or Smackdown, new Hollywood quality writers can revitalize the lacklustre episodes of Raw and Smackdown. '
WWE's current producers aren't doing any better either with inexperienced people like Road Dogg and Tyson Kidd slowly running WWE's product to the ground. Hiring more experienced producers can certainly help wrestlers and matches get more over with the crowd.
Back in the attitude era, WWE's product was fresh and exciting compared to the stale nature we have today. Hiring new high-level show-runners can certainly change that.
#3 Unique Pay Per View Sets
Back in the day, WWE had unique sets for every single Pay Per View. Raw and Smackdown had their own sets while every PPV got their own.
These days, Raw and Smackdown have their own set while PPVs use mostly the Raw set with only Wrestlemania and Royal Rumble getting their own stage over the past year.
A victim of a WWE budget cut, WWE stopped crafting unique stages somewhere around their 2016 brand split.
With Raw and Smackdown getting new and improved stages, WWE continued to use them for their PPVs as well.
Even Summerslam and gimmick PPVs like Hell in a Cell, TLC and Money in the Bank didn't get their own set.
Sure Money in the Bank had some ladders spread around and TLC had some Tables, it still doesn't change the fact that the entrance stage was similar to Raw.
Unique PPV sets help make the show feel more special and adds to the aesthetic of any particular show. Bringing them back will certainly be a welcome addition to the current product.
#2 Pyrotechnics
Pyrotechnics in WWE was another victim of the mid-2017 budget cut. Last seen at Wrestlemania 34, Pyrotechnics are always a welcome sight in any wrestling show.
Not only does it add to the fan experience and aesthetics of a show, it also helps certain wrestlers develop their characters.
Several superstars have made a career out of incredible Pyro supported entrances. Goldberg walking through fireworks blowing smoke out of his mouth; Kane turning the entire arena red with four blasts of red being launched from four ring posts; Randy Orton basking in a shower of Pyro while in his Legend Killer phase and so on.
The absence of Pyro has made superstars such as Brock Lesnar's entrances feel weak and underwhelming.
The return of Pyro on weekly TV instead of Wrestlemania-only with the new cash influx can add some spectacle to the recently drooping state of Raw and Smackdown.
#1Talking Smack
With Fox's deal moving Smackdown to Friday nights, it is likely that WWE will have to change the taping schedule of 205 Live from being attached to Smackdown to being attached to Raw or NXT to fit in with their Tuesday night slot on the WWE Network.
With this change, there will be ample time to film the Talking Smack segment post an episode of Smackdown. Fox can be happier with WWE's more unscripted and 'real' approach that WWE provides with Talking Smack.
Also, WWE can create more buzz with the controversial comments that made Talking Smack famous. It can also be a platform for story-line developments which might become necessary given Smackdown's two hour time frame compared to Raw's three.
The fan favourite show will be a welcome return to weekly programming and fans would enjoy hearing their favourite superstars speak candidly with host Renee Young and possibly Shane McMahon.
