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Ex-WWE writer Vince Russo was extremely critical of how the sports entertainment juggernaut handled a recent deal that ended in 2024. He described it as a false promise that underdelivered.
On the latest episode of Writing with Russo, Vince Russo expressed his opinion towards those who claimed that ratings don't matter in wrestling. He was a key figure in the Attitude Era, which saw record ratings that haven't been matched since. He was critical about the way the sports entertainment giant promised FOX great ratings for SmackDown, only to underdeliver.
For context, FOX seemingly opted out of renewing their contract with WWE for SmackDown after ratings reportedly were below expectations. While WWE was looking to get a bump up from the $200 million a year deal, they weren't offered that from FOX and instead opted to bring SmackDown back to the USA Network while RAW moved to Netflix. However, the Wrestling Observer Newsletter reported that FOX didn't kick WWE out, but they were outbid.
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Vince Russo went off when responding to the idea that ratings don't matter in wrestling:
Top WWE star blasted, compared to Winnie the Pooh RIGHT HERE
"What's going to happen is the same thing that's going to happen with FOX. People are going to talk all day about how ratings don't matter. Talk to the networks about that. Talk to the USA Network about how ratings don't matter and all the money they're paying. Go have a conversation with TBS and TNT about Rampage drawing 177,000 viewers. Go and have a conversation with those networks and tell us how numbers don't matter. We saw what happened with FOX. Everybody seems to sweep that under the rug. All the promises they made with FOX, all the numbers they were going to achieve and they fell far, far short. The same thing is going to happen. There's a sucker born every day. There's always going to be somebody else to give them that next contract." (14:44-15:45)
You can watch the full video below:
Is AEW moving to FOX following the end of the WWE SmackDown deal?
In late September, former AEW World Heavyweight Champion Swerve Strickland was caught possibly spoiling the news that the #2 wrestling promotion would be going to FOX with a possible new show on Tuesday or Thursday. However, this may not be the case. Not yet, anyway.
On the Wrestling Observer Radio back in October, Dave Meltzer reported that as of now, the deal is at a standstill - it's neither imminent nor dead. This likely means that talks have just stalled:
“No, nothing new. No. I have no sense that anything is imminent. I think if it was imminent, we would have an inkling of it, but not that it’s dead either.”
One thing is for sure - Tony Khan and AEW aren't going to get anywhere near the premium that WWE got for SmackDown on FOX. The ratings difference is night and day and with FOX now having experience with the field of wrestling, the negotiations are going to be a lot harder for Tony Khan.
Either way, having FOX would be a huge boost to the AEW brand. They signed a multi-year deal with Warner Bros. Discovery to stream content on MAX.
If you take any quotes from this article, please embed the video and credit Sportskeeda Wrestling.
