WWE SmackDown And New Tough Enough Heading To USA Network

Tough Enough on June 23, SmackDown on USA in early 2016.

By John Canton /

It was announced on Tuesday that WWE will be bringing back Tough Enough to the USA Network on Tuesday, June 23rd. The return of Tough Enough was announced several months ago, but it was not known what the day would be. Now we know. In the same press release on WWE.com, they also said that Smackdown would be moving from Syfy to USA Network. It will remain on Thursday nights. That's a good move because USA Network is more high profile and more people have that channel, but USA Network and Syfy are both part of the NBC Universal series of channels. Here's the press release:
USA is expanding its commitment to WWE, with reality competition series €œWWE Tough Enough€ returning Tuesday, June 23, at 8/7 C with a reimagined format and new, live elements. Additionally, SmackDown is coming to USA Network in the first quarter of 2016. €œWWE consistently delivers one of the largest and most socially engaged live audiences in entertainment and we€™re excited to expand our long-standing relationship and be the true cable home for the WWE fan,€ USA Network President Chris McCumber said. €œWWE is proud to have SmackDown join Raw as part of our expanded partnership with USA Network,€ WWE Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Vince McMahon said. €œThe combination of the No. 1 cable network and two ratings juggernauts provides a destination for our viewers and an extraordinary platform for our partners.€ Earlier this year, USA announced the renewal of €œWWE Tough Enough.€ The reimagined series will feature an all-new format with live elements and more fan participation than ever before. In addition, WWE recently unveiled a new brand campaign €œFor The Hero In All of US,€ that engages consumers through #MyHeroIs, inviting fans to name their favorite WWE Superstars and to share personal and inspirational stories of heroism.
There are several things about Tough Enough that we don't know. They haven't announced the trainers yet. The contestants haven't been named either. They could be people already signed in WWE developmental that haven't debuted on NXT yet or they might go with indy wrestlers. They could even go with people that haven't trained to wrestle at all yet. We know that former host Steve Austin will not be a part of it, which is a big blow because he has so much star power and it's going to be hard to find somebody to replace him in that spot. He was really good at it. Another trainer was Bill DeMott, but he's out of WWE. The other trainers were Booker T, who is announcing on Raw and Trish Stratus, both of whom are WWE Hall of Famers that could be a part of it. Goldust (Dustin Runnels) has been tweeting that he wants to be a trainer on the show. He'd be very good at that. It's very early to announce a Smackdown move to USA Network in the early part of 2016, but what it does is it allows WWE to promote it heavily for the rest of the year. Why not do it sooner? Because when NFL season returns in September they have Thursday night football games that do big numbers and even though Thursday night Smackdown will be competing with it in the US, they would rather save the move to USA Network for next year. Right now Smackdown is a pretty good show built around the Intercontinental Title a lot of the time. However, it is no longer considered must-see TV for a lot of WWE fans who really only watch Raw and might peak at the Smackdown spoilers. WWE needs to commit to making Smackdown more of a priority like it was in the brand extension era when you could only see superstars and divas on one show instead of two. There should be more details about Tough Enough in the coming weeks and months since the debut of the new season is only two months away.