10 HUGE WWE SmackDown Season Premiere Predictions You Need To Know

3. Wednesday Night Wound

The Rock Randy Orton
WWE.com

NXT took a battering in the first ratings head-to-head with AEW Dynamite, and though the black-and-yellow brand finds its home on USA Network, it may serve WWE to send some Fox newbies over to Wednesday night.

The trick, ultimately, may be to at least do something rather than nothing to promote next week's edition.

This could come in the form of a highlight package from this week's exhilarating edition, a mini-invasion by the gold-laced Undisputed Era, or perhaps a "this is not goodbye" address from departing main roster star Finn Bálor.

There are plenty of ways for WWE to skin this cat, but they need to do something other than kick it after such a damaging defeat, There will surely be a point during this "marathon" where the company takes control of the numbers, but from Vince McMahon downwards, nobody is beyond using the company's mammoth marketing muscle to try and expedite NXT's ratings recovery.

Contributor
Contributor

Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation nearly 8 years. He primarily produces written, audio and video content on WWE and AEW, but also provides knowledge and insights on all aspects of the wrestling industry thanks to a passion for it dating back over 35 years. As one third of "The Dadley Boyz" Michael has contributed to the huge rise in popularity of the WhatCulture Wrestling Podcast and its accompanying YouTube channel, earning it top spot in the UK's wrestling podcast charts with well over 62,000,000 total downloads. He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times, GRAPPL, GCP, Poisonrana and Sports Guys Talking Wrestling, and has covered milestone events in New York, Dallas, Las Vegas, Philadelphia, London and Cardiff. Michael's background in media stretches beyond wrestling coverage, with a degree in Journalism from the University Of Sunderland (2:1) and a series of published articles in sports, music and culture magazines The Crack, A Love Supreme and Pilot. When not offering his voice up for daily wrestling podcasts, he can be found losing it singing far too loud watching his favourite bands play live. Follow him on X/Twitter - @MichaelHamflett