10 Things WWE Will Change Once SmackDown Debuts On Fox
7. More “Sports” In Sports Entertainment
The move to FOX marks the beginning of a decidedly more sports-focused product for WWE moving forward. This coincides with the WWE Draft (starting Friday 11 October), which, according to WWE's official release, will feature "personalities from FOX and NBCUniversal programming to announce select picks". This will further make it feel like a real sport's draft coverage. And with that in mind, it is thankfully no longer called a "Superstar Shake-Up".
Along with the name choices of "WWE Premiere Week", "Raw Season Premiere", and the additional WWE Backstage covering highlights, it seems there is a clear focus. WWE is going for the feel of the beginning of a typical sports season here. The "real sports" feel FOX is looking for will be driven by these changes, with WWE Backstage being the driving force behind that.
That vision will be further extended through this show on Friday (and Tuesday nights with WWE Backstage) in the coming months. This is likely a heavily FOX influenced decision, but it may be for the best for both companies going forward - especially with similar steps being made in the presentation of the newfound competition. As an added bonus, Raw will finally feel like a separate brand again.
This could lead to Raw and SmackDown feeling more separate than ever, in product as well as roster. But Raw will likely be sacrificing a lot of things along the way to accomplish that goal. Starting with...