Report - FOX Already Unhappy With WWE?
NXT's move to Wednesday nights may not have sat well with FOX...
WWE look set to announce NXT's move to a live, two-hour show on the USA Network every Wednesday night. This should be a positive time for the company as they move towards a new Wednesday Night War, but it sounds like they may have already upset FOX, who'll start airing SmackDown on Fridays from 4 October.
Per Dave Meltzer on the latest episode of Wrestling Observer Radio, "FOX thought they were getting the Wednesday Show on FS1" and aren't best pleased with Vince McMahon and WWE as a result.
Meltzer goes on, noting that FOX planned on replacing their lost UFC programming with WWE content and had already told affiliates they were getting NXT, calling themselves "the WWE station." Now, USA is "the WWE station" with Raw, Miz and Mrs., Steve Austin's new show, and NXT, and WWE's newest network have seemingly been blindsided.
Recent months have brought rumours of all kinds of new WWE content on FOX, with a Renee Young-hosted studio show previously pegged for the Wednesday night slot. Now, it looks like FOX will have to make do with SmackDown.
A hint of cynicism should be applied here, as always, but potentially upsetting his new benefactors doesn't sound like Vince McMahon's smartest move.