The Disturbing Truth Behind WWE SmackDown On Fox

by Michael Sidgwick
The Fiend Daniel Bryan
WWE.com

Every fan-driven metric is down: merchandise, house show gates, TV ratings.

Looking at the sheer amount of content WWE pumps out, it is almost literally a house of cards stacked on the foundation of WWE's domestic TV deals. If that paradigm shifts, the business model changes drastically because WWE has increased its budget drastically in disharmony with how little fan-generated revenue it is currently drawing.

WWE's finances are preposterously robust, considering, but they are tenuous. The company is heavily reliant on an industry that is in a state of flux, and SmackDown on Fox is its foundation - SmackDown on Fox, with its stale tropes, ageing audience, perverse insistence on pushing heavily the man blamed just over a year ago as the harbinger of doom, silly horror that can only appeal to half of a fading, jaded base, its awful comedy, repetitive story beats, comparatively bang average in-ring...

SmackDown on Fox has comprehensively and objectively failed to bring about the hoped-for new mainstream boom. The disturbing truth behind the Vince N' Bruce yuk-yuk show is that it might, if anything, achieve the opposite of the intended effect.

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Contributor
Contributor

Michael Sidgwick is an editor, writer and podcaster for WhatCulture Wrestling. With over seven years of experience in wrestling analysis, Michael was published in the influential institution that was Power Slam magazine, and specialises in providing insights into All Elite Wrestling - so much so that he wrote a book about the subject. You can order Becoming All Elite: The Rise Of AEW on Amazon. Possessing a deep knowledge also of WWE, WCW, ECW and New Japan Pro Wrestling, Michael’s work has been publicly praised by former AEW World Champions Kenny Omega and MJF, and current Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes. When he isn’t putting your finger on why things are the way they are in the endlessly fascinating world of professional wrestling, Michael wraps his own around a hand grinder to explore the world of specialty coffee. Follow Michael on X (formerly known as Twitter) @MSidgwick for more!