Why WWE Went Back To Pre-Taping Raw & SmackDown
The real reason Vince McMahon changed his mind last week...
Last week saw WWE Chairman Vince McMahon go back on his plans to shoot each new episode of Raw, SmackDown, and NXT live through the ongoing global crisis, as his promotion revealed a smarter taping schedule designed to capture enough content to last through mid-July, with longer quarantining windows for the wrestlers involved.
A sharp U-turn from a man whose decision to go live was supposedly driven by network pressures, though it sounds like said pressures may not have been a factor at all.
Dave Meltzer spoke on the matter during the latest episode of Wrestling Observer Radio, stating that USA Network (who carry Raw and NXT) and FOX (SmackDown) told McMahon that they wouldn't cut their payments to WWE should McMahon wish to pre-tape the shows instead, hence the change.
It had previously been reported that WWE could only provide a certain number of pre-taped shows as part of their television contracts. When it became clear that this revenue was safe, Vince went down the more sensible route of filming the content in batches instead.
This week's Raw, NXT, and SmackDown will air live before WWE's tapings begin on Saturday 25 April.