The ride of SmackDown airing on Fox was fun while it lasted, but the WWE is once again shifting its long-running Friday night program elsewhere. The good news is that the Roman Reigns-led show has already found its new network, so to speak. But while that's cool and all, there's a mention of primetime specials I think we have to talk about.
As mentioned, SmackDown is headed to a new home, though not exactly one that longtime fans are unfamiliar with. USA Network will now be the home of SmackDown, which now shares a home with Monday Night Raw and NXT. Deadline reported the deal will kick off in October 2024, as well as the news that NBCUniversal will produce four specials a year meant for primetime airing on NBC, presumably not on Monday or Friday nights. What exactly is being planned for network TV with the WWE?
The details weren't laid out in the announcement, but this wouldn't be the first time that the WWE has aired special programming on NBC or other networks. One of the most popular examples of this would be WWE Tribute To The Troops, which is a yearly pre-taped program in which WWE Superstars face off for soldiers at a military base and other locations. Past events have featured big names like Kid Rock and even The Muppets.
The WWE could certainly produce similar specials for holidays where programming is light on NBC, such as the holiday season. As a longtime lover of WWE's Christmas episodes of Monday Night Raw and SmackDown, I would love for that to shift to a primetime special the mainstream audience can enjoy. For those that have zero idea what I'm talking about, there are plenty of iconic WWE holiday moments one can revisit right now with a Peacock Premium subscription.
Another option would be continued documentaries on some of its superstars, many of whom are well-remembered by a mainstream audience of millennials who watched the WWE in their youth. One current example would be the Peacock docuseries Angle, which chronicled the highs and lows of Olympic gold medalist and WWE Hall of Famer Kurt Angle. The story of Angle's journey and struggles with addiction on the way would be enough to captivate any primetime NBC audience, even if they aren't as invested in wrestling as others. Take a look at the trailer below:
It's even possible that the WWE is considering running actual primetime live events in an effort to pull even more fans into this golden era of wrestling. The WWE is now under the same umbrella company as the UFC, which is known for airing Fight Night cards in primetime on Fox, which supplement its regular monthly PPV events. Obviously, there are a lot of options on the table for what the WWE and NBC can plan, and I'm excited to see what is coming our way in the coming years of this partnership. Who knows, maybe we'll even get that Real Housewives spinoff with Ric Flair he talked about earlier this year.
SmackDown will begin its run on USA Network beginning in October of 2024. For now, though, those looking to tune in to see if Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson will return again can check out the show on Fox on Fridays beginning at 8:00 p.m. ET.
