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WWE announced last year that one of their major flagship shows, SmackDown, would be moving to the FOX Network beginning October 4, 2019. As part of the shift, the Blue Brand would have its 2-hour weekly show on Fridays instead of the current Tuesdays.
“At FOX we are thrilled to welcome WWE to the FOX Sports family and bring SmackDown LIVE to broadcast television,” said Eric Shanks, President, COO and Executive Producer FOX Sports. “We are huge fans and know that together FOX Sports will be the leader in live events for the foreseeable future.”
With this 5-year agreement with FOX, WWE has a great opportunity to expand the reach of their programming. In addition to this, with FOX wanting to focus more on the sports side of the business, we could see some major changes in the WWE Programming on SmackDown.
Triple H has also announced a new weekly kayfabe-breaking studio talk show that would focus on the storyline analysis and other stuff on both RAW and SmackDown. All and all, this new deal has the potential to throw in a new life in WWE's programming and product, something fans would love.
In this article, let's take a look at the 5 Bold Predictions for SmackDown once it moves to the FOX network later this year in October.
#5 Conor McGregor would appear on SmackDown
Conor McGregor has been a huge name in UFC for quite some time now. But if you have followed his social media, he is pretty much active and keeps tweeting about WWE, especially Becky Lynch.
The two have been seen bonding over tweets, and one can't but imagine these two trash talkers kicking some a*s just with a microphone in their hands. Stephanie McMahon was asked in an interview recently of who would she like to see in a WWE ring next, and she replied -
"Who would I love to have in WWE? I think, truly, the sky's the limit and anybody who has a big personality. I'd love to have Gronk in the ring. I'd love to have Conor McGregor - huge personality. There's a number of different women I've had my eyes on as well. So it's really about bringing in the biggest personalities with the best athletic ability - whoever can entertain and connect to our audience."
We've already seen Ronda Rousey transition from MMA to WWE, and if there's anyone who could fit the bill better than her, it has to be the notorious one, Conor McGregor.
With FOX wanting a more sports like feel around SmackDown, signing a huge name from MMA could be just the move WWE needs right now.
#4 SmackDown wins the Survivor Series
6-0! This is what the result was last time the two brands collided at the Survivor Series in 2018. And no points for guessing here that the winning brand was RAW.
The shocking way in which RAW pretty much buried SmackDown last year was shocking, and kinda hit the credibility of the blue brand. Even after putting on a better show than RAW more often than not, SmackDown still got embarrassed like that at Survivor Series. Previous editions of Survivor Series have also seen RAW emerge as the dominant brand.
It's high time that SmackDown gets to shine in the battle of the brands. This year, with the shift to FOX, a lot of big superstars like Roman Reigns, Finn Balor, and Lars Sullivan have become a part of the SmackDown roster thanks to the Superstar Shake-up.
It finally looks like SmackDown can "avenge" its "fallen" respect (avengers endgame reference, wink wink), and finally beat RAW at Survivor Series.
#3 WWE Championship starts main eventing PPVs
The fact that I'm including this in a "bold prediction" article tells you what has been the state of the WWE Championship since the last few years. Even after having top superstars like AJ Styles and Daniel Bryan holding it, a WWE Championship match hasn't main-evented a PPV in a long long time.
In the last year, the WWE Championship had some amazing matches like AJ Styles vs Shinsuke Nakamura, AJ Styles vs Samoa Joe, Daniel Bryan vs AJ Styles, all of which have the potential to be the main event of any card on any given day.
With SmackDown's move to FOX, the network would not want the main title on the brand to be treated inferior, and this could lead to us finally getting to see the WWE Championship main-event a PPV.
#2 Balor turns heel and forms the Balor Club to rule SmackDown
This is something which fans (including me) having been waiting to see for a long time now. No doubt Finn Balor is doing great as a babyface on the main roster, but there's a certain glass ceiling that he's not able to break.
I would even go as far as saying I don't see him becoming the WWE Champion as a face. Everyone who has seen Balor's heel work in New Japan as the leader of the Bullet Club knows how amazing he can be as a bad guy. Balor as a bad guy has a lot of potentials that WWE is not utilizing.
With Balor on SmackDown now, this could be the perfect time to turn him heel, possibly reunite the Balor Club with Gallows and Anderson, and rule the blue brand. A properly booked heel faction can be so amazing to watch and could lead to the ultimate rise of the Demon King in WWE.
#1 Triple H takes over the production of SmackDown
We've all seen how great of a producer Triple H is, thanks to his amazing work in NXT. The quality of the product on the yellow brand is exceptional. Be it the engaging storytelling, breathtaking in-ring action, or just anything else, NXT has consistently proven its worth thanks to this guy.
With fans consistently blaming Vince for the poor showing of the main roster, maybe this could be the start of the eventual new era of the company with HHH in front. Letting Hunter take the lead and produce SmackDown could turn out to be a great decision, as he knows what the current audience wants. The FOX shift has the potential of giving a complete makeover to the blue brand, and part of it could be Triple H taking control of it. After all, it would be "Best for Business".
What all changes do you see WWE making to SmackDown, once it eventually moves to the FOX network?
