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What's the story?
We recently brought you an update that SmackDown Live just signed a $1 Billion deal with FOX, changing the wrestling world for good. According to Bryan Alvarez of Wrestling Observer, it may even change the way WWE does business.
Sportskeeda is the one-stop destination for latest WWE rumors and wrestling news.
WWE may follow a new model where TV matches are more important than the pay-per-view ones. I thank Ring Side News for the said update.
In case you didn't know...
The traditional way for WWE to book has been to tease feuds on television leading up to their big pay-per-views. These pay-per-views were streamed on the WWE Network and subscribers could see months of television building to a big match on a grand stage.
With this billion dollar deal, WWE may have to revisit how it does business with the primary concern being television ratings. Pay-per-views may diminish in importance, going forward.
The heart of the matter
This is what Bryan Alvarez had to say on the said matter:
"If you think they’re going to save the big matches for the WWE Network, those days are over. Everything is about television now. You understand? Everything is going to be about television. So it’s going to be a new era of wrestling. There’s going to be WWE booking and there’s going to be booking for every other promotion in the world."
The article also drew parallels to WCW where television ratings were the prime focus of programming. One wonders how WWE will make pay-per-views feel important if the big matches happen on television already.
What's next?
There's a bit of time until SmackDown Live moves to Fox. One wonders if the product will change before that. If it does, it should give us a glimpse into the future of WWE.
Author's take
I'm curious to see where this leads. We all know that wrestling needed a shake-up in the status quo, and this could be just the change it needed.
I used to enjoy Nitro even though WCW pay-per-views were never aired in India and would love to see must-see television return once again!
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