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On May 25, 2016, WWE decided to make an extension of the brand (or split of the brand, as it is often called), where the performers are tied to their respective brand. The superstars who are fighting Gross to stay on Grossand the same goes for Smack down.
WWE announcing plans to relocate Smackdown Live For FOX next October, many speculated that the company would combine the two brands to allow the biggest stars to perform on both FOX and the United States. However, according to a report by The Wrestling Observer Information Letterit's not going to happen. Instead, the split of the brand will continue, although it is not known which superstars will end on which brand.
The report states that it is FOX who is against the end of the split of the brand because the network does not want to cross-promote the same artists as NBC Universal's USA Network. Once the movement occurs, Smackdown Live will go from Tuesday at 8 pm ET to Friday at the same time. Friday is traditionally a bad night for TV ratings, so it will be interesting to see if Smackdown Live is able to set up the numbers required by FOX.
It is likely that WWE will make a rough draft before the split of the mark in order to move some stars towards Smack down. With the best ratings needed to keep a top spot on network TV, we could see names such as Brock Lesnar, Seth Rollins, Dean Ambrose and even Roman Reigns (on his return) move to the 'blue mark'.
Lutte Inc. also reports that there will be two teams working on each of the brands due to the new Friday night television schedule. This means that we could start to see a very different type of production between the two shows, which would make sense, as early reports indicated that FOX was looking for a more traditional sports presentation. We expected Gross stay the same as today because it stays on the same network, but at a much higher price.
Will #WWE Back to a brand for the launch of SmackDown – Fox ?, More backstage notes https://t.co/oKRZKz8yQe
– WrestlingINC.com (@WrestlingInc) November 23, 2018
With more paid TV offers, it will be interesting to see other changes made by WWE to production. Maybe the company will even reduce the pyrotechnic effects it has recently removed to reduce production costs.
The first expansion of the WWE brand ran from March 2002 to August 2011. From there, Smack down was treated more like a secondary show filled with little stars and recap of the main events of Monday evening. Since the new split in 2016, Smack down has become just as important as Gross with several artists like AJ Styles, Daniel Bryan, Charlotte Flair, Shane McMahon and others competing every Tuesday.
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