It’s time to briefly get excited about the future of SmackDown again. Sure, SmackDown returning to Thursdays didn’t make a huge difference, but the show’s now moving to the USA Network! It’s totally going to be relevant now! Totally!
Here’s what Vince McMahon had to say about the move…
“WWE is proud to have Smackdown join Raw as part of our expanded partnership with USA Network. The combination of the #1 cable network and two ratings juggernauts provides a destination for our viewers and an extraordinary platform for our partners.”
As Vince mentioned, USA is the top channel on cable, so WWE will have to bring more to the table if they want to SmackDown to remain on the channel long term. At least that’s my hope. I have to write about SmackDown every week, so just allow me this moment of foolish optimism. Thanks.
SmackDown will be making the move from Syfy to USA during the first quarter of 2016. WWE also announced that Tough Enough will be debuting June 23 on USA. According to WWE’s press release, the show will have an “all-new format” including live segments and lots of WWE App voting.
So, starting in 2016, hardcore WWE fans can officially cancel everything but their basic cable package and the WWE Network. Awfully nice of the company to look out for our wallets like that.
