WWE Smackdown Canceled
After 8 years, an era is set to come to an end as Smackdown will no longer be aired on The CW after negotiations between the network and WWE broke down.
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The End of an Era
On August 26, 1999, WWE launched their secondary program on the UPN called Smackdown. That was the start of the era.
On February 7, 2008, that era came to an end as WWE announced that they have agreed to terminate their partnership with the CW (formerly UPN). The contract will be allowed to expire sometime this year, and Smackdown will then be without a home.
Though it's not the end of the world, it does sadden us a bit to see that Smackdown will no longer be on the network where they started.
Smackdown was the show that the legendary Rock claimed as his own (the name of the show was taken from one of his catchphrases, in case you didn't know). This was the show where John Cena made his rise through the company (minus the boos from the fans).
This was also the show that forced WCW to move Thunder from Thursday nights to Wednesday nights.
The wrestling industry has seen a sharp decline in popularity over the last few years. A lot of fans who used to tune in during the Attitude Era have either "outgrown" wrestling or have become so disenchanted with the current product that they no longer tune in.
The decline has caused Smackdown to lose its longtime home. |
The Next Episode
Before you go running around crying that the sky is falling, it's not as bad as it sounds. Even though professional wrestling isn't as popular as it used to be, it still does pretty well in the ratings when compared to other television shows. More than likely, Smackdown will find a new network.
The worse case scenario for us wrestling fans would be for Smackdown to not be able to secure another TV deal. That would cause quite a bit of wrestlers to lose their jobs. The brand extension, which a lot of fans are opposed to anyways, would come to an end. Monday Night Raw and ECW would become stacked.
That's a scary thought, isn't it? Well, it's not likely to happen. We can't guarantee it, but we just don't think it'll happen that way.
While we don't know where Smackdown will end up, we do know have a good idea as to where they won't be going.
Smackdown doesn't have much of a chance to make it on NBC, CBS, or ABC. There was a time when wrestling was popular enough to be considered for those channels, but those years have long past. You can also rule out Spike TV because they have a great relationship going right now with TNA. The USA Network and their family of channels will unlikely show much interest either. WWE was barely able to get the ECW deal renewed.
Closing Thoughts
Hopefully, we'll be able to report in the upcoming days that Smackdown has found a new home on another network. |
Undertaker
In the coming weeks, WWE will be selling Undertaker's new move as a deadly force. It's a well known fact that the Undertaker is a huge MMA fan. |
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Taryn Terrell
Another Diva Search runner up has been hired by WWE. Taryn Terrell has been picked up by WWE. She'll probably end up debuting on TV pretty soon. |
Triple H
The reason for Triple H's absence on Monday Night Raw was because his brother-in-law (sister's husband) passed away. He was only 41 years of age. |
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Stephanie McMahon
Triple H and Stephanie McMahon are expecting their 2nd child sometime this summer. The couple already have a baby daughter together. |
Chris Masters
Chris Masters' 90 day clause is now over, which means that he's free to sign with any wrestling company he wants. Let the bidding wars begin. Probably not. |
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Developmental
John Laurinaitis will be going down to OVW and FCW soon to evaluate talent. That means that there's going to be more developmental wrestlers released. |
AJ Styles
On this week's episode of TNA iMPACT!, AJ Styles is scheduled to face Japanese star Tiger Mask. Christian Cage will be fighting Judas Mesias. |
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Randy Orton
Monday Night Raw ratings dropped from 3.9 to 3.6 this week. Interesting enough, WWE has been losing viewers in the second hour as of late. |
