83 Weeks - Smackdown on Fox Debut [Show Notes] (Patreon)

We’re looking at a big moment in WWE history today. Unlike most of our shows, this one is super recent. But we get to look at it through the eyes of someone who has been in wrestling long enough to really understand the meaning of it: the debut of a weekly pro-wrestling program on a top-four broadcast network - although we will talk about that statement in more detail in a moment.

Of course, that night we’re going back in time to look at is the debut of Friday Night Smackdown on FOX. The show happened October 4, 2019 - and was also the 20th anniversary of the Smackdown program.

The event emanated from the Staples Center in Los Angeles with a reported attendance of 17,550.

Does holding the debut at the Staples Center set the tone that the show will be a big deal?

The broadcast on FOX drew 3.9 million viewers. Smackdown did a 1.4 while the other shows going up against it at 8 PM did a 0.7 (CBS, Hawaii Five-O), a 0.5 (NBC, Blacklist), and a 0.5 (ABC, American Housewife). Even though the rating points were higher for Smackdown, CBS still had over 2-million more viewers. That’s to be expected, as CBS has been the most watched broadcast network for 17 of the past 18 years. The lone exception was when FOX had a hit show you might have heard of: American Idol.

https://deadline.com/2019/10/wwe-smackdown-fox-premiere-ratings-the-blacklist-blue-bloods-friday-1202752971/

Meltzer said, “FOX beat all networks but CBS in total viewers in the 8-10 p.m. time slot, even with the handicap of not being on Dish Network. In the 18-49 demo, it won handily, doubling everything on TV except for two major league baseball playoff games, one on TBS and the other and the MLB Network, and it nearly doubled them as well. It even beat both games head-to-head in viewers, as the New York Yankees vs. Minnesota Twins did 3,352,000 on the MLB Network and Nationals-Dodgers did 3,043,000 on TBS. Of course the games were on much smaller platforms and going head-to-head, which hurt the viewership and limited the potential of each individually. On their own with no competition on a network, they’d have beat WWE, but probably not in 18-49.”

What was the mood like in the office when these numbers came back?

Now, we said this marked the debut of WWE in a weekly television spot on a major network channel and that’s true, with a few asterisks. For example, WWE was on UPN, CW, and MyNetworkTV - but would anyone argue that those are major networks? Technically, they fit the definition of a broadcast network - which is a network of channels run by independent television stations in local cities and broadcast for free over public airwaves. But not all networks are created equal.

For decades ABC, CBS, and NBC were considered the “Big Three television networks.” They’ve been around since the 1940s and before. In 1986, FOX was launched as an attempt at a fourth-broadcast network. It became the most successful attempt to break into that elite top three. Since then, there have been other broadcast channels with less success. But because these are broadcast over free signals, the channels are usually in more homes and also typically higher up on the channel count for cable subscribers (channel 5 instead of channel 250 for example).

Can you talk about this milestone for the company and explain why getting a regular show on FOX meant more than, say, a regular show on UPN?

We should mention that WWE did run Saturday Night’s Main Event shows on both NBC and FOX in the 80s, early 90s, and from 2006-2008 - but those were always special events and never a regular weekly program.

How significant would it be if WWE ended up with a weekly program on one of the big-three networks (ABC, CBS, NBC)?

Maybe the best part of WWE’s deal with FOX was the money. The Hollywood Reporter said the deal was worth $205 million per year, which at five years, makes it over a $1 billion deal. And that’s just for Smackdown. The WWE had previously earned about $150 million annually for both Raw and Smackdown from NBCUniversal.

Another big part of the deal: WWE would get to cross-promote their Smackdown brand with Major League Baseball and beginning in 2020 (in theory), Thursday Night Football.

What were you thinking when you heard $1 billion for Smackdown?

Before we get to the event, let's revisit some news and notes from this time a year ago.

News and Notes

Pro-Wrestling Returns to TNT with AEW Dynamite

For the first time since 2001, pro-wrestling returned to TNT in the form of All Elite Wrestling’s Dynamite on October 2. It was one of many big wrestling events that week that had fans feeling like kids in the Monday Night Wars again. After the first week on TV, going head to head with NXT, WWE sent out essentially a concession speech congratulating AEW. They noted that week three and beyond would tell the real story. Over a year later, Dynamite is still going strong and is the leader in the Wednesday night ratings war with NXT.

Did you have any feelings about hearing pro-wrestling was going to be on TNT again?

Jeff Hardy, 42, was arrested at 11:30 p.m. on 10/3 for driving while impaired.

According to the police report, obtained by TMZ, the police in Carthage, NC , were called about someone driving carelessly and recklessly at 8:40 p.m. on 10/3. Police found the vehicle described parked in front of a liquor store. When he came out of the store, he was carrying a case of beer. He got in the car and started driving while police observed him. When he started weaving badly, he was pulled over. He said he had two shots of Vodka earlier in the night and admitted he was impaired. He then failed the field sobriety test and was uncooperative when asked for a Breathalyzer test or blood sample. Eventually they got approval for a warrant to get a blood sample and he was booked.

You were there during some of the worst moments for Jeff Hardy. Is it a heartbreaking feeling to hear of possible demons, as they say, returning to haunt him?

A New Big Show Project

WWE Studios and Thinkfactory Media are partnering on a show called “Big Show vs. The World: Abroad” (working idea for the name) where Show goes all over the world looking for strange and unknown things. Each self-contained episode will have Show going to a new exotic area, working with a local guide and they’ll highlight the issues with going places when you’re his size.

Did you ever guess Big Show would be involved in so many different facets of entertainment when you first brought him into WCW?

Gone Too Soon...

A story in the Observer reported that Shad Gaspard of Cryme Tyme was attempting to put together a television drama based on the real world behind-the-scenes of pro wrestling. The show’s working title was Pin Fall, and Meltzer said they had just did a full cast table read with Nick Turturo, Bianca Van Damme, Quinton Aaron SerDerius Blain, Matt Cornette and Nick Tarabay and they are in the process of shopping it around to various production companies.

Sadly, we know that Gaspard passed away in May, 2020 after being caught in a rip current with his 10-year-old son while trying to save him.

Season two of a certain docu-series...

It was around this time Vice was doing interviews for a new series of pro wrestling stories. Meltzer reported three topics known for season two are Chris Benoit, the Jimmy Snuka/Nancy Argentina case and the death of Dino Bravo.

Did you ever watch any of the Dark Side of the Ring?

Chuck Liddell rumors

Around this time, Meltzer reported that 49-year-old Chuck Liddell was the latest MMA fighter talking about pro wrestling. Liddell is friends with Shane but Meltzer says he just can’t see The Iceman making a run at pro wrestling, at this point.

After seeing what happened to Cain later in this run, do you think it might discourage other MMA legends from trying their hand at the WWE?

Future WWE star?

Stephanie McMahon was on Fox & Friends on 10/1 and was asked if she would encourage her children to become wrestlers. She said her oldest daughter, Aurora Rose, who is now 13, has already started training and she would encourage them to follow their passion.

If you had to bet on a 13-year-old who would probably be a wrestling champion someday, this would seem to be the favorite, right?

The event itself!

The live event opened with a dark match where Ali pinned Murphy in 3:00 in a match Meltzer said was all action for the entire three minutes. Fans were chanting Murphy’s name.

Vince’s theme hits and he comes out with Stephanie. She’s the first to speak and then Vince gives us a throat burner to welcome us to Friday Night Smackdown.

We get to see the brand new open. Perhaps not coincidentally, it looks like an American Idol opening, with a huge crowd in a giant arena seeing larger than life stars. Only, the stars are the wrestlers. Kofi is the first star we see in the opening, hot off of his title win at Wrestlemania - or Kofimania. The idea seems to be that the stars are larger than life - literally.

Was this inspired by American Idol? What can you tell us about the opening?

We’re also treated to AC/DC’s Are You Ready as the new official theme song of Smackdown. It’s featured on their 1990 album, “The Razors Edge.” If you bought it in vinyl, it was the first song on side two.

Do you have any insight into why this song was chosen? What did you think about the choice?

The show opens with pyro and a brand new set which is most recognizable with the LED brackets in front of the entrance area. This is distinctly different from RAW’s design - during an era where sets seem to be vanilla copies of each other.

The show is presented by Progressive with their logo being in the AR (augmented reality) graphics. The AR graphics are still relatively new at this time.

Do you like them?

If you could pick a WCW star to have some type of AR graphics, who would it have been and why?

Corey Graves and Michael Cole, in his 23rd year with the company, are our commentators.

We open with another promo, this time from Raw women’s champion Becky Lynch. She wants to kick someone’s ass! But King Baron Corbin has something to say and interrupts the segment. Becky threatens Corbin as he’s coming into the ring but instead of seeing her kick his ass, we see the owner of the XFL, and the highest earning wrestler in history, and the most electrifying man in all of entertainment. The Rock. He has a brief stare down with Becky! But they give each other a secret handshake.

Is this WWE telling us that Becky Lynch is the ‘top guy?’

Rock's new tattoo, along with what appear to be laser burns from removal of his bull, can clearly be seen. Rock calls Corbin Broke Ass Burger King on Crack! If he did the line 999 more times, this would be the one take out of 1,000 you would pick for best delivery. Rock says Corbin is dressed like a 35-year-old virgin walking around Comic-con. Corbin says he’s the only King in this city - not Lebron James.

Becky does the “It doesn’t matter what you think” line for Rock. They beat up Corbin. Becky Lynch takes a back seat to the Rock, no matter how you look at it, but she gets the rub of being buds with The Rock.

Meltzer wrote, “The first segment was with Becky Lynch, King Corbin and Dwayne Johnson. Johnson did all his old stuff, called him King Crappy, Super Tough Dude (STD) to get an STD chant that was awkward because it didn’t take that big, although people did chant it on the PPV two days later. Lynch was given a few spots to look good and get a rub. They double-teamed Corbin. Lynch gave him a leg drop, Johnson used the people’s elbow and a rock bottom. The whole segment was Johnson’s charisma and delivery. The words themselves were just words.”

Did you enjoy this segment? Give us your thoughts.

Tonight’s Smackdown is sponsored by Pizza Hut’s stuffed Cheez-It pizza. Disgusting!

In the first match of the new Smackdown, Charlotte Flair & Lynch beat Bayley & Banks in 8:12. Lynch and Banks going at it got a big reaction. Flair did a moonsault off the top to the floor on both. Flair beat Bayley with the figure-eight which set up the title match at Hell in a Cell.

Backstage, Erin Andrews interviewed New Day. She mistakenly suggested Kofi would be challenging Brock Lesnar for the WWE championship but other than that, she does a good job.

Meltzer said she was much better at this than anyone WWE has in that role. Earlier on the blue carpet, FOX had Charissa Thompson, one of their leading sports personalities, also doing interviews.

What was the idea behind having FOX Sports talent appear on WWE in this way? Adding a big event feel, maybe?

There was a Firefly Fun House. These are hard to describe without LSD so basically, Wyatt killed the rabbit again. And he built the Seth Rollins match at the upcoming Hell in a Cell (the match that was critically panned after Rollins hit a million curb stomps and the referee stopped the match).

In the next match, a battle of champions is scheduled between Raw’s champion, Seth Rollins, and the Intercontinental Champion, Shinsuke Nakamura - accompanied by Sami Zayn. The match went 2:00 before Wyatt interfered and took out Rollins again. One note: During the match, we can clearly see a Hogan Must Pose sign from a likely fan of Something to Wrestle.

What did you think of these Bray Wyatt segments and the Firefly Funhouse?

Kevin Owens is out next, followed by Shane McMahon, who demands to be introduced as the Best...In The World.

Shane had won the WWE World Cup at Crown Jewel, 2018, and after teaming with Miz, turned heel and proclaimed himself to be The Best In the World. After his feud with Miz, including a Wrestlemania 35 Falls Count Anywhere match, Shane defeated Roman Reigns at Super Showdown - with help from Drew McIntyre. Shane and McIntyre then lost to Reigns and The Undertaker in a No Holds Barred tag match at Extreme Rules. Following that, Kevin Owens and Shane-O-Mac’s feud heated back up. Shane lost to KO at Summerslam. Owens was a special referee in one of Shane’s matches where Shane lost - and fired KO, kayfabe. The feud continued with Owens showing up on TV issuing legal threats. Through negotiation, the two agreed to settle their feud on Smackdown with a big stipulation: The loser of the next match is terminated from WWE.

Kevin Owens beat Shane McMahon in the ladder match in 12:01.

Meltzer wrote, “This was entertaining and had some crazy stunts. The funny spot was Shane taking the bump backwards over the top rope from a clothesline well before he got hit with it. Shane came off the top rope with an elbow drop onto the announcers table. Just nuts. Steen came off the top rope with a splash on Shane who was laying on a ladder bridge. It looked like it knocked the wind out of Shane who looked bad when he fell off the bridge. Shane did a coast-to-coast dropkick into a ladder into Owens’ face. Shane was climbing but Owens climbed up, power bombed him off the ladder into another ladder bridge, and pulled down the briefcase to win. Owens then told Shane “You’re fired” and gave him a stunner.”

This would be the end of Shane’s heel run. He would take a ten month hiatus and return on August 3, 2020 as the host of Raw Underground.

Can you explain why Shane McMahon works but normal efforts to feature a promoter’s son never seem as successful? (Gagne, Watts)

Did you see Raw Underground? What did you think?

Heyman is backstage with Kayla Braxton, and he’s playing the rude heel during an interview segment. He says he has a spoiler - not prediction - and that’s the truth, actually. Brock will win.

An eight-man tag is next, which we join in time to watch Braun’s entrance.

Strowman & Heavy Machinery & The Miz beat Ziggler & Roode & Styles & Orton in 3:09.

Everyone hits their signature move. Braun and Tyson Fury square up on the outside to set up their match at WWE Crown Jewel. Strowman says Fury doesn’t want these hands. Braun throws Dolph at him, knocking him back - gently. Strowman pinned Ziggler after a powerslam. Braun wins and Tyson Fury jumps the barricade. Security swarms him. Fury points at him as he's escorted back over the guardrail.

That would begin the build for the Tyson Fury/Braun Strowman match at Crown Jewel - one of two marquee matches on the poster for the show (the other being Cain and Brock). On the following Raw, Fury appeared again and wanted an apology from Braun. Strowman said he was just messing around until Fury seemed like he wanted a fight. One thing led to another and a massive brawl broke out on Raw. The match was officially scheduled and at Crown Jewel, Fury would beat Braun by countout at 8:04 to win their encounter. He reportedly got paid $15 million for his work with WWE.

Did you get to interact with Tyson Fury, at all? What did you think of their angle?

Speaking of Crown Jewel, another angle briefly touched on at the Smackdown on Fox debut was the Team Hogan vs. Team Flair match at Crown Jewel. Hogan and Flair were given entrances with music, with Hogan briefly showing up on TV and Flair even more briefly appearing with Hogan. .

At Crown Jewel, Team Hogan (Roman Reigns, Rusev, Ricochet, Shorty G, and Ali) (with Hulk Hogan and Jimmy Hart) defeated Team Flair (Randy Orton, King Corbin, Bobby Lashley, Shinsuke Nakamura, and Drew McIntyre) at Crown Jewel. )

However, a lot of fans online complained that they had been promised appearances by legends that the company didn’t deliver. Stone Cold Steve Austin, The Undertaker, and Sting were reportedly backstage and advertised for the show - but didn’t appear on TV.

Do you know why there wasn’t more time devoted to the other legends? Did a segment go long?

Roman Reigns is out and does his Iron-Man pose to big pyro. We also see an AR pitbull for the big dog. It’s Roman vs Rowan next - in a lumberjack match!

We get to see a backstage segment in which DJ Marshmello, a DJ with almost 50 million subscribers on YouTube, wins the 24/7 Title from Carmella. He tripped and fell on her, getting the pin. Carmella would win the belt back in a later segment aired on social media.

Did you like the 24/7 title? What adjustments might you make to the concept?

This match is the culmination of their feud that was largely started on July 30’s Smackdown when an unidentified person pushed lighting equipment on Reigns. The next week, Reigns was the victim of a hit and run. His focus was on finding out who had attacked him, with his investigation leading to Daniel Bryan and Erick Rowan. Bryan defended Rowan, saying it wasn’t him - but it was and Rowan was lying. Bryan and Rowan split and Roman would face Rowan at Clash of Champions. Rowan won with help from the returning Luke Harper. That leads us to this match.

Reigns beat Rowan in 8:53 in a lumberjack match.

Meltzer wrote, “Rowan beat up the lumberjacks early. Luke Harper ran in. Everyone was fighting on the floor and Reigns did a big running dive over the top on all the lumberjacks and they all went down like dominoes. Reigns hit a Superman punch but Harper clotheslined Reigns. Daniel Bryan hit the running knee on Harper. Rowan went for the claw slam on Bryan, but Reigns speared him for the pin. Rowan & Bryan shook hands after the match.”

The main event is next and it’s sponsored by Ghost Recon, a videogame. Kofi is attempting to defend his world championship against Brock.

Online, the mood was a strong desire to see Kofi perform well, or even somehow win. His run as the underdog champion remained popular here. Kofi had retained the title against Samoa Joe at Extreme Rules; At a special Network event, Smackville, he defended the title against Dolph Ziggler and Joe. Then at Summerslam, he held onto the title against Randy Orton in a double count out, later defeating him at Clash of Champions. Cole calls it a magical ride with an impressive reign since Wrestlemania.

Unfortunately, this is not a magical night for Kofi.

The match ends instantly with Brock catching Kofi and F-5-ing him. Brock gets the pin in SEVEN SECONDS to win the WWE Championship. You can watch the entire match in a Tik-Tok video. A lot of fans are visibly unhappy with this and the internet wasn’t happy, either.

Meltzer said, “Kingston’s six-month title reign ending in seven seconds obviously made a lot of people unhappy. I never expected Vince McMahon to go onto FOX with a guy he had booked for years as a mid-card guy who threw pancakes into the crowd as champion. That’s why I figured Orton would get it, but when he didn’t, it was clearly because Lesnar, who is the highest paid and most protected guy in the company, was being groomed for the spot.”

Talk about this finish here. Was this a mistake?

Kofi held the belt for 180 days. After losing the title here, Kofi would return to tag-team competition, winning the Smackdown Tag-Team championship on November 8. On January 26, 2020 Brock/Kofi was briefly revisited at the Royal Rumble, when Brock eliminated Kofi.

Give us your thoughts on Kofi Kington’s championship run?

Back to Smackdown...

Earlier in the week on Raw, Brock Lesnar brutalized both Rey Mysterio and his son Dominick, who had yet to wrestle a match on TV at that time. It happened when Mysterio was interrupted in the ring by Brock and Heyman. Lesnar snatched the microphone from Rey and gave it to Heyman - but Mysterio grabbed it back. Brock F-5’d Rey twice and then pulled Dominick out of the front row, beating him up too.

Now, Brock has just won the WWE Championship...but before the disappointment could sink in for fans, Rey Mysterio’s theme music hit. We see two people walking out. It’s not just Rey. It’s Cain Velasquez. He comes into the ring and fans are slow to realize it’s him, but they’re digging it when they do - and when he double legs Brock. Brock retreats as we hear Cain chants. Brock teases running back in but never does as Cole thanks us for joining Smackdown on Fox.

Meltzer wrote, “It was played up perfectly, with the announcers pushing that Velasquez had knocked Lesnar out in the first round to win the UFC heavyweight title. Paul Heyman and Lesnar both reacted like they had seen a ghost. Velasquez came to the ring, ducked a punch, tackled Lesnar and delivered punches on the ground. Lesnar escaped and ran off. He teased coming back and left a second time. They clearly pushed the idea that Lesnar was afraid of Velasquez.”

What did you think of Cain’s debut?

Would it have been helped if he had a titantron/video that said his name in huge letters so fans would have known it was him?

We now know that Cain would go on to be squashed by Brock at Crown Jewel and to date, not be used by the company again.

He had originally been signed to a three year deal with the WWE, he said in interviews. He was rumored to have been planned for the Royal Rumble but that never worked out. Cain worked a show in Mexico with Humberto against The O.C. But as the coronavirus hit the company in early 2020, WWE released dozens of superstars - including Cain Velasquez.

Why didn’t it work with Cain? Do you think he just didn’t have what Vince was looking for?

Meltzer wrote, “After Smackdown ended, the live fans expected Austin and Undertaker in particular, although we’re told it was very little Undertaker and Sting but far more Austin, and then were told the show was over. As noted many times, WWE is the only promotion left with the attitude that they can advertise whatever they want and have no compunction to deliver.

“There were AEW and Austin chants as the show ended. When the show went off the air, the chants for Austin were loud and then they turned all the lights on, told the fans the show was over, and gave the date for the next show in December. There were some boos, some AEW chants, and mostly groans from people as they were leaving. While we got a lot of complaints about Undertaker and some about Sting, those live said that nobody leaving complained about either, but it seemed like everyone on the way out was complaining about Austin.”

Overall, what did you think about the debut of Smackdown on Fox?

How was the mood backstage after the show? What were things like in the next few days?

Could you already tell they were wanting to move in a different direction or was everyone still happy here?

The following week...well...we probably want to save that for another episode. But, it was the second WWE Draft in six months and the ratings plunged by over a million viewers. It wasn’t long before the WWE announced Eric Bischoff was no longer the executive director of Smackdown.

Now, to QUESTIONS!

The 5th Horseman wants to know….Alabama white or BBQ? Also, was Kofi hurt or was Brock's win a record-setting title change? I'm trying to understand why Brock had to squash Kofi - get people talking or reaffirm Brock as an unbeatable monster?

A Wrestling Historian asks... What was your reaction to Brock Lesnar winning back the WWE Championship in the blink of an eye?

Dustin asks...do you think WWE missed an opportunity to try and capitalize on Kofi's title run by having him lose so decisively? Do you think WWE could have extended that program out and found a better way to incorporate Cain Velazquez?

Gill asks...Does Eric view Kofi Kingston as a headliner/main event talent? Was his push to be World Champion too early, late or right on time? 

Aaron asks...do you think you were just bought in to bridge the gap between WWE and the tv Network? We’re you fustrated Heyman had more creative licence? Did you have a storyline planned that we haven’t heard about?

Chris asks….Eric, when you found out that you were going to produce Smackdown did you have a vision of what the show was going to look like and what was that vision?

Austin asks...does Rey carry any ill feelings towards bischoff for not realizing how much it meant to unmask? Or is all forgiven?

Therealchrishughes asks...Eric, a TV production of this magnitude has several moving parts.  Can you break down the individual roles that perhaps associate producers and other behind the scenes folks are doing in the weeks and days prior to the premier? 

Jonathan asks… @ThatKevinSmith gave an interview that he was suppose to appear at Smackdown to promote his new movie. But because he appeared on

@AEWrestling TNT premiere earlier in the week WWE cancelled it. Did you hear about this? 

The Rosencoaster wants to know...Hypothetically speaking, if you were to spend time in catering during the show who would you like to join you and why?

Benjamin Waters asks..What was the most surprising thing about that day? Caught you the most off guard, good or bad 

Dial 976-Cecil says...since Cain actually beat Brock in a legit fight and has pro wrestling experience...why was he booked so poorly here on this short run?

Paul asks….Do you look at ratings in different time zones?  I'm curious what you have noticed with east coast vs west coast viewership?

Gill asks...Does WWE rely too heavily on nostalgic figures (ie The Rock, Austin, Hogan etc.) in order to get good tv rating?

Dave asks..How did wwe or fox NOT expect the ratings to dip after a premiere episode that had the red carpet rolled out for it? Doesn’t that happen in, oh I don’t know, all of TV?? 

Max asks….did you spend much time with Tyson Fury and what did you make of him?

Adam asks...What was Eric’s proudest moment on the day of the first episode? 

Captain Chaos asks...How much influence did Eric actually have on the creative for this particular episode? 

Donald asks...Who was the worst talent that you had to deal with?