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WWE Fox Deal May Not Affect Brand Split, Production Schedule For Next Fall
WWE is moving Smackdown LIVE to Fox next fall, and speculation has been that with the move the brand split between RAW and Smackdown would be over. The theory behind this is that they would want all the top stars on FOX, due to how important network prime time numbers are.
According to Dave Meltzer in the latest edition of the Wrestling Observer newsletter, Fox doesn’t really want to cross-promote the same talent as NBC Universal, and as of right now a split crew is remaining.
There was speculation going around that with the move to FOX that they would go to one brand because they would need all the top stars on FOX because of how important network prime time numbers are. That was denied to us and said that FOX doesn’t really want to cross-promote the same talent as NBC Universal and the expectation is split crews would remain.
RAW and Smackdown are scheduled to have separate production crews, and they will begin filming more house shows on the WWE Network. The Smackdown crew will do the FOX show on Friday, and film select house shows on Saturday for the WWE Network. The RAW team will work Sundays for house shows, as well as PPV events and RAW on Monday.
With the change being just under a year away, anything can happen, and plans can shift in many directions, but that’s what’s planned as of now.