For those who may have missed it, WWE officially confirmed all of the reports and rumors claiming that Smackdown will be debuting on Fox next year. It was a monumental deal that will reportedly see Fox pay WWE over $1 billion over the next five years for the rights to the show. Smackdown will be moving to Fox in October of 2019 while Raw will remain on the USA Network for at least five more years. It will be interesting to see what happens with Smackdown (which is typically viewed as WWE’s ‘B-show’) as it moves to a major broadcast network over the next year, but it sounds like when the move does take place next year, Smackdown may not be coming to Fox alone.
There have reportedly been talks about bringing other bits of WWE programming to Fox after Smackdown debuts on the network next year. Top WWE executives Michelle Wilson and George Barrios took part in a conference call earlier today addressing the new TV deals for Raw and Smackdown. While on the call, Pro Wrestling Sheet noted that Wilson said that there have been discussions about bringing new shows to both the Fox broadcast network and Fox Sports 1. Based on some of their own sources, it was also reported that NXT could be moving to Fox Sports 1 at some point in the future, but that is merely speculation at this point. Get ready to see a lot more WWE programming coming to Fox starting in 2019.
Lio Rush recently made his debut as a member of the cruiserweight division on last night’s episode of 205 Live. Rush had an impressive outing and was even able to get the win in his first match over Dewey James. As he made his official in-ring debut on 205 Live last night, actress Danielle Fishel was at ringside cheering him on the whole time. Fishel is most famous for playing the role of Topanga on the hit series “Boy Meets World” as well as on the followup series “Girl Meets World.” Fishel is a huge fan of Lio Rush and has watched some of his matches in PWG in the past. WWE cameras filmed the meeting between Rush and Fishel and posted it online. Check out the full video posted down below:
1 year later. From #PWG to #WWE, @daniellefishel has always been a fan of the #ManOfTheHour ???????#CaliVibes @WWE @WWE205Live pic.twitter.com/SFWRWwCBWZ
— ?? Man Of The Hour ?? (@itsLioRush) June 27, 2018
So proud of @itsLioRush on his amazing debut and win!! My congratulations gift will be a costume bracelet. ?? https://t.co/nU6HLFy5YQ
— Danielle Fishel (@daniellefishel) June 27, 2018