WWE SmackDown Live: Could a New Network Actual Stakes to Brand Split?

There’s been little to no competition between brands since the reintroduction of the brand split in WWE. But with WWE SmackDown Live likely moving to a new network, could a rivalry with Raw actually develop?

Big news for WWE dropped late last week. As multiple networks were in the mix for WWE’s television rights starting in September 2019, it looks like Raw will be staying with NBCUniversal (possibly still on USA Network). The rumored deal is said to be worth three times as much as the current one, bringing in $400 million annually. That’s a lot of cheddar, but what about WWE SmackDown Live?

The NBCU deal is only for Raw, and the exorbitant sum of money means the company will let SmackDown go in an open bidding war. Fox, who was looking to snag the WWE rights to replace UFC, may still be in the mix for SmackDown. Whether the Blue Team can garner a deal akin to Raw (ie, three times the current value) remains to be seen. But with superstars like AJ Styles, Daniel Bryan, Shinsuke Nakamura, and Charlotte Flair leading the way, anything is possible.

What also may be possible is something alluded to, but never realized — actual stakes for the brand split. Since the first draft in 2002, there’s always been an illusion of competition between the two shows. There have been varying degrees of this illusion over the years, but the most recent brand split has suffered with both Raw and SmackDown being on the same network. Especially with the knowledge that it’s two halves of the same company, the only real difference between shows was the day of the week it aired on.

But let’s say SmackDown ends up with the Fox networks. The likely home is FS1, but maybe the suits decide to roll the dice and put it on Fox itself. (UPDATE: It’s mostly official: SmackDown Live is headed to Fox next fall.) Now the alleged “B show” has a home on network television, while the flagship show Raw is still a cable show. Co-branded pay per views ensure some interaction between the brands, so why not manufacture actual conflict between the brands?

A backstage segment on a show like Extreme Rules where Paige and Kurt Angle talk about ratings and try to one-up each other the following month could lead to some interesting TV. Maybe it would lead to matches being announced ahead of time, as a way to get viewers to tune in. If I’m watching a non-Big 4 pay per view, and Paige says she’s booking a world title match between AJ Styles and Daniel Bryan this Tuesday, I’d be a heck of a lot more likely to clear my schedule and tune in.

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It’s important to realize that, unless there’s some major changes in the backstage structure of WWE, any and all “competition” between Raw and SmackDown is purely fictional. No matter who “wins,” WWE is the winner. It’s like Major League Baseball not caring if the World Series is won by a team from the National League or the American League. They’re two parts of the same whole. Neither is really more important than the other (even if the Raw deal is much more financially lucrative).

But for a company that has had a virtual monopoly on the national wrestling stage for a decade and a half, a little competition could only help. By trying to one-up another “promotion” — even one under the same corporate umbrella — quality of the product improves by necessity. So a move for WWE SmackDown to another network opens the possibility of a better product all around. And that means everyone wins — WWE, fans, stockholders, network executives.

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It’s possible nothing comes of this. WWE has been doing a brand split on and off for almost twenty years, and there’s never really been true competition between WWE SmackDown and Raw yet. But there’s a first time for everything, and maybe the climate is right for a war between two shows.