WWE wants to take you inside “SmackDown” and present it like never before.
When “SmackDown” makes its Fox debut in its new Friday time slot tomorrow at 8 p.m., things will look different. In addition to the new set, graphics and the return of pyro, fire and lasers, the broadcast will feature different camera angles, long lenses to shoot portions of wrestlers’ entrances through the crowd and a different texture to the video itself in hopes of making viewers feel like they are taking in the show at the arena. It’s something WWE has been trying to capture for years.
“It’s still gonna be WWE. It’s just gonna look and feel a little different,” Kevin Dunn, WWE’s executive vice president for television and production, said in a phone interview.
The new look will also be seen in the ring as “SmackDown” has added a super-slow-motion camera to give a new perspective to wrestlers’ moves as part of the five‐year, $1 billion deal with Fox. It’s all part of a cinematic approach Fox felt fit WWE’s product because of its athleticism and good-vs.-evil storylines. “SmackDown” will now have more of a sports feel, according to Dunn.
“We are working close with WWE on just giving it that cinematic feel that wrestling can have with the storylines and the walkouts, backstage segments and figuring out a new way of presenting that,” Brad Zager, Fox Sports’ executive vice president/head of production and operations, said by phone.
One change already announced ahead of WWE’s Premiere Week was the shakeup of the company’s announce teams. Vic Joseph, Dio Maddin and Jerry “The King” Lawler made their debut on “Monday Night Raw” this week.
The “SmackDown” team will consist of Michael Cole and Corey Graves on commentary and Renee Young — the first female announcer on “Raw” — as a “special contributor.” Her exact role on “SmackDown” is still being ironed out. Young also will host the “WWE Backstage” studio show with Booker T on FS1 starting Nov. 5.
“She’s gonna do everything there [on SmackDown] that’s not commentary,” said Dunn, who praised the job Young did on “Raw.”
“We love her and she’s [done] nothing but killed it from Day 1 in WWE.”
Dunn added that Lawler is excited to be back on Raw and the Hall of Famer is on the team to assist its younger talent. Joseph is coming over from NXT UK and Maddin has been doing commentary on “205 Live.” Lawler’s tenure on “Raw” is not under any strict time constraints.
“He’s gonna help them because he’s an experienced broadcaster,” Dunn said. “How long that help lasts — a month, a year, five years — I don’t know. Jerry’s there to help them. He’s a credible star that everyone knows.”
Fans new and old tuning into the first episode of “SmackDown” on Fox will see plenty of familiar faces and big matches. WWE champion Kofi Kingston takes on Brook Lesnar in the former UFC heavyweight champion’s first match on “SmackDown” in 15 years. The Four Horsewomen — Charlotte Flair, Becky Lynch, Sasha Banks and Bayley — will be in a match together, and Shane McMahon takes on Kevin Owens in a ladder match with a loser-leaves-town stipulation. Fox will also have a blue-carpet special prior to “SmackDown” at 7:30 p.m. that’s expected to include members of its “Big Noon Kickoff” show.
“I walked into our college football meeting for the game [last week], and Rob Stone and Matt Leinart were literally on their phones buying wrestling shirts to wear next week at ‘SmackDown,’” Zager said.
The biggest get for the “SmackDown” premiere was Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson announcing he will be on the show this week in his first appearance on WWE television since WrestleMania 32 in 2016. Ticket prices on the secondary market for the show at Staples Center jumped 87 percent since Johnson’s announcement, according to TickPick.
“We’re starting as big as we could start,” Dunn said.
WWE sees its partnership with Fox as an excellent way to expand its television audience, which averages two million-plus viewers for “Raw” and “SmackDown” each week. WWE superstars have already been seen on Fox’s football and boxing broadcasts and appeared on FS1’s “First Things First” and Fox News’ “Fox and Friends” show among other platforms to promote “SmackDown.” Fox envisions the show going hand-in-hand as part of a must-see lineup during the week from “Thursday Night Football” to NFL Sundays.
“The broad reach of network television still exists,” Zager said. “So just putting it on Fox on Friday nights will extend the reach of WWE programming in a new way. I think that’s what the WWE was so excited about with this partnership also. We’ll go from there.
“Like all sports and all properties there’s ebbs and flows and up and downs. We feel like we are getting the WWE at a great point with really exciting young stars that we’re going to help grow with and we’re looking forward to them being part of the Fox Sports era of the WWE.”
The first episode on Fox will be followed up next week with draft shows on “Raw” and “SmackDown” — which will include plenty of stars from NBC Universal and Fox, respectively — to determine each brand’s rosters. WWE is doing away with its wild-card rule, meaning each brand and network will have dedicated talent that could shape the feel of each show.
“If you ask the ‘SmackDown’ guys, they would say, ‘Oh my God, our show is gonna be big and bold and feel like Fox and put you in the live event arena,’” Dunn said. “If you are the ‘Raw’ guys, they would say, ‘We’re gonna be younger, hipper, cooler, edgier, and the teams will reflect that.’”
Dunn said NBC Universal and Fox “will be very involved” in the draft and are “demanding the best [roster] they can have,” creating a challenge for WWE to balance two shows on different networks. Zager downplayed that Fox will have any influence on what talent it will get. But he did say it may have a larger role in helping to produce the “SmackDown” draft show because of its sports nature.
“As far as how the roster breaks down and everything, nobody knows the product better than the WWE,” Zager said. “We’re excited to see how the rosters break down.”
Dunn believes the strict roster split and dedicated writing teams — “Raw” led by Paul Heyman and “SmackDown” by Eric Bischoff — should create internal competition between WWE’s brands, including NXT, which airs on Wednesday for two hours on USA Network at 8 p.m.
“Paul Levesque [Triple H] with NXT plans to beat everybody: ‘Raw’ and ‘SmackDown,’” Dunn said.
What lies ahead for WWE as it plans to deliver “SmackDown” is something unique and immersive thanks to all the new tools to enhance the presentation of the product.
“It’s gonna be a ton of fun and we are gonna try to put you in that live event audience,” Dunn said. “And it’s gonna be a good time.”