Bengaluru, November 30: Smackdown Live will move to a new home from October 2019 onwards as FOX Sports bought the broadcast rights for the show. The promotion and the broadcaster signed a five year deal. As FOX is part of the mainstream, we expect a major revamp to happen on the second longest running weekly episodic TV show.

The process has already started as FOX Sports officials are planning to give Smackdown more of a sports direction. It will be part of a sports block during the weekend alongside MMA shows. So the Tuesday Night event will move to Friday nights. There is still no word on whether it will continue to come as a live event.

Furthermore, they want some big names to appear on Smackdown to give major competition to Monday Night Raw. So the pledge of bringing Ronda Rousey to the blue brand has already been made.

Reports from WrestlingINC.com confirmed the speculation saying that the former UFC Bantamweight Champion will be a star attraction on FOX Sports. She already had a bond with this particular network which airs UFC on a regular basis. During her tenure in this MMA brand, she used to be a major boost for FOX.

There is no surprise that she could be back featuring on the same network. Ronda Rousey’s background, popularity, and credibility as an athlete will be a key seller for Smackdown Live, going forward. Hence, we can confirm that a healthy competition awaits the WWE’s flagship show from October 2019 onwards. Here’s more from the source,

“As previously reported, FOX reportedly wants SmackDown to have more of a sports direction and feature less comedy to fit in with their other sports programming. The addition of Rousey to SmackDown Live is expected to make her a main player in their efforts to do cross-promotional campaigns between WWE and FOX's other programs.”

This is not the only MMA connection that FOX wants to bring to WWE Smackdown. They want to import Daniel Cormier, too. The UFC Heavyweight Champion was contacted by the officials for a tryout, earlier this year. But he was focused for his match against Derrick Lewis at UFC 230 and turned down the offer.



The deal might be on again as Daniel Cormier considers retirement in early 2019. A fight in March could be his last after which he could move to the WWE. Considering his age, chances are high that he chooses to avoid any physical battles.

Hence, FOX Sports want him to be on Smackdown as a commentator. Cormier does not have any problem in this role, either. But it’s up to WWE whether they want to bring two mainstream MMA names together on the so-called B-show of the WWE.