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FOX Officials Were Originally Disappointed With WWE

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• FOX Officials Were Originally Disappointed With WWE

WWE SmackDown began airing on FOX on October 4, 2019.

That debut episode on the FOX Network, which featured the return of The Rock to WWE after 3 years (he hasn’t appeared in WWE since then) and Brock Lesnar winning the WWE Championship, drew almost 4 million viewers.

SmackDown now draws 2 million viewers on an average every week and it is WWE’s most watched TV show in the US right now.

During an interview with SK Wrestling, former WCW President Eric Bischoff (who was the Executive Director of SmackDown at the time) revealed that FOX Officials weren’t happy with WWE originally.

Below is what he said:

“I think the expectations of what WWE was going to bring to FOX back in 2019, because I was there and I was gently really a part of it at the very tail end.

I think they were pretty disappointed originally, but if you look at, you know it’s 2 million plus viewers a week. So I think it’s doing pretty well.

I believe from an ad sales perspective doing very, very well. And that’s a market that [WWE has] cultivated for 20 or 30 years.”

WATCH: Former WWE Diva Summer Rae’s Bare Buns:

• ON THIS DAY IN WWE HISTORY (August 1, 2002) – WWE SmackDown!

On this day in 2002, World Wrestling Entertainment aired another episode of their weekly TV show ‘WWE SmackDown!’.

This episode was pre-taped at the Charlotte Coliseum in Charlotte, North Carolina and featured matches, interviews & storyline segments on the road to the ‘WWE SummerSlam 2002’ PPV.

Here’s the match-card:

1. Rey Mysterio vs. Tajiri

2. Brock Lesnar vs. Mark Henry

3. Hulk Hogan vs. Kurt Angle

4. Rikishi vs. D-Von Dudley

5. John Cena vs. Rico

6. The Rock & Edge vs. Chris Benoit & Eddie Guerrero


        
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