Report: FOX Originally Wanted TV Rights To WWE Raw

Whilst FOX payed WWE a lot of money to start airing WWE SmackDown in 2019, the multimedia giant reportedly didn’t want the blue brand, preferring instead to air WWE Raw on their network.

Long seen as ‘the B show of WWE’ SmackDown was seen as a less valuable proposition than the long-running Raw, but the USA Network renegotiated their deal with WWE and kept hold of the show, with Wrestling Observer Radio’s Dave Meltzer saying the following about the deal:

“You know WWE got that big increase, but it was a unique situation because it was multiple bidders. The deal was FOX wanted Raw, not SmackDown. USA had the right to match any offer, and so they matched the offer that FOX bid for Raw. And then FOX, at that point, wanted SmackDown. And at that point, USA had spent so much money on Raw, it was just kind of like, ‘We’re not going to match you for SmackDown,’ but that’s how the numbers went way up.”

Since SmackDown started airing on FOX it has became WWE’s ‘A show’, largely thanks to the Roman Reigns’ dominant run as WWE Universal Champion.

WWE’s television deals are set to expire in 2024, with any potential renegotiations likely to start some time in 2023.

H/T: WrestlingNews.co