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Is Alicia Fox done with WWE?
She is still under contract, but hasn't been used since she was injured last January. She was at WWE TV in Albany a few weeks ago and we are told is scheduled to be at some upcoming TV tapings.
Does the Smackdown deal being worth more money than the Raw deal per hour mean that the WWE title is back to being the top belt in the company?
I go back and forth with Dave Scherer all the time about how much the WWE Championship is worth vs. the Universal title in our Elite audio, but the true reality is that the belt that means the most is whatever belt WWE decides is more important. Right now, it's the Universal title. Whether that changes in October 2019 remains to be seen. Who knows if the WWE title will even be on the Smackdown brand by then?
A question concerning Smackdown remaining a live program once it moves to FOX. WWEs touring schedule for as far back as I can remember has been to have RAW live Monday nights then have the crew transport everything to the next town overnight and tape or broadcast Smackdown Tuesday night. How does the logistical change of having a 3 day gap between the shows effect them in terms of this? It seems like a major burden everytime time I think about it. All the crew (creative, agents, backstage guys, etc) would have to be flown home after Monday then flown back out for Friday’s broadcast. How is WWE going to address this major logistical change?
There are going to be a lot of changes, especially because some members of the crew would work other broadcast gigs during the weekend, including NFL and MLB games before flying into town for WWE. It's been a concern for some who work production, especially senior members of the team who had a lot of leeway to work outside events because obviously, this will change their lives in a major way on a weekly basis. I haven't heard that there is a concrete plan on how to handle things, but there are several things they could do - including having different production crew teams for Raw and Smackdown or adding other events the production team could work (for example, a NXT taping or a Network special) over the weekend, etc. WWE is going to have to re-invent the wheel and their scheduling and we aren't close enough to the change (it is happening in October 2019, after all) for WWE to have made the decisions. It could mean some members of the crew will no longer work for WWE full-time, but again, we are too far away for definitive answers.
How will the new Smackdown schedule change Smackdown live events?
My guess is the talents will fly in on Thursday nights for the TV taping, work the taping on Friday, then do house shows on Saturday and Sundays before flying home Monday. There's no need for that Monday house show, running opposite a live Raw broadcast, to still exist.
How will the live Smackdown episode change the overseas tours?
WWE will either broadcast from overseas or they will have to pre-tape an episode in advance on those weeks. I bet they will do whatever is easier from a financial sense.
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