Ronda Rousey Could Move to WWE SmackDown in 2019

WWE SmackDown's move to FOX Sports in 2019 could result in one of WWE's biggest stars moving to the blue brand.

According to a report from Wrestling Inc., FOX executives have made it known that as part of their vision for SmackDown to be more sports-oriented when they start broadcasting the brand, they want WWE's biggest real-world sports star on the show.

According to Justin LaBar's report, "FOX feels that Rousey's MMA background, popularity and credibility as an athlete will be a major selling point to promote the show."

The report goes on to note that the timing of a Rousey move to SmackDown, as well as whether or not WWE has been receptive to the overtures, remains to be decided. WWE typically does trades between brands after WrestleMania, which would still be several months before SmackDown moves to FOX in October 2019.

ComicBook.com has noted in numerous reports in the past, most recently this past weekend, that SmackDown will likely undergo a bit of a makeover when moving to FOX due to the network wanting to do cross-promotion with some of their other sports properties, specifically the NFL and Thursday Night Football. Rousey would be a great asset to have featured on the show because she, perhaps more than any other member of the WWE roster, would immediately be recognizable to sports fans if she were to appear on an NFL or MLB broadcast.

There have also been rumors that WWE could end the brand extension when SmackDown moves to FOX in order to feature more top stars on the FOX Network. However, these rumors appear to be inaccurate. As we recently reported, FOX is not interested in cross-promotion with the USA Network, an outside entity which will continue to broadcast RAW. If the brand extension were to be ended, the same stars would be appearing on RAW and SmackDown weekly and would force cross promotion between networks on a weekly basis.

While FOX does show highlights from other networks (CBS, ESPN, NBC) as part of their NFL deal, they apparently want to keep their newly acquired WWE SmackDown roster separate from the USA Network's RAW roster. The separate television deals with USA and FOX could actually be more of a reason for the brand extension to continue on.