WWE SmackDown Could See Direct Competition From NFL Games This Fall

With the 2020 College Football season potentially on the chopping block, ESPN's Adam Schefter [...]

By Connor Casey

With the 2020 College Football season potentially on the chopping block, ESPN's Adam Schefter reported on Monday that the NFL is considering moving games to other days of the week for the 2020 season, most likely Friday and Saturday. If that decision is made, WWE's Friday Night SmackDown could find itself going head-to-head with direct competition from the sports league after running unopposed since its move to FOX last October. The WWE is no stranger to competition from the NFL, though Monday Night Football has notoriously taken a bit out of Monday Night Raw's viewership every Autumn for well over a decade.

As of now, the NFL is still planning on starting its season on Thursday, Sept. 10 with the Houston Texans @ Kansas City Chiefs game.

While SmackDown started strong with its initial jump to FOX, the show has failed to bring in more than two million viewers since the June 26 episode. This past week's SmackDown drew 1.956 million viewers. This week's show was highlighted by another promo involving The Fiend, Alexa Bliss and Bray Wyatt, a new feud between Sheamus and King Corbin and a main event between Heavy Machinery and The Miz & John Morrison that was interrupted by the arrival of the Retribution faction.

WWE's next pay-per-view, SummerSlam, takes place on Aug. 23. Here's the card for the show as of now:

  • WWE Championship: Drew McIntyre vs. Randy Orton
  • WWE Universal Championship: Braun Strowman vs. "The Fiend" Bray Wyatt
  • Raw Women's Championship: Sasha Banks vs. Asuka (if Asuka beats Bayley on this week's Raw)
  • Raw Tag Team Championships: The Street Profits vs. Andrade and Angel Garza
  • United States Championship: Apollo Crews vs. MVP
  • SmackDown Women's Championship: Bayley vs. TBD
  • Dominik Mysterio vs. Seth Rollins

The company has declined to announce where the show will take place, though reports have been spreading for weeks about the sow being held on a beach or a boat in order to get out of the WWE Performance Center.

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