SmackDown Was A Backstage Mess This Week

– While SmackDown might not have been the best this past Tuesday, behind the scenes was a complete mess. The Wrestling Observer Newsletter mentioned how Vince McMahon was rewriting part of the script early in the day as he did not think it flowed with the previous week and there needed to be more of an emphasis on SummerSlam. We have now learned that Vince was still making changes to the second hour as the show was going on; which sounds like something WCW would do.

With SmackDown moving to Fox in October, WWE has been under pressure to increase their low ratings. The deal between Fox and WWE is for five years and worth $5 billion, so there is a lot at stake.

Vince has lots on his plate these days. He is trying to balance the ever-growing WWE and prepare for the relaunch of the XFL in 2020. 

– All Elite Wresting (AEW) continues to be on a roll, selling out of tickets for their first episode on TNT in the matter of a few hours. 9,000 tickets were sold for the Capital One Arena and another 1,000 will be made available in the next week or so. Fans should frequently check sites such as Ticketmaster as more tickets are made available.

Catch AEW debut on TNT on Wednesday, October 2, from 8 PM to 10 PM EST. So far advertised is Cody Rhodes vs. Sammy Guevara as the first match, The Young Bucks & Kenny Omega vs. Chris Jericho and two mystery partners of his selection, the first ever AEW Women’s Champion will be crowned and Jon Moxley will be present.

Before AEW makes their debut on national TV, they still have their All Out show on August 31. The main attraction is Adam Page vs. Chris Jericho to crown the inaugural AEW World Champion.

Below are comments from some of AEW’s big stars.

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