WWE Smackdown Moving from Thursday to Tuesday, Will Air Live

WWE has announced, through Variety (where Vince McMahon went on the record), that it will be moving its Smackdown program from Thursdays to Tuesdays on USA Network, and airing it live, beginning July 19th. Net in net, this is great news for pro wrestling fans. Previously, Smackdown had been taped on Tuesdays, and if anything important happened for the storyline the spoilers were unavoidable and there was no reason to tune in when the surprise was ruined. Live airing will make for more essential viewership.

On the flipside, on weeks where there is a WWE Network event, this means they are expecting us to watch their product for 8+ hours over the course of three nights, which is cumbersome. Smackdown’s play-by-play announcer, Mauro Ranallo, is a breath of fresh air in his enthusiastic calls, and more exposure for him is a very good thing.

Variety notes that there is expected to be a “draft” between the two programs, which is an angle they previously explored from 2004 through 2011. This should help alleviate some of the issues with a roster where there is almost too much young talent, but it also presents new emphases on creative storytelling, where WWE has, uh, not always risen to the occasion in recent memory.