Fox Allegedly Dissatisfied with Vince McMahon’s WWE SmackDown Booking Decisions

As WWE prepares for SmackDown‘s move back to the USA Network on September 13, the transition marks a significant moment in the company’s history. With this move, it’s also important to reflect on WWE’s time on FOX, and you can’t discuss WWE’s past without mentioning Vince McMahon.

During his Backstage Report podcast on Fightful Select, Sean Ross Sapp was asked whether WWE’s deal with FOX went sour. In his response, Sapp highlighted some issues that arose during WWE’s time on the network, particularly under Vince McMahon’s leadership.

Sapp noted that while FOX was initially excited about their partnership with WWE, their enthusiasm waned over time, especially during the pandemic. Vince McMahon’s booking was a significant factor in this decline, with some at FOX feeling that the shows weren’t delivering on the promises made to them. The challenges of COVID-19 also played a role in this perception, as the pandemic drastically altered the way WWE produced content.

“I would say they are indifferent to WWE at this stage. I did hear from some people from FOX recently who said, ‘Well, they aren’t tanking the shows or anything. They are still giving us good shows.’ They didn’t feel like that in 2020 and 2021. They felt, especially under Vince McMahon—some of the last days of that or some of the last years of that—that he was not giving them a lot of what they’d been told. Some of it was chalked up to COVID. COVID was a major part of souring some of the views from people at FOX. Now, I will say this: since the last couple of years, especially the last year and a half, people that I’ve talked to there have a more positive disposition regarding things than they did then,” Sapp explained.

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Despite these challenges, WWE continued to produce original content throughout the pandemic, albeit with some struggles. The transition of creative control to Triple H in the last couple of years has helped improve the product, leading to a more positive outlook from FOX toward the end of the deal.

As SmackDown prepares to debut on the USA Network on September 13, it will be interesting to see how the show evolves under this new partnership. This move also marks a historic moment for the USA Network, as it will host RAW, SmackDown, and NXT on the same channel, at least until NXT transitions to The CW in the near future.

WWE RAW will remain on the USA Network until the end of 2024 before moving to Netflix in January 2025. While it’s unclear if FOX will ever get back into the WWE business, they don’t appear to be too disappointed with the end of their current partnership.

What do you think about WWE SmackDown‘s run on FOX? Do you believe the blue brand delivered on its potential during this contract? Share your thoughts in the comments section below!

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