WWE Makes Huge Change To New Year’s Eve SmackDown

With the holiday season almost upon us this month, WWE is already making plans. This is because Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve will both take place on Friday nights when Friday Night Smackdown airs on FOX. It seems WWE made huge changes as well.

According to Dave Meltzer on Wrestling Observer Radio, the New Year’s Eve edition of Friday Night Smackdown will not be a live episode. They are planning something else instead.

WWE will air a year in a review-type episode on FOX Sports 1. SmackDown is being moved to FS1 as FOX will be airing its New Year’s Eve programming.

WWE management saw it fit to not air a regular episode on FS1 as the show wouldn’t do great ratings as it takes place on a holiday. Also, the network is in fewer homes than FOX.

The company also initially planned to air a live episode of Friday Night Smackdown at the Spectrum Center in Charlotte, North Carolina on New Year’s Eve but was later removed from the schedule.

In addition to that, the Christmas Eve edition of SmackDown will be taped a week in advance on December 17th in Chicago. We will have to wait and see how the episode will turn out to be.