WWE Made Change To SmackDown Opening Segment
WWE made changes to original plans for the opening segment of a recent SmackDown.
The 25th January edition of SmackDown emanated from the Footprint Center in Phoenix, Arizona and was the first in the new three hour format for the company having been a two hour show since it’s 1999 debut.
The show opened with a promo segment involving Drew McIntyre and Cody Rhodes, with ‘The American Nightmare’ on the receiving end of a sneak attack from Kevin Owens. The pair are set to meet in a ladder match for the WWE Championship at Royal Rumble.
What we saw on screen wasn’t necessarily the original plan, however. PWInsider’s Mike Johnson explained that the company went back and forth on plans ahead of the show, with the final segment produced by Shawn Daivari:
“There were a lot of late revisions to the opening segment of Friday Night Smackdown tonight.
Originally, the segment was designed to open with a Kevin Owens promo that would see Drew McIntyre and Cody Rhodes get involved. There was a lot of bouncing back and forth on what would best for everyone involved creatively and they landed on the version that played out.
There was even talk of Jey Uso being involved at one point before they went into a different direction.”
WWE Raw Runtime Speculation Addressed By Triple H
The company”s flagship show has enjoyed a show time of three hours since 2012 but speculation has been rife as to the status of the show length ahead of the switch to Netflix.
Triple H noted his belief that the optimal viewing time was somewhere between the two and three hour mark.
H/T: PWInsider for the above transcription.