WWE SmackDown Moving to Tuesdays and Airing Live for First Time

WWE SmackDown is moving to Tuesday nights starting July 19, and for the first time ever, the show will air live each week. WWE also has revealed that SmackDown will now feature its own distinct cast from WWE RAW, along with "unique storylines, and a dedicated writing team."

This gives USA Network five hours of live WWE programming each week, including RAW. WWE will soon feature a new Superstar draft storyline that will divide the roster between the two shows, harkening back to the old days when the two shows had a much more distinct split and draft scenarios were commonplace.

In recent years, almost all of WWE's notable storyline swerves and big moments occurred on RAW, with SmackDown perceived as a show where little of significance occurred - only amplified due to it taping on Tuesdays and airing on Thursdays, meaning it was easy to read spoilers posted from those who were in attendance in the arenas where it was filmed. Making SmackDown live, with its own group of wrestlers, looks to be pushing the show in a much bigger way again and making it a much more important part of WWE's weekly programming.

"There is a huge appetite among our viewers for live programming," Chris McCumber, president of entertainment networks for NBCUniversal Cable Entertainment said, "and the ability to move Smackdown to a live format brings a new level of excitement and helps truly eventize this every week."

WWE Chairman and CEO Vince McMahon said, in a statement, "WWE's flagship programs will both leverage the incredible depth of our talent roster, distinct storylines and the unpredictable nature of live TV. This move will undoubtedly build more excitement and deepen engagement with our fans around the world."

Smackdown moved to USA Network in November of last year. Smackdown and Monday Night Raw garnered over 50MM viewers combined in 2015, USA Network announced.

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Nicole is a freelance writer for IGN. You can follow her on Twitter.

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WWE SmackDown Moving to Tuesdays and Airing Live for First Time

A new draft is coming.

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