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This weekend is Clash of Champions which is a very exciting pay-per-view where every title will be defended. Raw and Smackdown have been on an uptick lately and this pay-per-view has some very good storylines built into it. The Bayley heel turn facing off with Charlotte Flair. The return of Sasha Banks looking to take The Man’s title and join her bestie Bayley has champ. The Fiend, AJ Styles and The Club, Daniel Bryan, Rowan, Roman Reigns, Randy Orton, Kofi Kingston, The Miz, Shane McMahon, ahh! The list just goes on and on. This is all good. These are all good things. I feel that this will be one of the best pay-per-views as far as matches set and possible outcomes. But, I wanted to take some time to look away from the pay-per-view and instead look toward some other wrestling/sports entertainment goings on.
Friday Night Smackdown is the new name of Smackdown Live and it’s coming people. On October 4, 2019, Friday Night Smackdown will officially debut on Fox. And if Fox’s Instagram hasn’t gotten you excited, the commercials during NFL games definitely should. I am so excited to see professional wrestling earning the same TV status as other professional sporting events. And I think Fox has done a good job showing the universality of wrestling. The commercials include children, adults, celebrities, and the like. They range from young to old and the references include your legends like Ric Flair, Stone Cold, The Rock all the way to your current superstars, including Kofi and Becky Lynch. I just watched it again, and I get the tingles every time! The commercial and the movement is an ode to everything that wrestling is for us.
Wrestling fans can find the inspiration of superstars and wrestlers anywhere. There are people who see these imitations, such as the Ric Flair stylin’ and profilin’ or “if ya smeeeellll,” and may not know the reference. The back-and-forth balance of “real people” imitating these superstars next to the real footage finally makes the connection that has been our little secret for so long. The fandom is expanding. The mainstream-ness is expanding. No longer is wrestling that thing that you watch with a few select friends that you don’t tell anyone about. Wear your WrestleMania gear proudly. Carry your New Day lunch box (yes, that’s me) to work and explain to your co-workers what you love about wrestling. They’ll see these things everywhere, and they may even find themselves watching (and loving!) wrestling. And I couldn’t be happier.
