Friday night's episode of SmackDown will air on FS1 instead of FOX, and WWE is pulling out all the stops to make sure AEW Rampage doesn't top them in the ratings. The show has actually been extended to two-and-a-half hours, with the final 30 minutes airing commercial-free and going head-to-head with the first half of Rampage.
Well, AEW President Tony Khan has not hit back with his own announcement. Friday's episode of Rampage is getting a special "Buy-In" pre-show (usually reserved for AEW PPVs) boasting two must-see matches. Those are Bobby Fish vs. Lee Moriarty and, in a true dream bout for pro wrestling fans, Bryan Danielson vs. Minoru Suzuki.
This pre-show will air for free on YouTube starting 9pm. That means it will face off with the second hour of SmackDown, and it's clear that the hope here is to entice fans away from that show.
This would be beneficial to Rampage because it means fans watching the YouTube broadcast are likely to be entice to then switch over to TNT for CM Punk vs. Matt Sydal, Ruby Soho vs. The Bunny, and Chris Jericho, Sammy Guevara, and Jake Hager vs. Scorpio Sky, Ethan Page, and Junior Dos Santos.
Whether this will work remains to be seen, and chances are SmackDown will win the night. However, Khan is making it clear that he has no intention of backing down from WWE.
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