Despite only being nine months in, 2022 has been one of the craziest years in the history of professional wrestling. The retirement of longtime WWE owner Vince McMahon alone would have qualified this year for that status, being something that no one ever expected to actually see happen in the industry. However, the day came – leaving Stephanie McMahon & Nick Khan as co-CEO’s, and Triple H in charge of the creative direction of the company. These changes were well received by fans, and by one the networks who carries WWE programming – the USA Network.
USA Network Is Happy With WWE’s Recent Changes
A report from Fightful Select would have the following information about the relationship between WWE & USA Network. They are very happy with the recent changes made in WWE following the retirement of Vince McMahon. Fightful would be quoted saying the following.
”A longtime employee of USA Network said that the WWE-USA relationship has long been an easygoing, business as usual one. However, they said that many in the company were happy to see creative changes implemented in August after Triple H took over that end of things. That same source indicated that they’d be surprised if USA didn’t make a play to renew WWE programming next year when negotiations are likely to start, and believes WWE has put themselves in an even better position in the last month.”
Right now, USA Network is the home of both Monday Night RAW & NXT 2.0 – on Monday & Tuesday nights respectively in the United States. Smackdown Live airs on FOX, and we can assume FOX is also happy with the recent boost in quality to WWE programming.
TV Deals Remain Important For WWE Even As They Grow
While WWE as a company is nearly too big to fail at this point – they do rely on their TV deals as much as anyone. Having some extra leverage in negotiations isn’t just for the likes of MJF in AEW, but even for big companies. USA Network runs 5 hours of WWE programming every week, so depending on the deal they’re able to get – WWE stands to make a lot of money over the next few years.
That would hopefully turn around into improvements to the stage setups, better money for their wrestlers, and more. It’s unlikely they don’t stick with USA Network going forward for Monday Night RAW, and didn’t even need the reported change to a TV-14 rating to improve their programming.
Have you been enjoying Monday Night RAW lately? Let us know what you think in the comment section down below.
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