Next Friday’s edition of SmackDown airing on FS 1 will be a special “super-sized edition” with the show airing from 8-10:30 p.m. Eastern.
Due to the MLB playoffs, SmackDown is being moved to the cable network next week and will run an extra thirty minutes and therefore, go against the first half hour of AEW Rampage on TNT.
WWE is loading up the episode with the following announcements and matches set for Friday’s show in Ontario, California:
*Brock Lesnar appears
*Becky Lynch vs. Sasha Banks
*King of the Ring Semi-Final: Finn Balor vs. Sami Zayn
*Queen’s Crown Semi-Final: Carmella vs. Zelina Vega
*Sonya Deville vs. Naomi
After the news of the 2 ½ hour edition of SmackDown circulated, AEW president Tony Khan tweeted the following message:
I saw you’re doing a half hour head-to-head with us. I can’t wait to finally beat your main show head-to-head. It’s been a long time coming. See you next Friday for #AEWRampage on @AEWonTNT!
— Tony Khan (@TonyKhan) October 9, 2021
AEW will run a live edition of Rampage from the James L. Knight Center in Miami, Florida at 10 p.m. ET on TNT with the following matches announced for the show:
*Chris Jericho, Sammy Guevara & Jake Hager vs. Junior dos Santos, Ethan Page & Scorpio Sky
*CM Punk vs. Matt Sydal
*Ruby Soho vs. The Bunny
The last time SmackDown aired on FS 1 was on October 23, 2020, and averaged 881,000 viewers and 0.25 in 18-49. In October 2019, they ran one show on FS 1 that averaged 889,000 and 0.27 in the demo.
Over the past four episodes, Rampage has averaged 643,500 viewers and 0.27 in 18-49. In theory, SmackDown should be the frontrunner for total viewers, but the key race will be in 18-49.
Both SmackDown and Rampage will be airing against the MLB playoff game on Fox.
