With the WWE Draft and WWE brand extension, some major changes were bound to occur within the WWE, and as a result, the WWE Network. First and foremost, with the RAW Pre-Show occurring every week, it looks as though the Smackdown Pre-Show will be a weekly series as well. While this isn’t unexpected, there was some concern as to whether or not the WWE would actually go through with it.
While it won’t be confirmed until the WWE Network schedule is released in the next few days, the special one hour Smackdown Pre-Show from the Smackdown Live draft special was not placed into the Smackdown folder, but instead a new folder was made for the Smackdown Pre-Show. While the old episodes haven’t yet been re-added to the section, this is a good indication that the show will be around regularly.
One of the big shakeups mentioned within the WWE were with the commentary teams. RAW’s new commentary team includes Michael Cole, Byron Saxton, and Corey Graves. Meanwhile, Smackdown’s new commentary team includes Mauro Ranallo, JBL, and David Otunga. Noticeable by his absence is Jerry Lawler. What is his future?
The answer to that was revealed in an update to the article that initially revealed the new commentary teams. The update stated that Jerry Lawler will be joining Booker T on the “Pre-Shows” and Kickoffs going forward, “among other names still to be announced”. Needless to say, this leads to a lot of questions. Will we have different RAW and Smackdown Pre-Show panelists? And if so, who else will be coming? Be sure to give suggestions in the comments section as to whom you think would be good analysts. Regardless, several factors are pointing to the Smackdown Pre-Show becoming a regular weekly program, and Jerry Lawler’s future is now a bit more clear.
The WWE’s update is below:
UPDATE: In addition to the commentary booth updates on Raw, SmackDown Live and more, WWE Hall of Famers Booker T and Jerry “The King” Lawler will bring their decades of experience in sports-entertainment to recurring Pre-Shows and Kickoffs as key analysts, among other names still to be announced. Stay with WWE.com for additional updates.
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