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WWE SmackDown May Be Introducing Big Production & Design Changes

The SmackDown season premiere is not only stacked, but may look and sound different.

Dariel Figueroa

wwe.com

Tonight's SmackDown is getting a ton of hype from WWE, the wrestling media, and fans of the sports entertainment powerhouse. The blue brand is premiering on the USA Network tonight and a new channel means new executives with new ideas. Those ideas include possible changes for music, runtime, show logo, and for tonight only, commercial breaks.

MORE: Cody Rhodes vs. Solo Sikoa WWE Title Rematch Set For SmackDown Debut On USA

Fightful Select reported this afternoon that SmackDown's runtime will have more flexibility. On FOX, the show ended no later than 9:58 so it didn't run into local news. With USA, a cable network, there are no local news programs to cause runtime issues, so SmackDown is being given some room to run over if necessary.

Fightful also heard that SmackDown will be getting a new theme song. The New York-based music collective, def rebel, has produced WWE's original music since 2020, including the SmackDown theme. It's rumored that tonight's show will debut a new theme by a popular artist instead.

Just announced on WWE's X account, the first 30 minutes of tonight's show will be commercial-free. The opening steel cage match between Cody Rhodes and Solo Sikoa already has a ton of steam behind it. Nick Aldis announcing it's commercial-free means WWE understands the importance of this match.

Not only will the match set the tone for the rest of the episode, but it'll also set the standard for SmackDown on USA. You can bet a lot of TV executives will have their eyes glued to the screen for this one.

MORE: WWE SmackDown Preview (9/13/24): Match Card, News, How To Watch & TV Channel

Lastly, WrestleVotes reports what might be a new logo for SmackDown. If it is the new logo, there's no information on whether it will debut tonight or in the future. Keep in mind that this isn't verified and is just a rumor. The logo does look professional and sleek enough to be the new SmackDown logo, though. We'll just have to wait and see.

MORE: SmackDown Superstar Reportedly Signs Multi-year Contract Extension with WWE

The SmackDown season premiere is live on USA at 8/7 c. Triple H guaranteed some big moments tonight so tell the family that dinner needs to end early.

Published
Dariel Figueroa

DARIEL FIGUEROA

Dariel Figueroa joined On SI and The Takedown in 2024. He previously served as senior features writer at Uproxx, and has written for Heavy, Fansided, and Paste. Figueroa graduated with a double bachelor’s from Rowan University in journalism and multimedia production, respectively. You can follow him on X (fmr. Twitter) @figgyflow.

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