WWE Rumors: Reported Backstage Chaos In The Lead-Up To This Week’s ‘Friday Night SmackDown’
The Wrestling Observer Newsletter‘s Bryan Alvarez took to Twitter on Friday and revealed that there was chaos behind the scenes in WWE this week. According to the journalist, the script for tonight’s Friday Night SmackDown was finished right before the program went on the air.
Only two matches were announced prior to the latest show. These were the Survivor Series qualifying bouts featuring Daniel Bryan and Jey Uso, as well as Kevin Owens and Dolph Ziggler. The winners of each fight will represent the blue brand at the upcoming pay-per-view.
A non-wrestling segment involving Roman Reigns and Uso was also announced in advance of the latest episode. The latter performer lost to Reigns at last Sunday’s Hell In a Cell pay-per-view, and it was confirmed that he’d face the consequences for that defeat tonight.
The lack of productivity was reportedly down to the company’s chairman. Vince McMahon supposedly wasn’t a fan of many of the ideas that were pitched this week, which is why few matches and segments were finalized throughout the day.
Some of Alvarez’s followers also weighed in on the matter, sharing some mixed opinions about the promotion’s creative process.
“It would be so much easier if they created a digestible framework while providing the talent with some basic notes. The rest is up to them to make the most of it,” tweeted one follower.
“I wonder how these guys memorize their lines so quick. [Two] hours before SD goes live,” pondered a second Twitter user.
“Good. Less spoilers out there. Keeps fans on their toes,” tweeted another fan, who was one of the few who appreciated this method of putting programming together.
The general sentiments of fans on social media, however, revealed that many have lost interest in the product due to the lack of planning. According to the company’s critics, this has led to poor content on a recurring basis.
The development marked the latest occasion in which the show wasn’t completed until the last minute. As WrestlingNews.co documented, last week’s show wasn’t completed until Friday afternoon. This is because McMahon and the creative team were focused on creating segments for Otis.
As The Inquisitr previously documented, McMahon has also been prone to ripping up scripts and rewriting entire episodes by himself in recent months.
These last-minute changes have reportedly caused some frustration behind the scenes, as they’ve resulted in subpar episodes being produced. This may have factored into the promotion’s low ratings in 2020.
