Later this month, NXT is going to officially start airing on the USA Network on Wednesday nights. Early next month, SmackDown Live is leaving the USA Network and moving to FOX in a huge money deal. The next superstar draft is expected to happen around that same time which means lots of changes are coming, and some of those may include major shake-ups with the main roster announce teams.
The very first episode of SmackDown Live on FOX will take place on Friday, October 4, and it will be the 1,000th episode of the show. It is going to be absolutely huge for WWE and they want to make sure that everything is in place and perfect for their next debut.
All of that perfection could mean a new announce team calling the action for the blue brand and it is rumored to begin on that night.
According to a report from Wrestling Observer Newsletter , by way of Sportskeeda , FOX is very high on Renee Young and may want her to move to SmackDown . If that is the case, it will mean her leaving Monday Night Raw and heading to Friday nights and becoming a permanent part of that announce team.
With that being said, it would also mean that WWE would want to have two very different announce teams for its major shows. That would lead to Corey Graves being placed on just one brand and sticking with it instead of being a part of both Raw and SmackDown .
It has been reported that WWE is looking to have two very unique and different brands once SmackDown moves to FOX. The “Wild Card Rule” would likely go away and the superstar draft would solidify the rosters for the time being and keep them separate from one another.
All of this stems from WWE hiring Paul Heyman ( Raw ) and Eric Bischoff ( SmackDown ) as their top show Executive Directors. It is believed that Vince McMahon wants to go back to the brand split being solid and having clear lines drawn to know that the brands can stand on their own.
Right now, everything is pure speculation but there is a lot that lends credibility to this whole situation with the announce teams.
WWE moving SmackDown Live to FOX is a huge move and there is a lot of money behind it which means they want nothing to go wrong. If FOX really wants to have Renee Young on its announce team, there is a good chance that the move is going to end up happening.