Posted in: Sports, TV, WWE | Tagged: fox, renee paquette, renee young, ryan satin, Smackdown, wrestling, wwe

Renee Young Returns to WWE as Fox Doubles Down on Smackdown

Published Wed, 07 Oct 2020 18:35:19 -0500

With the one year anniversary of Friday Night Smackdown on Fox approaching, you might think the network would be experiencing a little bit of buyer's remorse. WWE has underperformed in terms of ratings and viewership despite the truckloads of money Fox gave WWE for the rights to broadcast the pro wrestling show. But Fox is instead doubling down, announcing a celebration of Smackdown with a pair of specials. First, on Sunday, October 11th (that's this Sunday), Fox will air WWE: The Best Moments of 2020. It will air at different times depending on what NFL market you're in, as explained in the press release:

On Sunday, Oct. 11, catch WWE: THE BEST MOMENTS OF 2020, an exciting look back at the year's biggest stars and most memorable moments in WWE. The special airs adjacent to Sunday's regional NFL broadcasts airing in-market at 1:00 PM ET and 4:05 PM ET. Viewers with an NFL matchup airing at 1:00 PM ET can watch WWE: THE BEST MOMENTS OF 2020 at 4:30 PM ET; viewers with an NFL matchup airing at 4:05 PM ET can watch the special at 3:00 PM ET.

The coolest news, though, comes in the form of a second special, Friday Night Smackdown Kickoff Show, airing before the start of the second season of Smackdown on Fox. That show will be hosted by Renee Paquette, formerly known as Renee Young, who left WWE earlier this year. As Renee Young, Paquette was the host of WWE Backstage on FS1 before it was canceled. Here's what the press release has to say about the Smackdown Kickoff Show, which appears to be a one-night-only type of thing.

The official logo for WWE Friday Night Smackdown.

In celebration of the second season of FRIDAY NIGHT SMACKDOWN on FOX, FOX Sports' WWE personalities come together for a special FRIDAY NIGHT SMACKDOWN KICKOFF SHOW on Friday, Oct. 16. Longtime broadcaster Renee Paquette and WWE Hall of Famer Booker T host a bevy of WWE Superstars and special guests live from the brand new "WWE ThunderDome" in Orlando.

The FRIDAY NIGHT SMACKDOWN KICKOFF SHOW begins at 7:30 PM ET/PT and 6:30 PM CT/MT, leading into the season premiere of FRIDAY NIGHT SMACKDOWN on FOX at 8:00 PM ET/PT and 7:00 PM CT/MT.

Finally, Fox also announced that Ryan Satin would join Fox Sports as a multimedia contributor. Satin resigned last week from Pro Wrestling Sheet, no longer have any need for the site, having gotten his money from selling it to Collider years ago and now having successfully starf**ked his way into a job at a real media outlet. The only question that remains is whether his newfound success will cause him to post fewer attention-seeking humblebrags and cries for validation on Twitter, or even more. Congratulations to Ryan Satin on the upgrade – you deserve it. And we're not jealous. Not at all. Why would you say that?!

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