There are already whispers that Pop TV (formerly the TV Guide Channel) is looking to cut bait on TNA. That shouldn't be much of a surprise. TNA is ineptly run, and Dixie Carter has all but pimped herself out to move the vagabond promotion from network to network to keep it going. Impact is on its 4th different network, and 3rd in 3 years. There are, too, whispers that the company is for sale, and that a company run by the Harris twins, Ron & Don, was in the mix, but that talk has died down. Hmmmmmmm.
Meanwhile, Vince McMahon has seen an opportunity arise where he can once and for all bury TNA, a promotion he can't bring himself to acknowledge within WWE, although a number of wrestlers on the current WWE/NXT rosters have TNA on their resumes (Samoa Joe, AJ Styles, Austin Aries, the Dudleys, Booker T). That opportunity comes in the form of moving Smackdown across the calendar again, this time to Tuesdays, where it will be broadcast live, beginning July 19.
For WWE and media partner NBC/Universal/Comcast, it's a win-win. USA is also launching a series based on the Mark Wahlberg movie, "Shooter", that same night, in back of Smackdown. Fans have been calling for Smackdown to go to a live, weekly schedule for the last few years, and now, they're getting it, along with a return to separate rosters for both Smackdown & Raw, something that WWE should never have gotten away from.
If Vince wants Shane & Stephanie to be feuding, this would be the best way to go about it, to avoid having Shane vs. Triple H at Summerslam in August, as has been rumored. Stephanie was Smackdown's original GM (2002-3), while Shane was pushed aside for the Raw job when Eric Bischoff became available. Bischoff lasted nearly 3 1/2 years before he was ousted. However, I don't see the GM system being revived. I don't like the narrative that Vince wants to put forth, as I've referenced, as I'd rather the kids & Hunter would work together to send Vince off to retirement at Happy Acres Rest Home or Bellevue Hospital (because he's nuts), and let him count his money in private.
Folks are already speculating about who will be assigned to which brand. If they're smart, the reigning champions will all be allowed to move between brands, not just the men's World champion. The current roll call of champions:
WWE World Champion: Roman Reigns.
WWE US champion: Rusev.
IC champion: Miz.
World tag team champions: The New Day.
Women's champion: Charlotte.
All that needs be done is to deepen the talent pool. Any call-ups from NXT would likely be headed to Smackdown first, unless it's a big enough name (i.e. Samoa Joe, Austin Aries) to the audience that they would go to the flagship Monday show. No extra titles need be added, except maybe the first-ever WWE TV title, but I doubt that'll ever happen. Just saying.
The going will be tough, considering that some fans also follow baseball, and would be hard pressed to choose between their favorite teams (i.e. Mets, Yankees, Red Sox, Cardinals) and WWE on two consecutive nights. The idea, though, is to reverse the downward trend of ratings. You have Paul Heyman, who was a head writer and storyline GM for Smackdown between 2002-4, and preparing to do a reality show of his own that reveals what he's been doing away from WWE of late. I'd let him be head writer for Raw this time, because that's likely where Brock Lesnar will be. If you let Heyman front both Raw & Smackdown's creative teams, something that didn't happen the first time, the quality of the product will improve. You don't bring in a clueless, out of touch hack like Vince Russo. Ever.
You get rid of the Hollywood rejects that Vince won't teach Wrestling 101 to, and let Heyman and the agent-producers (i.e. Arn Anderson, Dean Malenko) put the show together. The ratings will go up. Morale will go up. Storylines will make sense, as they did for Smackdown from 2002-4.
Just count on Vince to screw it up, because that's what insane men do.
