WWE and AEW are set to face off next Friday night. Well, for 30 minutes, anyway.
During tonight's broadcast of SmackDown, WWE announced that next Friday, October 15, fans will be treated to a "Supersized" episode of SmackDown. More than just a name, the show is scheduled to run for two hours and thirty minutes, a half-hour longer than normal. What this means, is that the final thirty minutes of SmackDown will overlap with the first thirty minutes of AEW Rampage.
Tony Khan heard about the news and took to Twitter to comment, saying that he can't wait to go head-to-head with WWE's main show and beat them.
I saw you’re doing a half hour head-to-head with us. I can’t wait to finally beat your main show head-to-head. It’s been a long time coming. See you next Friday for #AEWRampage on @AEWonTNT!
— Tony Khan (@TonyKhan) October 9, 2021
One fan told Khan to worry about his own show, which he replied to by saying the following:
I already announced the #AEWRampage card for live next Friday, and it’s straight fire, chief.
— Tony Khan (@TonyKhan) October 9, 2021
AEW did well going toe to toe with NXT when it was still on Wednesday nights, winning 63 of 75 weeks in terms of overall viewership and 74 of 75 weeks in the demographic rating. SmackDown, however, poses a much taller task, averaging around 2 million viewers weekly, while Rampage is consistently under one million.
Advertised for next week's episode of SmackDown is a match between Sasha Banks and Becky Lynch, as well as the return of Brock Lesnar. This will be the go-home show to Crown Jewel and will feature semi-final matches in the King of the Ring and Queen's Crown tournaments.
Rampage, on the other hand, will see CM Punk take on Matt Sydal, Ruby Soho will challenge The Bunny, and former UFC Heavyweight Champion Junior dos Santos will team with Men of the Year to go against Inner Circle.
For a rundown of tonight's episodes of SmackDown and Rampage, check out our post-show review.
