News & Notes: SmackDown Matches, Cena, The Rock’s Popularity, Australia

SmackDown Dark Matches

There were two dark matches at SmackDown last night, both before the show and after 205 Live:

Before the show: Sami Zayn, Luke Harper and Tye Dillinger defeated Mike Kanellis and The Ascension

After 205 Live: Randy Orton and Shinsuke Nakamura defeated Dolph Ziggler and Rusev

John Cena

John Cena posted about “rising above hate.”

No matter what you do, there will always be hate. You have 2 choices, Hate back, or Smile and #RiseAboveHate I prefer option 2 😊 pic.twitter.com/XJrjXRTzbb

— John Cena (@JohnCena) August 16, 2017

The Rock is the #1 Most Popular Actor on Social Media This Week

The Rock is #1 this week on The Hollywood Reporter’s “Top Actors Social Media Ranking,” which “ranks the most popular actors based on data from Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube and Google Plus.”

The Top Actors chart is a ranking of the most popular actors on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube and Google Plus, with global data provided by social media analytics company MVPindex. The chart’s methodology blends social engagement on the platforms along with weekly additions of followers/subscribers. The latest tracking week ended Aug. 8.

#2 is Indian actress Priyanka Chopra, #3 is Kevin Hart, #4 is Tom Holland, and #5 is Jennifer Lopez.

Teamwork. #1 👊🏾 As social media continues to impact bottom line$, it's fun (and challenging) to stay ahead of and drive market trends. It's also fascinating to us as a company to see how other major companies dissect my social footprint and articulate to their employees on "why" I'm successful. They always miss the mark on the key thing that drives my relationship with the people. Thank you fans worldwide for being awesome. Waffles and tequila on me! 🙋🏾‍♂️ DJ @sevenbucksprod @sevenbucksds

A post shared by therock (@therock) on Aug 15, 2017 at 3:57pm PDT

WWE on Australian TV

WWE announced that they’ve signed a new TV deal in Australia with “9Go!” to broadcast additional one-hour versions of Raw and SmackDown. A one hour version of Raw will air Thursdays at 11 PM and a one hour version of SmackDown will air Friday nights.

Raw and SmackDown will still also air live in Australia on FOX8 and WWE announced that they’ve also extended that deal.

WWE reaches broadcast agreement with Nine Network

SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA and STAMFORD, Conn. – WWE and Nine Network today announced it has reached a new agreement to broadcast weekly one-hour versions of WWE’s flagship programs, Raw and SmackDown, in Australia on Nine Network channel 9Go! Starting this week, 9Go! will televise a one-hour edition of Raw on Thursdays at 11 p.m., and a one-hour edition of SmackDown on Fridays immediately following the conclusion of 9Go!’s Friday Night Movie.

“We are thrilled to add another best-in-class TV partner to our roster in Australia to deliver content to our fans,” said Michelle Wilson, WWE Chief Revenue & Marketing Officer. “Our partnership with Nine Network enables us to expand our reach in Australia and complements our live programming in the region.”

In addition to this new agreement with Nine Network, WWE recently announced it will extend its partnership with Foxtel to broadcast WWE programming live in Australia. Foxtel’s FOX8 televises Raw live on Tuesdays from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., and SmackDown LIVE on Wednesdays from 10 a.m. to 12 noon.