WWE: July 21st SmackDown to Air on FS1, Michelle McCool & Undertaker Involved in Shark Incident, More News

July 21st WWE SmackDown Show to Air on FS1

The July 21st episode of WWE Friday Night SmackDown show is currently scheduled to be preempted from FOX and air on FS1 instead that night.

In a recent update to their programming schedule on their official website, FS1 revealed that this upcoming episode will be airing on their network due to FOX’s upcoming commitments with the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup.

It is currently not known if FS1 will become the new home of SmackDown for the duration of the FIFA Women’s World Cup coverage on FOX or if this will be just a one-night only type situation.

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Michelle McCool Comments on The Undertaker Protecting Her from Shark Encounter Incident

Former WWE wrestler Michelle McCool stated on Twitter that she was involved in a shark encounter at a beach this past Sunday.

McCool stated that she was relaxing at the beach when she noticed something that looked like a shark swimming near the shore where she was located. McCool also stated that she asked for her husband The Undertaker to take a closer look which led to The Undertaker protecting McCool by standing in between her and a nurse shark until the shark swam away.

I was simply enjoying a book on the beach when this “vegetation” looked a lot like a shark…..so I text hubby @undertaker 🦈😳kinda digging that last picture …A LOT😍#myprotector 🖤 pic.twitter.com/z9goXelzNT

— McCool (@McCoolMichelleL) July 9, 2023

🤣except it was real…..but just a big, beautiful nurse shark…not that my sweet @undertaker knew that when he came out! #myprotector 😍 @SKWrestling_ pic.twitter.com/syaeXWeFa3

— McCool (@McCoolMichelleL) July 9, 2023

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WWE News & Notes

Monday’s WWE RAW show in Buffalo, New York featured Cody Rhodes issuing an official match challenge to Brock Lesnar for a third match in their feud and for it to take place at this August’s SummerSlam 2023 event.

WWE announced that they recently partnered with Mattel for the release of a WWE branded Muhammad Ali action figure. It was announced that this action figure will officially go on sale starting on July 19th. In regards to wrestling history, Ali was the special guest referee of the main event match between Hulk Hogan & Mr. T vs. Paul Orndorff & Rowdy Roddy Piper at WrestleMania I.

WWE recently announced that they will be returning to the United Kingdom for a new live events tour this October. It was also announced that this upcoming tour will be taking place on October 29-31 with house show events on October 29th in London and October 30th in Nottingham, England and a house show event on October 31st in Glasgow, Scotland.

The Wrestling Observer’s Dave Meltzer reported that his sources confirmed that Wrestlenomics’ report about WWE holding a new event in Saudi Arabia on November 4th is true. Post Wrestling’s John Pollock reported that his sources also confirmed Wrestlenomics’ report about the date for WWE’s next Saudi event.

Nikki Cross announced on Twitter that she graduated with a Masters degree in History from the University of Edinburgh on Monday.

As noted before, this past Friday’s WWE SmackDown show at Madison Square Garden in New York City, New York drew 2,561,000 viewers and a 0.76 key demographic rating on FOX. The Wrestling Observer’s Dave Meltzer reported that the show peaked at 3,070,000 viewers and a 0.94 key demo rating for its second quarter, which featured the middle of the Trial of Roman Reigns segment. Meltzer also reported that depending on the ratings releases for this past Saturday and Sunday, it is possible that this past week could be the first time that a pro wrestling show was the top ranked show of the week on network television. This past Friday’s SmackDown show reportedly was the top ranked network show for Monday to Friday.

In a recent interview with the K/100 with Konnan & Disco podcast, Karrion Kross gave his thoughts about getting to work with AJ Styles in WWE. Kross stated “AJ and I have been working. He’s amazing to work with. He’s the best. The thing that stands out to me is that he has a ring IQ of nobody that I’ve ever met. I’ve met people with high ring IQs — for anyone who doesn’t know what I mean is how would structure a match for the time and place for the people involved. The way he sees wrestling is, he was ahead of his time when he was coming up in TNA, and I think in a lot of aspects, he’s still ahead of his time, even present day. The things that he’s doing, there are nuances that people aren’t even picking up that people will study a decade from now going, ‘he was the only one doing that.’ I won’t say what it is, but if you know you know if you watch his work. He’ll bring it. He’s someone I can get in the ring with where I know he’s going to punch me in the face, I’m good with it, he knows I’m good with it, and he knows I’m going to suplex him on his head. People are going to get their money’s worth when we work.” (Transcript h/t: Fightful.com)