WWE’s official press release on “premiere week”

By Jason Powell, ProWrestling.net Editor (@prowrestlingnet)

WWE issued the following press release to promote “premiere week” for Raw, NXT, Total Divas, and Smackdown.

STAMFORD, Conn. – September 26, 2019 – Beginning this Monday, September 30, WWE Premiere Week will feature special episodes of Monday Night Raw, NXT, Total Divas and Friday Night SmackDown, with an unprecedented eight hours of primetime programming.

Monday, September 30

The season premiere of Monday Night Raw airs at 8/7c on USA Network as WWE Universal Champion Seth Rollins® defends his title against Rey Mysterio®; The Miz® hosts WWE Hall of Famers Hulk Hogan and Ric Flair on a special edition of Miz TV; Brock Lesnar™ makes a special appearance; AJ Styles defends his U.S. title vs. Cedric Alexander; and Alexa Bliss takes on Sasha Banks.

Wednesday, October 2

NXT will make its two-hour live premiere this Wednesday, October 2 on USA Network at 8/7c as The Undisputed Era defend their NXT Tag Team Championships in a match against the Street Profits; NXT Champion Adam Cole defends his title vs. Matt Riddle; NXT Women’s Champion Shayna Baszler™ takes on Candice LeRae; Johnny Gargano^® will compete against Shane Thorne; and fans can witness The Velveteen Dream Experience.

Immediately following NXT, season nine of Total Divas will premiere on E! at 10/9c. The hit series is back with a season more personal and action-packed than ever. WWE Superstar Ronda Rousey joins Natalya^®, Naomi^® and Nia Jax™ for the new season, which also includes returning cast member Carmella™ and newcomer Sonya Deville™. Nikki Bella^® and Brie Bella^® will make guest appearances in the series as well.

Friday, October 4

SmackDown’s 20^th anniversary will kick off the new era of Friday Night SmackDown’s highly-anticipated move to FOX broadcast network on Friday, October 4 at 8 PM ET/PT. The anniversary celebration will include WWE Champion Kofi Kingston^® defending his title against Brock Lesnar; Becky Lynch and Charlotte Flair vs. Bayley and Sasha Banks; and Kevin Owens^® and Shane McMahon^® go head-to-head in a ladder match with the loser forced to leave WWE. Prior to the premiere, the Friday Night SmackDown Kickoff Show “blue carpet” special will air at 7:30 PM ET/PT on FOX from Staples Center featuring celebrity, Superstar and Legend arrivals, as well as backstage access.

As part of WWE Premiere Week, new voices will be brought to Raw, NXT and SmackDown. Raw’s new announce team will include play-by-play from Vic Joseph with Dio Maddin and WWE Hall of Famer Jerry “The King” Lawler serving as analysts; NXT play-by-play will be called by Mauro Ranallo with Beth Phoenix and Nigel McGuiness as analysts; and SmackDown will feature Michael Cole handling play-by-play, Corey Graves serving as analyst and Renee Young as a Special Contributor.

Powell’s POV: The big news is the broadcast team shakeup, which I addressed in a previous post. Plus, Jake Barnett and I discuss the changes in detail in today’s Dot Net Weekly audio show, which will be available for members later today.