Report: Why Seth Rollins & The Mysterio Family Were Drafted To WWE SmackDown Revealed

During the WWE Draft, Seth Rollins and the Mysterio family were drafted by Friday Night SmackDown, moving their long-running rivalry to the blue brand. 

This means three of the biggest feuds in the company in Roman Reigns vs. Jey Uso, Bayley vs. Sasha Banks and Rollins vs. Rey and Dominik Mysterio will now all continue on SmackDown for the foreseeable future. 

According to Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, a "key person" in WWE told him the company decided to have the three feuds on SmackDown because of the FOX TV deal. As sports rights fees look set to continue to escalate in the next few years, there is a belief within the business that WWE may not be able to land a good TV deal if the blue brand's ratings drop. A report from Bloomberg has already noted FOX is willing to spend $2 billion per year to retain their NFL contract, and this could limit the network's appetite to renew SmackDown in 2024 if they feel the product isn't providing value for money. 

WWE doesn't have the same issue with the USA Network, however, and the company believes the network will renew Monday Night Raw's TV deal "no matter what" otherwise USA risks collapsing in the ratings.