REVEALED: How SmackDown's Production Issues Impacted The Show

Last night’s June 27 episode of Friday Night SmackDown at the Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia kicked off in an unfortunate way for international viewers tuning in on the Netflix streaming service, as midway through the opening promo segment between Cody Rhodes and Randy Orton, the feed went dark and the show went off the air for up to 40 minutes. 

It was reported that this was due to technical issues emanating from the arena itself rather than any problem with the Netflix feed. WWE issued an apology and continued on with the event when things returned. When it comes to the effects that this had on the show itself, there were multiple. For the Rhodes/Orton segment, WWE aired handheld footage on the US broadcast due to not being able to use the footage taken from WWE’s usual cameras. 

Additionally, PWInsider have reported that several matches across the show had their time cut. Matches from SmackDown includes Giulia vs. Zelina for the Women’s United States Championship, Tiffany Stratton vs. Nia Jax for the WWE Women's Title, The Street Profits defending the WWE Tag Team Titles against The Wyatt Sicks, JC Mateo vs. Jimmy Uso, and Andrade & Rey Fenix vs. DIY. With SmackDown airing later for those in the US, WWE edited CM Punk’s “rap” to take out line flubs and to add in crowd noise.

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