(WWE)
The Talking Smack TV show has been cancelled after just one season on WWE. The program was a Smackdown aftershow, which ran on Tuesdays. Renee Young and Daniel Bryan hosted Talking Smack, on which they interviewed WWE stars. The show will continue in a fashion, after pay-per-view events.
Sports Illustrated reports it wasn’t low ratings that took down the Talking Smack TV series. According to the news outlet, it was Vince McMahon himself, who decided to cancel the series.
Here’s more from S.I.:
McMahon, whose appearances at weekly WWE television shows is becoming increasingly irregular, was at TVs this past week. Sources close to the situation reported that McMahon was unhappy with the show and strongly believed it did not serve the company’s best interests.
[…]
Despite infrequent recent appearances at SmackDown, McMahon remains the singular voice of his company. He remains looped in on every key detail from Paul “Triple H” Levesque, Stephanie McMahon and Kevin Dunn on Raw, as well as “Road Dogg” Brian James and Michael Hayes on SmackDown. Vince McMahon is by no means detached from his product, yet Sports Illustrated was informed that the 70-year-old is just not as physically present as he once was.
[…]
WWE offered the following statement on Friday, stating, “We continuously review WWE Network’s programming line-up based on a variety of factors, including viewership and subscriber research. Talking Smack and Raw Talk will air following pay-per-view events, and Tuesday will continue to feature 205 Live.”
The unscripted nature of the show ultimately played a role in its removal. Despite plans for occasional Talking Smack shows after SmackDown-specific pay-per-views, the long-term plan, per McMahon, is to eradicate the program.
Daniel Bryan and Renee Young React to the Talking Smack Cancellation
Hosts Bryan — who is also the general manager of Smackdown — and Young, made it clear on Twitter that they were caught off-guard by the Talking Smack cancellation. He tweeted, “I come online to support #SamiForSyria and find this out. I’m the GM!!! Nobody tells me anything!!!”
I come online to support #SamiForSyria and find this out. I'm the GM!!! Nobody tells me anything!!! https://t.co/Dup7nBKvss
— Bryan Danielson (@bryandanielson) July 14, 2017
Young added, “Really disappointed about #TalkingSmack. We tried to make that show great. Guess I’ll go back to welcoming my guest at this time.”
Really disappointed about #TalkingSmack. We tried to make that show great. Guess I'll go back to welcoming my guest at this time.
— Renee Paquette (@ReneePaquette) July 14, 2017
What do you think? Are you a fan of the Talking Smack TV show? Should it have been cancelled or renewed for a second season on WWE?
