FOX Sports has officially announced that Renee Young & Booker T will host “WWE Backstage” on FS1 every Tuesday at 11 p.m. ET/8 p.m. PT starting November 5. The announcement was made via a press release.
PWInsider is reporting that Young will leave the RAW commentary desk to focus more on her hosting duties. She is described as the leading personality on the series, and will not be handling any WWE commentary duties moving forward. The report adds that “WWE Backstage” will be set up to look like it’s taking place from inside a wrestling ring with yellow ropes.
The show is to be pre-taped once a week under FOX, not WWE. Cathy Kelly is expected to be a big part of the series as well. She will be splitting her time between WWE Backstage and WWE NXT moving forward. Several WWE legend-type personalities were brought in to L.A. to audition for the series. There might be several other personalities who take on a weekly role on the show, but FOX has not finalized that as of yet.
Rey Mysterio and Paige, both California natives, have both auditioned for the series. FOX has also played with different versions of the show and how it might be presented, but nothing has been made final as of yesterday.
LOS ANGELES – SmackDown moves from Tuesdays to Fridays beginning Friday, Oct. 4, at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT on FOX, but WWE fans can still get their Tuesday night fix with FS1’s WWE Backstage, television’s only studio show devoted to all things WWE.
The hour-long weekly show offers viewers the latest WWE news every Tuesday at 11 p.m. ET/8 p.m. PT, beginning Nov. 5 on FS1.
Longtime WWE broadcaster Renee Young and WWE Hall of Famer Booker T weigh in on the biggest stories in WWE, and are joined by a rotating cast of guests and personalities, including current and former WWE Superstars.
Ahead of WWE Backstage’s Nov. 5 debut, FOX Sports offers a special preview of the show on Tuesday, Oct. 15, following the conclusion of the ALCS Game 3 on FS1. Young and Booker T are joined by special guests to reveal the WWE Backstage set at the FOX Studios Lot in Los Angeles, and to break in their brand-new ring.
“WWE Backstage is a wrestling show for wrestling fans. From hardcore fans to people new to wrestling, we’ll give them a little bit of everything,” Young said. “It’s going to be fun, it’s going to be loud, we’re going to give them a ton of opinions and I can’t wait to help spread the word about SmackDown coming to FOX.”
Young will be joined by the two-time WWE Hall of Famer, Booker T, for analysis.
“It’s awesome being part of the FOX family and part of this movement of Friday Night SmackDown to FOX,” Booker T said. “FOX Sports has always been the one-stop shop for sports and now it’s going to be the one-stop shop for sports and entertainment. I think this is going to be a tag team that’s going to last for a long time, and one that cannot lose. As I always say, now can you dig it, sucka?”
More information on WWE Backstage, including additional on-air personalities and special guests, will be announced at a later date.
Also Read: Four Retired Stars Being Considered for WWE Studio Show with Renee Young
