WWE plans to tape ECW with Raw through till February at least and continue to double-up their Smackdown tapings until WrestleMania, at which point they will reassess the situation. The company is looking to cut $20 million in expenses from their budget and each canceled taping saves them nearly $700,000 in production costs alone. The wrestlers will make slightly less money as a result of this but that is offset by having a slightly easier road schedule too. The plan for the double tapings is to rush through the second Smackdown in around 90 minutes, showing less backstage material to the live audience, so that the crowd does not burn out quite so much from the length of the show. Also, there has been talk of cutting down on the number of people who are sent to house shows in order to save more money.
Gail Kim and Umaga are both expected to be on Smackdown soon. The plan for Umaga is to have him feud with The Undertaker, which was the main reason he was brought over from Raw in the last draft.
The Undertaker is in bad shape right now, particularly his knees and lower back. He is trying to work through the pain until WrestleMania.
Credit: Wrestling Observer Newsletter, 01 December 2008 (subscribe here)
