The newest member of the WWE family is Mauro Ranallo, who is known for his commentary in MMA as well as being the English-language voice of New Japan Pro Wrestling. His time with NJPW on AXS TV was very refreshing, as the audience had the privilege of listening to a man passionate about the sport call the matches like, well, a sport. He and color analyst Josh Barnett, who has spent time as both a pro wrestler and mixed martial artist, called the action and told the stories so the American fans could make sense out of the rivalries and groups from the Japanese wrestling promotion.

During a recent interview Ranallo discussed Smackdown’s move to the USA Network on January 7. He said that it is going to have a new look and feel — the show will have a different energy and be revitalized by the change. Ranallo obviously could not go into detail but stated that he is excited about what is set to come in just a few short weeks.

This is probably good news for fans of the product that Smackdown used to put on every week. Even after the golden era of the “SmackDown Six” the show was consistently better than RAW, especially after the brand split was officially over. There was a lot of wrestling and guys who wouldn’t normally see the light of day on Monday Nights were given a chance to do their thing.

It sounds like the show’s move in just a couple weeks’ time will make it much more interesting. Hopefully they can sustain positive change.

Nicholas A. Marsico is a featured pro wrestling writer for Rant Sports. Follow him on Twitter!