UPDATED: WWE Smackdown is moving to Thursday nights speculation restarted with SyFy press release

Like a hearty "Let's go Cena" /  "Cena sucks" chant, the "Smackdown is moving to Thursday nights" / "no it isn't" game made a comeback yesterday.

A press release from SyFy, the NBCUniversal network that has been home to WWE's weekly two hour pre-taped show for the last four years, announced that their new original series 12 Monkeys (based on the classic 1995 Terry Gilliam flick starring Bruce Willis and Brad Pitt) would debut on Friday, January 16, 2015 at 9PM Eastern.

Astute tellers of time will notice that Smackdown is usually on at 9PM Eastern.  This is, so far, the basis for another round of "Smackdown is moving to Thursday nights" speculation.

SyFy's announcement only says that 12 Monkeys will "debut" in that time slot, so it's possible it could move to another night or time after the 16th.  Smackdown isn't usually pre-empted though, so a week off or at a different time would be a first for the blue brand.

WWE doesn't have January dates listed on their website yet, so there's no indication from there that this could be a one-time move based on an overseas trip or Tribute to the Troops-type special.

Stay tuned.  We can tell you with 100% certainty that Smackdown will be on tonight - a Friday - for its 15th anniversary special.

UPDATE:

PWInsider is reporting that SyFy has confirmed to them that Smackdown is leaving Fridays in mid-January.  The reason for the delay was to wait for the NFL season to end, and Thursday night football games on CBS and NFL Network to be done for the current season.

Despite offering that rationale, the source would not confirm a move to Thursdays - just a move away from Friday.  Could a live Tuesday Smackdown still be on the table?

Continue to stay tuned...