WWE Confirms Major Shift For SmackDown Going Forwards (WWE News)
Michael Cole confirmed WWE fan suspicions during Friday's pre-taped SmackDown.
Michael Cole told fans tuning into Friday's pre-taped episode of SmackDown that the blue brand will return to a more traditional 2-hour format starting next week. WWE's weekly had been running for 3 hours since the turn of the year, which followed 2025's similar scheduling.
For reference, SmackDown also dropped the third hour last summer until the souped up edition was heavily hyped all over again heading into 2026.
Fans and critics alike seem aligned on this topic: SmackDown veers wildly between excellent and atrocious, and a lot of the blame is placed squarely at the bloated 3-hour booking. Obviously, the knock on effect of this is that several lower-tier stars and their storylines will struggle to get airtime every Friday.
That's unfortunate, but going from 3-2 hours could be beneficial to the show overall. Domestically in the United States, USA Network will air Everything On The Menu With Braun Strowman in what has typically been SmackDown's third hour since the turn of the year.
So, Los Garza might not be able to get onto screens, but at least people will know what Strowman is having for dinner. Every cloud, eh? Seriously though, it is slightly bizarre that a food show with Braun will replace hour 3 for a spell.
The Wrestling Observer had reported on this plan at the start of June. It was expected, to be fair, but WWE has since made things official. To summarise, the 3 July episode will run for 2 hours, not 3. Do not adjust your sets!