SmackDown To Stay At 3 Hours For Foreseeable Future As 2-Hour Plans Change (WWE News)

WrestleVotes Radio (via Sportskeeda WrestleBinge on YouTube) has revealed that original plans for SmackDown's future have been put on ice. Previously, it seemed that WWE would revert to a more standard 2-hour format for the blue brand following the 30 May episode, but that's no longer the case.

SmackDown will remain 3 hours long until further notice.

WWE expanded the show at the turn of the year in a bid to capitalise on the excitement of flagship broadcast Raw jumping over to Netflix. In theory, SmackDown needed a jolt to remain relevant and feel big time too, so a third hour was tacked on in hopes it'd bring Smackers in line with the Monday night offering.

This was a short-term agreement between the promotion and USA Network. They'd already decided to return to the usual 2-hour look in June, but USA has apparently been thrilled by ratings for SmackDown - they're so chuffed with the third hour's number across the board that they'd like to keep it, at least for now.

That's an important point to make here. SmackDown might not be 3 hours forever.

Talks Ongoing For 2-Hour Return In September 2025

WWE and USA could well revert to the 2-hour format once the new television season begins this September. Remember all those "Season Premiere" episodes of telly WWE shouts about? They mean nothing to an 'always on'/continuous product like pro wrestling, but they're designed to muscle in on the fresh feel of many other programs across various channels in the TV industry as a whole.

September is reset time, so WWE occasionally follows that trend (albeit not really creatively).

Assuming SmackDown returns to 2 hours starting in September, then that'd mean WWE has 14 episodes (including the 30 May one) to plough through before dropping an hour. If negotiations with USA deem it necessary, then the 'first' 2-hour reboot for the show will fall on 5 September. Obviously, that remains to be seen, but it's worth circling that date if you're sick of the 3-hour epics.

Admittedly, WWE's writing team has on and off struggled to make SmackDown feel worthy of its own length. Shows have been padded with endless ad spots and other vignettes to justify the third hour. However, there is an upside for the WWE roster. Some acts lower down the pecking order have been given more time for their matches, and that has helped to establish them on-screen.

Check back in for more word on SmackDown's future once it becomes available. September will be interesting.