WWE Staff Given The Week Off After Saudi Arabia Trip, Raw/SmackDown Double-Taping (WWE News)

WWE talent get some rare time off to enjoy Independence Day.

by Andrew Pollard
WWE Night Of Champions 2025 Seth Rollins CM Punk
WWE.com

Following a hectic week or so for WWE personnel, it looks as if the bulk of those wrestlers and staff will be getting a nice little break from the grind.

As per Fightful Select, the majority of WWE has the next week off, with some even expected to have a week and a half off.

With this Friday being the 4th July, WWE taped this week's SmackDown episode last night after Raw. That was done in order to give the SmackDown crew the chance to celebrate the holiday with their friends and families, rather than be tied up having to work a blue brand show.

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So, for the Raw crew, they'll be off until next Monday, while the majority of the SmackDown side of things won't be needed until next Friday. That said, it's not unheard of for a SmackDown talent to work a Raw taping, but for the most part, those on Smackers have a fairly solid break from the action.

Of course, this comes on the back of WWE's latest trip to Saudi Arabia, with Riyadh's Kingdom Arena hosting last week's SmackDown and then the Night of Champions PLE over the weekend. While some WWE employees flew out weeks ahead of time, the bulk of talent departed for Saudi Arabia on Wednesday. WWE landed in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania on Sunday morning local time ahead of last night's Raw and SmackDown double-taping.

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At Night of Champions, interference from Seth Rollins and his crew ultimately led to John Cena retaining the WWE Championship over CM Punk, Cody Rhodes beat Randy Orton to win the King of the Ring tournament, and Jade Cargill got the better of Asuka to become the Queen of the Ring. Elsewhere, Solo Sikoa defeated Jacob Fatu - with help from JC Mateo, the returning Tonga Loa, and the debuting Tala Tonga - to take home the United States Title, Rhea Ripley got the W over Raquel Rodriguez in a street fight, and Sami Zayn got one over Karrion Kross.

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Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main day job, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks/Saints, Jamie Hayter, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg. Where his beloved Wrexham AFC is concerned, Andrew is co-host of the Fearless in Devotion podcast, which won the Club Podcast of the Year gong at the 2024 FSA Awards.