Backstage Update On Reports Of WWE SmackDown Expanding To 3 Hours

WWE fans around the world rejoiced at the recent news that "WWE Raw" would be reverting back to a two-hour format beginning on October 7 after 12 years of the red brand being three-hours-long each week. However, those same fans were then faced with the harsh reality of "WWE SmackDown" potentially having an extra hour tacked on starting in 2025, a story originally broken by WrestleVotes that was met with speculation as to whether "SmackDown" would actually go to three hours due to the uncertainty of whether "Raw" itself will revert back to three hours once it moves to Netflix.

According to Dave Meltzer in the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, it does in fact seem that WWE are planning to make "SmackDown" a three-hour weekly show every Friday on USA Network. Meltzer stated that those he has talked to within WWE have confirmed that, while nothing is finalized just yet, the company is waiting to make an official announcement later on this year. WWE are reportedly in talks with USA over the financial side of things, but it is believed to be a low-risk, high-reward situation for WWE, as the cost of producing an extra hour of television is low, and WWE have become so accustomed to doing it on USA since "Raw" became three hours in 2012.

If "SmackDown" does make the move to three hours at the beginning of 2025, that would mean that the final hour of the show would go head-to-head with "AEW Rampage" on TNT. However, given the details of AEW's new media rights deal that is set to be formally announced in the coming weeks, "Rampage" could either move nights, or be canceled altogether, leaving "SmackDown" as the sole wrestling show on TV every Friday night.