Update on WWE SmackDown reverting to two-hour format
An update is available regarding WWE SmackDown reverting from a three to two-hour format.
Our own Bryan Alvarez is reporting that WWE’s contract with NBCUniversal stipulates the show will return to a two hour format at the start of July.
Alvarez wrote to his subscribers on X:
“WWE’s contact with USA stipulates three-hour shows from January through the end of June every year, so this will be an ongoing thing, and we have two more months of three-hour shows to survive. July through the end of December will be two hours.”
The first three-hour WWE SmackDown took place on January 3, 2025. The show reverted back to a two-hour format on July 4 of that year. On January 2, 2026, SmackDown returned to a three-hour format, similar to 2025.
Dave Meltzer and Bryan Alvarez also discussed the timeline for SmackDown’s return to two-hours on the latest episode of Wrestling Observer Radio.
Meltzer said:
“The contract that they have signed now is January till the end of June would be three hours. And then the end of June, in the first of July to the end of December, it would be two hours. So that’s the new, the way the deal is structured right now.”
Meltzer noted this will likely be the arrangement for the duration of the current media rights deal.
“For the foreseeable future. Probably for the next four years,” he continued.
The full episode of Wrestling Observer Radio is available here for our subscribers.
Ian Carey is a writer from Toronto, Ontario, Canada, whose work has been featured in NOW Magazine, The Huffington Post, and more. A lifelong wrestling aficionado born in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, he has covered the industry for a decade and a half. He joined the f4wonline.com team in 2019.