WWE SmackDown is supposed to go back to two hours, but when?
It seems that we finally have an answer.
The January 3 episode of SmackDown featured a three-hour runtime. This is an extra hour longer than its normal format, as the show was extended as part of WWE’s new agreement with USA Network in the United States.
In September 2024, WrestleVotes reported that WWE SmackDown would return to its two-hour format in June after an extended run of three-hour episodes. A later update indicated SmackDown would most likely revert to two hours in June.
However, PWInsider.com is reporting that WWE SmackDown will finally go back to a two-hour format on July 4. This episode will also be a pre-taped show, recorded at the June 30 RAW television taping in Pittsburgh. Earlier this month, Variety reported a new series called The Rainmaker will debut on Friday, August 15 at 10 p.m. EST, further indicating SmackDown will be a two-hour show by then.
« Somewhere between that two and three hour window is the sweet spot..
Sometimes you can let it linger and it’s good »@TripleH #PMSLive #WWEonNetflix pic.twitter.com/5jW3QJPevo— Pat McAfee (@PatMcAfeeShow) January 6, 2025
Triple H highlights the ‘sweet spot’ of WWE programming
Triple H appeared on the Pat McAfee Show in January and discussed his preference for the length of RAW and SmackDown. Specifically, he said he finds the “sweet spot” to be somewhere between two and three hours.
“I think it’s by what the content needs to be. It’s no different to me than — look, there are some parameters that we have to hit,” Triple H explained. But it’s no different than [other scripted] episodic television shows. Sometimes there’s an episode that’s 45 minutes, the next week it’s an hour, right? It depends on what you need to put into that show.
“Sometimes when we do three-hour shows there’s a little bit of collapsible stuff in there that’s put in on purpose. It’s a little bit of fat in the show that you can trim off if you need to. But a two-hour show, man, there’s a lot of times when we get done with a two-hour show that I think, ‘I would have liked to put more in there. I would have liked to give more people the opportunity to tell these stories that we didn’t get a chance to do.’ So somewhere between that two and three-hour window, to me, is the sweet spot.”
Triple H also confirmed SmackDown will go back to a two-hour format, but didn’t confirm when.
“Yes. [SmackDown is three hours] for right now, and then it switches back to two,” Triple H added.
