Dave Meltzer Questions Major WWE SmackDown Change
The WWE SmackDown brand going to three hours has led to some interesting comments from a veteran wrestling observer.
There is a lot of talk in WWE about the future of Monday Night Raw because the company’s flagship show is moving to Netflix on January 6th. In addition to Raw, changes are coming for WWE SmackDown too.
It was officially announced by WWE that SmackDown will become a three-hour show starting on January 3rd in Phoenix. It’s a significant change for SmackDown since the blue brand has been a two-hour show for its entire 25-year history.
Fans in the US will continue to watch SmackDown on USA Network while most international fans will get to watch SmackDown on Netflix starting on January 10th. USA Network is used to WWE programming being three hours since Raw was a three-hour show from July 2012 for 12 years until this past fall.
The three-hour editions of Monday Night Raw with Paul “Triple H” Levesque running the show in recent years have been praised by fans as better episodes than the previous regime like Vince McMahon. However, some critics believe that three hours is too long for a pro wrestling show.
Why Dave Meltzer Is Concerned About WWE SmackDown Going To Three Hours
While writing in his Daily Update, the Wrestling Observer’s Dave Meltzer mentioned that Triple H has said in the past that he prefers the two-hour format of wrestling shows.
“I hope WWE got a big rights increase for a third hour of Smackdown. We already saw with Raw, three hours led to burnout and a decline in interest, but it’s offset by the money it generated. Unless this deal adds a lot of money, we’ve already seen what happens.
I remember Paul Levesque even saying that 90 minutes is the perfect length for a wrestling TV show. But the reality is TV makes more and more hours usually mean more money.”
It was announced in September 2023 that WWE SmackDown was heading back to USA Network. After the deal was announced, it was reported that the deal was worth an average of $287 million US per year, with its total value being over US $1.4 billion over five years. It’s not known yet if WWE will be getting even more money for doing a third hour of SmackDown or if that was part of the original deal.