Hall Of Famer Blasts WWE For This SmackDown Decision

One WWE Hall of Famer is not happy with the company after it made a huge change to SmackDown.

SmackDown has reverted to being a three-hour show in 2026, leaving WWE fans exhausted at the thought of yet another hour of wrestling to squeeze in. The change isn’t thought to be a permanent one, with SmackDown likely to revert to its two-hour runtime later in the year.

One man who knows about being forced to produce more wrestling content than he really wanted is ex-WCW president Eric Bischoff. Bischoff was in charge of WCW when Nitro expanded from two hours to three hours and knows all about the problems it can create. And that’s why he’s not thrilled about WWE’s blue brand expansion.

Eric Bischoff Sends WWE Serious SmackDown Warning

Speaking on his 83 Weeks podcast, Bischoff explained why he thinks WWE have made a major mistake and it wouldn’t be one that he’d make again:

I tell you what’s not going to be fun is three hours. My god. Why? Does anybody know why…Long-term, you don’t want to bore your audience to death…And you said it, leave them wanting more. It’s hard to leave people wanting more when you’ve planted them like a f*****g tree on the couch for three hours. And you want to leave them wanting more?

It’s a little challenging folks. Not a long-term strategy I would sign off on. I get the revenue part, I was forced into that. Brad Siegel, Ted Turner. ‘Two hours? Now we’re doing three hours.’ ‘I don’t want to do three hours.’ ‘Doesn’t matter, do three hours, because the revenue can support it.’ But man, creatively it kills you.

SmackDown recently saw a 3 Stages of Hell match take place with Drew McIntyre capturing the WWE Championship from Cody Rhodes.