WWE Announces Massive Double Taping Of Raw & SmackDown
There will be a double taping of WWE Smackdown and Raw later this summer.
The WWE product is a unique business because they run live TV nearly every Monday, Tuesday, and Friday, with some exceptions throughout the year.
WWE recently held a double taping in Atlantic City, featuring a live episode of Raw with an early start time of 6 p.m. ET, followed by that week’s episode of SmackDown.
Later this summer, on Friday, August 28th in Cleveland’s Rocket Arena, WWE will have a live edition of SmackDown, and also tape the August 31st episode of Raw.
TWO SHOWS. ONE NIGHT.
Don't miss the WWE action LIVE in Cleveland on August 28.🎟️: https://t.co/OtphRfW06P pic.twitter.com/pqTrdrTk2M
— Rocket Arena (@RocketArena) July 13, 2026
Originally, Charlotte, North Carolina, was scheduled to host the August 31 edition of Raw, but that was canceled. Charlotte will have to wait much longer for a WWE TV show when they host an episode of SmackDown in February 2027.
There was also a September 4th edition of SmackDown scheduled to take place in Cincinnati, but it was canceled. A replacement city hosting hasn’t been announced yet. There’s nothing on the WWE calendar for September 4th, so perhaps the company plans to tape that episode elsewhere.
Labor Day is on September 7th this year in the US. On Sunday, September 6th, there will be a rare Sunday Night’s Main Event television special in Atlanta, and then the Labor Day Raw on September 7th will be in Birmingham, Alabama.
These changes are likely being made because WWE is going on a Mexico and South America tour from September 9 to September 14, with two shows on some nights, and the two nights of AAA TripleMania are also during that period.
AJ Styles Wants WWE To Be Bigger In Japan
As mentioned above, the WWE Universe includes more than just Raw, SmackDown & NXT because they also own AAA and produce weekly shows featuring that brand in Mexico.
WWE Hall of Famer AJ Styles recently spoke about how he wants to see the company grow in Japan as well, and a way to do that is to acquire a promotion over there.
“I would love WWE to find a way to be in Japan, kind of like the way AAA is. We’re not changing what they’re doing. We’re not trying to change the culture. We’re just putting our spin on it. … It’s not them coming to WWE, but WWE has purchased a company in Japan. Now, we have Japan, we have Mexico.
I don’t want them to come to Raw or SmackDown. I want them to be a WWE whatever in Japan. That’s what we need because we build our stars and just because we have stars that are Japanese doesn’t mean there can’t be some guys in Japan. We need those guys too. It’s endless things that we could do.
I believe that with the help of WWE, we would be able to revive Japanese wrestling to where it was. I would love to see it back where it’s the Tokyo Dome. I’m talking about not like a WrestleMania over there, I’m just saying it’s the company selling out the Tokyo Dome like it did in the early ’90s. That’s what I would want to see.”
Could it happen? Anything is possible. Never say never in WWE.