WWE SmackDown Undergoing Format Change In 2026
There will be a change to the WWE SmackDown brand in early 2026.
Since WWE SmackDown launched in August 1999, it has been a 2-hour show most of the time. The show’s air date changed a few times: it started on Thursdays, then moved to Fridays, then went back to Tuesdays for a few years, and then settled on Fridays again.
There have also been numerous network changes along the way before it settled on USA Network in the US and on Netflix for international fans.
For the first six months of 2025, starting with the January 10th episode, SmackDown’s format changed to a 3-hour show. That ended about six months later, when the July 4th episode of SmackDown returned to a 2-hour format for the rest of the year.
In a new report from Wrestlevotes on X/Twitter, it has been reported that SmackDown will be going back to a 3-hour format starting with the January 2nd episode from Buffalo, New York.
According to sources, WWE and USA Network have decided to move SmackDown back to three hours, beginning with the January 2nd show from Buffalo, NY.
The benefit of a 3-hour show is that there can be more matches and more people on it, but some WWE fans don’t necessarily think that makes it better.
Triple H Addressed WWE SmackDown’s Show Format
During an appearance at the All In business summit in September, WWE’s Chief Content Officer, Paul “Triple H” Levesque, spoke about the content WWE produces regularly.
Triple H referred to SmackDown being three hours long for half of the year and two hours long for the other half of the year, so apparently, that format they did in 2025 will continue in 2026, and possibly future years as well.
“The beautiful thing about us is with the amount of content we do, we’re 52 weeks a year live. So when you talk about a content company that puts out entertainment, we are live Monday nights, 2-3 hours depending on the evening on Netflix. Tuesday nights two hours on CW. Friday nights two hours — and half the year is three hours — on USA.
Once a month, a three hour-plus PLE. Saturday Night’s Main Event quarterly or more per year. That’s all live, that’s all content that we’re putting out on a regular basis.”
The advertised lineup for tonight’s November 14th edition of WWE SmackDown in Albany is as follows:
- Jey Uso battles The Miz in Last Time is Now Tournament
- LA Knight takes on mystery opponent in Last Time is Now Tournament
- B-Fab clashes with Jade Cargill
- Sami Zayn has a message for Solo Sikoa
There’s no mention of Ilja Dragunov’s US Title Open Challenge, even though he has done those open challenges every week since winning the title from Sami Zayn.