Backstage Report On Holiday Taping Schedule For WWE Raw & SmackDown

December has arrived, and with that comes unique scheduling for pro wrestling, as promotions attempt to run shows while also making sure talents are home for the holidays. For AEW, that means holding "Dynamite on 34th Street" and "Christmas Collision" tapings this Saturday and Sunday in the famed Hammerstein Ballroom, as opposed to running the shows on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day. As for WWE, they too are looking to avoid running shows on the holidays directly, leading to one of the more interesting scheduling decisions in recent memory.

Fightful Select and Wrestlevotes Live report that WWE is currently set to hold two sets of tapings that will take the promotion through the rest of 2025. The first taping is tonight's edition of "Raw" from Hershey, Pennsylvania, which also will see WWE tape the December 26 episode of "WWE SmackDown." Meanwhile, this Friday's "SmackDown" taping will follow a similar format, as WWE will also be taping next week's "Raw."

The schedule will create an interesting scenario where the December 26th "SmackDown" will be in the can before the December 19 episode airs live. It will also allow talents to have December 20 through December 25th off, however, a welcome reprieve before WWE kicks off what might be the busiest time of both 2025 and 2026. This includes WWE's annual holiday tour, which kicks off on December 26 and lasts through the end of the year, before being followed by WWE's tour of Europe beginning on January 8, Canadian dates, and WWE's first ever Royal Rumble from Saudi Arabia on January 31.