Latest Update On When WWE SmackDown Is Expected To Return To Two-Hour Format

It has become a yearly tradition at this point for "WWE SmackDown" to make a change in its format, changing from a three-hour show into a two-hour show halfway through the year, and 2026 will be no different. 

Reports started swirling about the "SmackDown" runtime in the spring as the three-hour format, which has never truly been met with that much fanfare, will be ending once again in favor of a two-hour show. Dave Meltzer reported on the latest edition of "Wrestling Observer Radio" what date the final three-hour "SmackDown" will take place on, as well as if the show will be adding back that extra hour at some point in the future. "Three hours until the end of the month, the end of this month, June 26 is the last three hour show," Meltzer said. "I was told that originally. I was told six months on, January to July, and the idea that's going to be it for the entire five year thing. Six months on, six months off...The three hour shows, they're tough."

Meltzer explained that he thought the move back to two hours would actually be earlier due to Braun Strowman's "Everything On The Menu" show returning this past Friday, a show that did very well in the ratings in large part due to having "SmackDown" as the lead-in. However, Strowman's show will air at 11PM ET until the end of June before returning to 10PM ET in July, and while Meltzer is confused as to why the USA Network would have a show that did so well return in such a late timeslot, there is still confidence that the WWE lead-in will make up for lost ratings.

Please credit "Wrestling Observer Radio" when using quotes from this article, and give a H/T to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.