Possible Date for WWE SmackDown’s Return to Two-Hour Format

Friday Night SmackDown was extended to three hours earlier this year and people have just been wondering when it will go back to two hours. As speculation about its future continues, it appears we now have a potential date for when the blue brand will return to two hours.

While speaking on Wrestling Observer Live, Bryan Alvarez talked about when SmackDown could return to a two-hour format again. He mentioned he received a Variety article, which was written on June 4th. Alvarez noted that things could change, but to him it was like a belated birthday gift.

“Yesterday I did get sent a Variety article. Now granted, this article was from June 4th, so that’s almost two weeks ago—and I guess plans could change—but I got this and it was, to me, a belated birthday gift.”

The article said that USA Network shared the first trailer for a new TV series based on John Grisham’s The Rainmaker. The show is set to premiere on Friday, August 15th at 10 PM Eastern/Pacific. After it airs on TV, episodes will be available to stream on Peacock a week later.

Bryan Alvarez looked at the calendar and noticed that August 15th is a Friday. That means if this information is still correct, SmackDown will likely go back to being a two-hour show because The Rainmaker is scheduled to start at 10 PM, right when the third hour of SmackDown would usually be on.

“This is what Variety says: USA Network has dropped the first trailer for the series adaptation of John Grisham’s The Rainmaker. In the trailer…

This is the important thing: The Rainmaker will premiere on USA Network on August 15th at 10 Eastern/Pacific, with episodes available to stream on Peacock one week after their linear debut.

So, according to my calendar here, August 15th is a Friday. Which means—unless something has changed since June 4th when Variety reported this—that means that’s the end of three-hour SmackDowns, because this show is premiering at 10:00 on Fridays on USA. So that’s maybe the answer to this question.”

This comes after we had previously reported that Friday Night SmackDown will be sticking to a three-hour format for the foreseeable future. To add to that, the show has been on a three-hour format without receiving any extra pay.

It’s worth noting that plans could still change depending on WWE’s priorities and network commitments. Therefore, we will have to wait and see whether Friday Night SmackDown will go back to being a two-hour show on August 15th, as it’s still almost two months away and a lot could change before then.

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