WWE’s Internal Expectation for 3-Hour SmackDown in 2026 Revealed

SmackDown’s jump back to a three-hour format in 2026 may not last long—and WWE already seems to know it.

During Wrestling Observer Live, Bryan Alvarez reported that there’s a strong belief inside the company that the extended runtime will only stick around for a limited stretch next year before WWE quietly reverts the show back to two hours.

“I can tell you there’s a feeling within WWE that this is not going to be very similar to what happened this year. Which is, in 2026 it’s going to move to 3 hours, it’ll be that way for 6–7 months, and then it will go back to 2 hours again for the remainder of the year.”

This wouldn’t be new territory for the blue brand. In 2025, Friday Night SmackDown was expanded to three hours in January but returned to its usual two-hour length by July. Fans who found the longer shows exhausting may not have to suffer through a full year of marathon broadcasts again in 2026.

The internal expectation seems to be that WWE will mirror the 2025 approach—extend the show for about half the year, then scale it back without much noise. Nothing is confirmed, but the tone behind the scenes suggests this could just be a short-term play for revenue or programming commitments.

WWE hasn’t publicly addressed the length change yet, but if this pattern holds, viewers might only have to endure six or seven months of extended run time before things go back to normal.

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