As announced on this week’s Friday show, WWE SmackDown will go back to three hours to ring in the new year of 2026. The format change will kick in on only the second day of the year, January 2, as announced by Michael Cole on commentary.
This has been speculated to be the case for a couple of months now, that the USA Network and WWE might be looking to move SmackDown back to three hours. SmackDown first went to three hours at the beginning of 2025, with multiple outlets reporting that it will only be for the first half of the year. The show went back to its original formatting of two hours on July 4th, 2025.
In the case of its temporary nature, like the last format change, and it will go back to being two hours again in the second half of the year, remains a mystery. That said, the first time WWE changed SmackDown from two hours to three hours, there was a mixed reception.
Some feel it could be a great way to showcase talent, while others feel like it’s a bloated show and it’s too much WWE television for one week, not even counting weeks where there is a WWE PLE.
Nevertheless, SmackDown is officially back to three hours to welcome the new year.
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