{"id":149772,"date":"2026-01-02T06:00:21","date_gmt":"2026-01-02T11:00:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/?p=149772"},"modified":"2026-01-02T04:14:00","modified_gmt":"2026-01-02T09:14:00","slug":"why-a-three-hour-long-wwe-friday-night-smackdown-isnt-a-bad-idea","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/2026\/01\/02\/why-a-three-hour-long-wwe-friday-night-smackdown-isnt-a-bad-idea\/","title":{"rendered":"Why a Three-Hour Long WWE Friday Night SmackDown isn’t a Bad Idea"},"content":{"rendered":"

Last January, it was announced that WWE Friday Night SmackDown<\/a> was going to become a three-hour-long program temporarily on USA Network. The announcement came after a seismic shift in WWE programming, as they left FOX in September and simultaneously premiered Monday Night Raw on Netflix the same month. <\/span><\/p>\n

The three-hour format was applied for the first half of 2025. SmackDown returned to its usual two-hour format for the second half of the year. But with a new year comes new changes, with a big announcement shaking things up in a huge way. <\/span><\/p>\n

It was recently announced that the Blue brand was going back to the three-hour format<\/a> to start off 2026. Naturally, many fans are skeptical amidst controversy over the brand\u2019s booking and popularity. However, there are some reasons to hold out some hope that this change could actually help the brand.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Many Call Ups\u00a0to Raw and SmackDown\u00a0are on the Horizon<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/h2>\n

Only six wrestlers were called up to the main roster last year: Axiom, Giulia, Lash Legend, Nathan Frazer, Roxanne Perez, and Stephanie Vaquer. That being said, there\u2019s now an overabundance of NXT talent ready for the main roster. Je\u2019Von Evans has been appearing on Raw frequently. Oba Femi vignettes have been airing for weeks now. <\/span><\/p>\n

Trick Williams is looking for a brand. Ethan Page, Jacy Jayne, Jordynne Grace, and Ricky Saints are knocking on that door as well. Expanding SmackDown from two to three hours gives space for call-ups to naturally debut without fear of doing nothing. <\/span><\/p>\n

Keeping the show two hours, but calling up many wrestlers likely would mean releases for wrestlers not being used. An expanded show would help NXT call-ups have a chance to properly debut while ensuring that they won\u2019t directly take other wrestlers\u2019 spots on the show.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Things Will Be Easier Heading into WrestleMania\u00a0<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Having a three-hour SmackDown doesn\u2019t just benefit the NXT call-ups and the wrestlers likely in danger of being cut. The change also helps the wrestlers who are on every week in active storylines. WrestleMania is in less than four months. With the PLE being two nights long, a lot of preparation is in order to get things right. <\/span><\/p>\n

Every WrestleMania has around 14 to 15 matches, usually split down the middle as it pertains to Raw and SmackDown. Seven storylines, along with other non-Mania events, crammed into two hours doesn\u2019t work logistically. <\/span><\/p>\n

Things would get shortened, matches wouldn\u2019t be highlighted every week, and it would turn into a mess. Giving SmackDown another hour of runtime allows those storylines to breathe. WWE can\u2019t afford sloppy storytelling heading into the biggest event of the year, which is why a blue brand expansion is necessary for timing purposes.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Extending SmackDown Could Be a Good Thing for Everyone<\/strong>\u00a0<\/span><\/h2>\n

Last year, there was a lot of concern as to whether SmackDown would be better or worse with three-hour shows. The Bloodline saga was still going on, and the transfer window produced no call-ups at all. It seemed like the blue brand\u2019s runtime was extended for nothing. However, this year could be a different story. There has been intense criticism of SmackDown, so they have to improve the show in order to get fans back watching.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"A
Photo Credit: WWE<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Speculation has been brewing about NXT call-ups. Sticking a few on SmackDown will ensure that there will be fresh feuds and storylines ready to be told. There has been a lot of action in the Women\u2019s Tag Team division recently. Carmelo Hayes just became the United States Champion. There are a lot of reasons as to why a three-hour SmackDown can actually work this time around.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

More From LWOS Pro Wrestling<\/strong><\/p>\n

Header photo \u2013 WWE \u2013 Stay tuned to the\u00a0<\/i><\/em>Last Word on Pro Wrestling<\/i><\/u><\/em><\/a> for more on WWE SmackDown and other stories from around the world of wrestling, as they develop. You can always count on LWOPW to be on top of the significant news in the wrestling world, as well as to provide you with analysis, previews, videos, interviews, and editorials on the wrestling world.<\/i><\/em><\/p>\n

You can check out WWE programming on\u00a0<\/i><\/em>Netflix<\/i><\/u><\/em><\/a>\u00a0(Raw),\u00a0<\/i><\/em>USA Network<\/i><\/u><\/em><\/a>\u00a0(SmackDown),\u00a0<\/i><\/em>The CW<\/i><\/u><\/em><\/a>\u00a0(NXT),\u00a0<\/i><\/em>Tubi<\/i><\/u><\/em><\/a>\u00a0(WWE Evolve),\u00a0<\/i><\/em>A&E<\/i><\/u><\/em><\/a>\u00a0(WWE Superstar Sunday \u2013 Rivals, WWE LFG, and Greatest Moments), and\u00a0<\/i><\/em>Peacock<\/i><\/u><\/em><\/a>\u00a0(WWE Main Event, as well as archives and premium live event streaming). Follow WWE on social media to relive top moments and matches on\u00a0<\/i><\/em>YouTube<\/i><\/u><\/em><\/a>, and catch fast-paced action on X (<\/i><\/em>WWE Speed<\/i><\/u><\/em><\/a>).<\/i><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Last January, it was announced that WWE Friday Night SmackDown was going to become a three-hour-long program temporarily on USA Network. The announcement came after a seismic shift in WWE programming, as they left FOX in September and simultaneously premiered Monday Night Raw on Netflix the same month. The three-hour format was applied for the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5338,"featured_media":144208,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"1","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[26,4,3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-149772","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-smackdown","category-wwe","category-wwe-universe"],"modified_by":"Michael Joseph Sugue, Manager","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/149772","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5338"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=149772"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/149772\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":149793,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/149772\/revisions\/149793"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/144208"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=149772"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=149772"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=149772"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}