There appears to be continued uncertainty regarding the runtime for WWE SmackDown for the month of July. While the show is confirmed to return to a two-hour format in August, plans for the upcoming month have reportedly not been finalized.
During a recent episode of Wrestling Observer Radio, Dave Meltzer and Bryan Alvarez discussed the situation. It was noted that the July 4th episode of SmackDown is apparently scheduled to be a three-hour broadcast, despite other reports suggesting the show would revert to two hours starting that week.
Dave Meltzer: “Yes, six o’clock. So they can do the SmackDown show afterwards.”
Bryan Alvarez: “yep, which apparently is going to be a three-hour SmackDown.
Dave Meltzer: “Yeah, I’ve asked about that. I still haven’t gotten…I have asked so many times about what they’re doing. It’s very clear to me that it’s…”
Bryan Alvarez: “I don’t think they know that’s exactly.”
Dave Meltzer: “That’s exactly what it’s going to say. I mean, we know on August 15, they’re going through hours. We know that between now and August, I mean, like, I don’t think that anything is finalized, because we hear different stories every day, you know, like, Is it three? Is it two? What’s going to happen in the month of July. I guess we’ll find out July 4, as far as July 4, I mean, we’ll hear before that, I think, I mean, they’re taping it next Monday, so we’ll know if they’re taping, you know, two hours or three hours on on Monday for that week. But I don’t know if it’s going to be permanent, you know, until August 15 or not still.”
The one certainty is that SmackDown will officially return to its two-hour format on Friday, August 15. This is due to the premiere of a new USA Network series, “The Rainmaker,” which will take over the 10 PM ET timeslot that SmackDown’s third hour currently occupies.
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