According to a recent announcement, WWE is planning to tape staggered double episodes of RAW and SmackDown next week in preparation for the holidays. This Monday’s episode of RAW in Hershey, Pennsylvania, will be recorded as both a RAW and SmackDown taping. Additionally, Friday’s episode of SmackDown in Grand Rapids, Michigan, is also scheduled to be a combined RAW and SmackDown taping.
The announcement also mentions that the live event start times for both shows have been pushed back to 6 PM ET. However, WWE is still promoting next week’s RAW as starting at 8 PM ET / 5 PM PT. This suggests that the domestic airing will not be affected in the same way as international episodes, which sometimes air live at earlier start times in the U.S.