The rumors were true, and WWE SmackDown will be moving back to a three-hour format beginning next year.
The news was officially announced during Friday’s episode of the show. At the broadcast table, Michael Cole and Corey Graves confirmed that the show will be moving back to three hours in 2026. The first three-hour episode of the show will be on January 2, 2026, when WWE SmackDown is in Buffalo, New York.
Rumors on the move have been circulating for a few weeks now, but now the news is official. While SmackDown had traditionally been a two-hour show, the show has experimented with longer formats. Earlier this year, the company shifted to a three-hour format for the show for the first half of 2025.
In July, the show returned to a two-hour format, but it seems like WWE is ready to grow the show for good now.
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