WWE has made some big moves over the last few months as Monday Night Raw shifted to Netflix and Friday Night SmackDown made the jump to USA Network. When SmackDown moved to USA a third hour was added to the show, but the addition of the third hour was only supposed to be temporary.
WrestleVotes recently noted on WrestleVotes Radio that WWE and USA Network originally agreed that the May 30th episode of SmackDown would be the final episode with a three hour runtime. The idea was that the show would revert to a two hour format on June 6th.
However, it’s now being reported that Friday Night SmackDown will continue to air as a three hour show for the foreseeable future as USA Network was said to have been steadfast on keeping the third hour. According to sources USA Network has been happy overall with the performance of SmackDown’s numbers and the third hour.
WWE is currently focusing on the following points for this week’s episode of SmackDown:
– Cody Rhodes and John Cena will be on SmackDown
– Bianca Belair returns to SmackDown
– Andrade vs. Jacob Fatu vs. Carmelo Hayes – Money in the Bank Triple Threat Qualifying Match
– Jade Cargill vs. Nia Jax vs. Naomi – Money in the Bank Triple Threat Qualifying Match