WWE SmackDown Possibly Moving Back To 2 Hours In August

Unless plans are in place for the show to begin an hour earlier, it appears WWE Friday Night SmackDown will be transitioning back to two hours later this summer.

USA Network has announced that The Rainmaker (no connection with Kazuchika Okada) will premiere on the channel on Friday, August 15 at 10 pm ET. The new show focuses on a law school graduate who is fired on his first day at a powerhouse law firm and ends up working for a less reputable attorney, which leads to them uncovering a possible conspiracy. The new series is 10 episodes long, with each episode airing for an hour.

The third hour of WWE SmackDown currently airs on USA Network between 10 pm and 11 pm ET, with the show increasing to an 180-minute runtime at the beginning of 2025.

SmackDown was initially only planned to be three hours until June but USA Network and WWE decided to maintain the current show length due to USA being happy with the ratings in the third hour. SmackDown has primarily been a two-hour show since the series' premiere in 1999.

WWE SmackDown airs on USA Network as part of a five-year deal worth $1.4 billion which took effect in September 2024. The Friday night show airs on Netflix internationally.

Cultaholic is now on WhatsApp! Follow us here. Sign up to the Cultaholic Wrestling Newsletter now.