WWE is now changing SmackDown permanently. This comes on the heels of numerous rumors about the show and the company's plans for it. Now, a report has emerged surrounding SmackDown, and it appears that the company is making a permanent change to the blue brand that will impact not only those working on the show but also everyone watching it.
As per reports by PWInsider, there have been some clarifications about the situation surrounding SmackDown. They confirmed that WWE will indeed return to a two-hour format starting with the July 4 episode of the show. The report noted that this change will be permanent for the show, and following this week's episode in Riyadh, WWE would discontinue three-hour shows for SmackDown.
The report also stated that the blue brand was always going to revert to two hours this Summer, and this information had been known since January.
With that being the case, fans will be able to look forward to a more tightly packed show going forward. Given that RAW is also around 2.5 hours nowadays on Netflix, this will be the first time that the two shows combined will be less than five hours of programming per week, as long as the company does not increase the length of the Red brand shows.