Raw and SmackDown to Be Commercial Free for First Hour Next Week

WWE announced that this week’s Raw and SmackDown Live will be commercial free for the first hour each on USA Network.

Monday’s Raw will air live on Christmas, and the Monday after that, will air live on New Year’s Day.

Merry Christmas from USA Network and WWE: Commercial-free first hour of Raw and SmackDown LIVE announced

Celebrate the holidays with WWE as USA Network airs the first hour of both Monday Night Raw and SmackDown LIVE commercial-free this Monday, Dec. 25, at 8/7 C and Tuesday, Dec. 26, at 8/7 C. This also marks the first time that USA Network will air Raw live on Christmas.

Raw and SmackDown LIVE are the No. 1 and No. 2 longest-running weekly episodic programs in U.S. primetime TV history and two of the most-watched, regularly scheduled programs on cable, airing live every Monday and Tuesday night on USA.

Averaging more viewers than any cable network in primetime, WWE programming is among the most socially active shows on TV, trending on Twitter 52 weeks per year. Raw and SmackDown LIVE have aired more original episodes than some of the most popular television series of all time, including The Simpsons, Gunsmoke, Lassie and Monday Night Football.

The 25th anniversary of Raw will emanate from Barclays Center and Manhattan Center in New York City on Monday, Jan. 22, 2018, and will air live on USA Network at 8/7 C. WWE Superstars from both Monday Night Raw and SmackDown LIVE will be at Barclays Center, while the event at Manhattan Center, the site of the first episode of Raw in 1993, will feature WWE Superstars from both brands competing and special appearances by WWE Legends Undertaker, Shawn Michaels and Kevin Nash, amongst others.