As noted, WWE CCO Paul “Triple H” Levesque had stated in an interview with The Pat McAfee Show this past January that SmackDown’s move to being a weekly three-hour show was not a permanent move. SmackDown is currently expected to be returning as a weekly two-hour show by August 15th due to USA Network premiering a new television series called The Rainmaker at 10PM EST that night.
PWInsider’s Mike Johnson reported that his sources stated that WWE’s SmackDown series will officially be moving back to being a weekly two-hour show starting on the July 4th episode.
Johnson reported that this upcoming episode will be taped on May 30th following that night’s live WWE RAW show at the PPG Paints Arena in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
In a follow-up report, Johnson reported that USA Network will be airing episodes of Resident Alien at the 10PM timeslot during the time period in between SmackDown’s return to being a two-hour show on July 4th to the premiere of The Raimaker series on August 15th.
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