Some massive changes are upon WWE programming starting this fall with all the weekly shows of the company changing their current residencies on cable platforms. WWE SmackDown has already witnessed a move and it’s reportedly being extended.

Commencing from the September 13 episode, WWE SmackDown has started airing on the USA Network, moving on from the FOX network and this will continue until 2029 via a five-year deal between WWE and NBCUniversal.

In reverse, WWE’s Monday Night Raw programming will be moving to Netflix marking the first time that a live professional wrestling show will be aired on an OTT platform. Alongside bringing significant excitement, this shift could bring major changes to WWE’s programming.

According to WrestleVotes Radio, WWE will also be looking forward to building SmackDown in a bigger way after Raw transitions to Netflix as the Friday night show will be getting an extra hour on the USA Network.

“Those are the internal talkings right now is that probably the day after Smackdown will be available on Netflix. But the real nugget here is that starting January 3, that show will be three hours.”

Debuting in 1999 as WWE’s secondary show following Raw, SmackDown initially aired on UPN before moving to The CW in 2006. In 2008, the show was sent to MyNetworkTV, where it aired for two years before finding a new home on Syfy in 2010.

After five years on Syfy, USA Network got the broadcast rights starting in 2016. In 2019, FOX acquired those rights as part of a billion-dollar deal. Five years later, it’s returning to the NBC-owned network as part of a new five-year agreement.

As for tonight’s September 20 edition of WWE SmackDown, this would be the penultimate episode before Bad Blood PLE and it takes place at Golden 1 Center in Sacramento, California with the following matches being confirmed,

• WWE United States Championship Match: LA Knight (c) vs. Andrade
• Tag Team Match: Nia Jax & Tiffany Stratton vs. Bayley & Naomi (whoever between Bayley & Naomi gets the pinfall win, will receive a women’s title match at Bad Blood; On the contrary, whoever between them digests the pinfall loss will have to leave WWE SmackDown)
• Roman Reigns and Cody Rhodes to appear