What Time Does WWE SmackDown Start Tonight? Start Time, Channel and How to Watch

Bottom line — WWE SmackDown airs Fridays at 8 p.m. ET / 7 p.m. CT on USA Network; the next episode is Friday, Oct. 23, from the Toyota Arena in Ontario, Calif. Every Friday through Christmas is listed at that same hour, and the show is scheduled for two hours.

SmackDown has been the steadiest clock in wrestling since it moved to USA in September 2024. We went back through the published listings for every Friday since then and didn't find one episode on USA with a start other than 8 p.m. Eastern. Raw can't say that; it has had seven special start times this year.

What time does WWE SmackDown start on Friday, Oct. 23?

8 p.m. Eastern, 7 p.m. Central. WWE's schedule card reads "Fridays at 8 ET/7 CT on USA," and the published episode listing has 8:00 PM on USA against Oct. 23.

WWE prints only those two time zones. We don't publish a Pacific or Mountain number we haven't seen in writing, so if you're out West, check your local USA listing for that Friday.

The Futon Critic lists the Oct. 23 episode at 8:00 PM on USA, TVmaze files it under the Toyota Arena at 120 minutes, and WWE's schedule card gives the same 8 ET/7 CT on USA; we checked on Friday, Oct. 23, at 4:40 a.m. ET. WWE's event calendar gives a 4:30 p.m. local time for the Toyota Arena, which is 7:30 p.m. Eastern, half an hour ahead of the broadcast. The most recent show we have a results page for is the Oct. 9 episode.

Where is SmackDown for the next six Fridays?

Times are from the published USA listing for each date. Buildings are the ones on WWE's event calendar, cross-checked against TVmaze's episode list. The Ontario show carries a 4:30 p.m. local event time on WWE's calendar, which is 7:30 p.m. Eastern.

Which Fridays could look different?

Three dates stand out, and none of them has a changed TV time yet.

• Friday, Nov. 6. WWE's calendar has no SmackDown event for this date. What it does have that night is a "Road to Survivor Series: WarGames" tour stop in Bangor, Maine, with Crown Jewel in Riyadh the next day. The listing still has SmackDown at 8 p.m. ET on USA.
• Friday, Nov. 27. Again, no SmackDown event on WWE's calendar for that Friday. It lists "Two Shows, One Night: RAW & SmackDown" in Wichita, Kan., on Monday, Nov. 23, and TVmaze files the Nov. 27 episode under the same Wichita arena.
• Friday, Dec. 11. SmackDown is booked for RAC Arena in Perth, Australia, the night before Wrestlepalooza. WWE hasn't published a U.S. air time for it beyond the usual listing.

If any of those gets a new hour, this page and our start times page get it first.

What time does SmackDown end?

10 p.m. ET / 9 p.m. CT, going by the schedule. TVmaze lists every episode on the fall schedule at 120 minutes. Raw on Netflix has no fixed sign-off. SmackDown is scheduled as a two-hour block.

What channel is SmackDown on?

USA Network in the United States. WWE's card names USA and nothing else for Fridays, so you need a cable, satellite or live TV package that includes the channel.

We looked for an official next-day streaming home and couldn't confirm one on WWE.com or USA's site when we checked on Oct. 4 at 4:40 a.m. ET, so we're not printing one. The most recent episode with a results page here is Friday, Oct. 9, from the Cajundome in Lafayette, La. Raw, NXT and the premium live events collect on our WWE page.

👉 Next SmackDown: Friday, Oct. 23, 8 p.m. ET / 7 p.m. CT on USA Network.

FAQ

Is there a new SmackDown on Friday, Oct. 23? Yes. A new episode is listed on USA at 8 p.m. ET, and WWE has a Friday Night SmackDown event booked at the Toyota Arena in Ontario that night.

Is SmackDown two hours or three? Two. Every episode on the fall schedule is listed at 120 minutes, 8 to 10 p.m. Eastern.

Sources

• The Futon Critic — WWE SmackDown listings on USA
• WWE.com — SmackDown schedule card and WWE.com — event calendar
• Wrestling Inc — Nov. 2 Raw and SmackDown double taping
• TVmaze — SmackDown episode venues and runtimes

See a time that looks wrong? Here's how we check listings and fix them.

By the Wrestling On Air desk · Updated Oct. 23, 4:48 a.m. ET