Report: WWE SmackDown TV Taping From The O2 To Have Earlier Start Time To Avoid Conflict With England World Cup Match

WWE is returning to the UK soon, bringing with it both live events and televised shows. On June 22, WWE will take over the O2 Arena in London for Monday Night RAW, before returning to the building on June 23 the following month for Friday Night SmackDown. Unfortunately for WWE, someone didn’t check the calendar. 

Many fans were quick to point out that June 23 is the date in which the England national football team takes on Ghana at the 2026 World Cup, with kick off coming at 9:00pm, right in the middle of when SmackDown was initially scheduled to take place. SunSport has revealed that SmackDown will now have an earlier start time so as to not clash with the England match, as this would likely have impacted ticket sales and attendance in a big way. 

June 23 is a Tuesday, so WWE will be taping SmackDown in advance, before airing in its usual Friday timeslot. It was reported in recent days that Friday Night SmackDown would be returning to a two hour runtime in June next month.