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December 25 and January 1 are Fridays this holiday season. SmackDown airs live on FOX each Friday. What’s WWE going to do?
The company doesn’t have a set-in-stone policy. Back in 2017 and 2018, when Christmas and New Year’s Day fell on Monday, WWE brought everyone in to Chicago and Tampa respectively and did it live (pal). Last year when those holidays fell on Wednesday, NXT ran a pre-taped regular episode and a clip/awards show.
Which brings us to this 2020 and 2021. WWE’s pre-taped more shows than ever thanks to the pandemic this year, and all the main roster shows will be happening in ThunderDome’s new home, Tropicana Field. So for Christmas, it looks like they’ll be pre-taping.
At least that’s what Gary Cassidy of Inside The Ropes is reporting. It’s not confirmed when the Dec. 25 SmackDown will be recorded. Cassidy’s source did mention filming the week of 13th as an option, possibly even the same day they air live on Dec. 18, but with it being the TLC fallout episode, sometime during the week of the 20th seems like a safe bet.
There’s no word yet on plans for New Year’s Day.
Enjoy Christmas off, Team Blue!