Report: Here's Why WWE Changed Its Television Taping Schedule Again

Ever since WrestleMania 36 ended, it has been hard to keep up with WWE's future plans for its tapings of Monday Night Raw, Friday Night SmackDown and NXT during the coronavirus pandemic. The original plan was to tape weeks worth of television in just a few short at the WWE Performance Center and Full Sail Live the weekend after WrestleMania, but then WWE announced that all episodes of WWE programming would be live going forward. The decision was made directly by Vince McMahon and reportedly had to do with not giving NBCUniversal or FOX any wiggle room in their television contracts after producing more taped shows than what's usually allowed in a single year — though WWE's statement on the matter didn't mention any of that.

"We believe it is now more important than ever to provide people with a diversion from these hard times," the company's statement at the time read. "We are producing content on a closed set with only essential personnel in attendance following appropriate guidelines while taking additional precautions to ensure the health and wellness of our performers and staff. As a brand that has been woven into the fabric of society, WWE and its Superstars bring families together and deliver a sense of hope, determination and perseverance."

But then a week later the company changed its plans yet again, announcing a full taping schedule all the way up through July 1. The story was broken by Pro Wrestling Sheet's Ryan Satin and confirmed by a WWE rep.

So why all the change? According to Dave Meltzer via the latest Wrestling Observer Radio, both networks reached out to WWE this week and said their deals would not be affected by producing more pre-taped shows than the usual limit given the ongoing pandemic situation. As a result, since WWE's money from the television deals were secure, plans for taped episodes were quickly re-introduced.

Here's the full taping schedule for all three shows as of now.

Saturday, April 25; two episodes of SmackDown will be taped (airing May 1 and May 8)
Monday, April 27; two episodes of Raw will be taped (one for that night and the other will air the following week on May 4)
Wednesday, April 29; two episodes of NXT will be taped (one is for that night, the other will air on May 6)
Monday, May 11; one episode of Raw will be taped for that night and one episode of SmackDown will be taped for May 15
Tuesday, May 12; one episode of Raw will be taped for May 18 and one episode of SmackDown will be taped for May 22
Wednesday, May 13; two episodes of NXT will be taped (one is for that night, the other will air on May 20)
Monday, May 25; two episodes of Raw will be taped (one for that night, the other will air on June 1)
Tuesday, May 26; two episodes of SmackDown will be taped (one will air on May 29, the other will air on June 5)
Wednesday, May 27; two episodes of NXT will be taped (one is for that night, the other will air on June 3)
Monday, June 8; one episode of Raw taped for that evening and another episode of SmackDown taped for June 12
Tuesday, June 9; one episode of NXT will be taped for June 10
Monday, June 15; one episode of Raw taped for that evening and another episode of SmackDown taped for June 19
Tuesday, June 16; one episode of Raw taped for June 22 and another episode of SmackDown taped for June 26
Wednesday, June 17; two episodes of NXT will be taped (one is that night, the other will air on June 24)
Monday, June 29; two episodes of Raw will be taped (one for that night and the other will air on July 6)
Tuesday, June 30; two episodes of SmackDown will be taped (one for July 3 and one for July 10)
Wednesday, July 1; two episodes of NXT will be taped (one is for that night, the other will air on July 8)