WWE is getting two shows out of one trip to Brooklyn.
Raw runs from the Barclays Center on November 2. Mike Johnson of PWInsider reports that SmackDown will be taped at the same venue on the same trip, airing on November 6.
The reason is the flight after it. Crown Jewel takes place on November 7 at the Riyadh Season Stadium at KAFD in Saudi Arabia, and the roster needs to be there rather than in a North American arena that week.
WWE has run this play before. Ahead of the 2024 Crown Jewel, the company taped two SmackDowns in one night at the Barclays Center, then taped Raw in Riyadh the night after the pay-per-view.
Crown Jewel keeps its champion against champion format, with the men’s and women’s titleholders from Raw and SmackDown meeting to decide the Crown Jewel Championship. Seth Rollins and Stephanie Vaquer won last year in Perth, the only edition so far held outside Saudi Arabia.
The show airs on the ESPN app in the United States with an ESPN Unlimited plan, and on Netflix internationally. WrestleVotes reported this week that the start time is currently listed as 1 PM Eastern.
WWE’s partnership with Saudi Arabia’s General Entertainment Authority began in 2018. WrestleMania 43 goes to Riyadh in April 2027, the first time that event will be staged outside North America.
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