Why next week’s WWE RAW has different start time

There will be a slight change of plans when it comes to what time WWE Monday Night RAW airs on Netflix on Monday, Aug. 24, 2026, for a very specific reason.

Next week, RAW will emanate from the Canadian Tire Centre in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, and begin at 6 pm EST. That is two hours earlier than the usual start time.

The reason for this, per Sports Illustrated, is WWE is pre-taping that week’s Friday Night SmackDown, which will air on Aug. 28. Meanwhile, WWE will be back in the United States on Aug. 28, filming the Aug. 31 edition of RAW and Sep. 4 edition of SmackDown at Rocket Arena in Cleveland, Ohio.

These double tapings will take care of the final episodes of WWE programming before Sunday Night’s Main Event on Sep. 6. That show will take place in Atlanta, Georgia.

Sunday Night’s Main Event, a play on the usual Saturday Night’s Main Event, is shaping up to be a star-studded affair. Cody Rhodes and Randy Orton will have a WrestleMania 42 rematch, and two of WWE’s top future stars, Oba Femi and Bron Breakker, will also face.

The upcoming Aug. 21 edition of SmackDown will be big, as Undisputed WWE Champion CM Punk defends his title against Kevin Owens, who just returned from a neck injury at SummerSlam 2026, in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. They have a lot of history, but this is their first time facing each other in WWE.

The summer is nearing its end, and the fall will be here before you know it. WWE’s next major PLE, Money in the Bank, isn’t until October. Expect a jam-packed couple of months leading up to it.

Double tapings are nothing new for WWE. The company does it around the holidays, allowing talent to have off for them. In the age of social media, where everything can be posted online within seconds, WWE has to be careful with double tapings.

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