WWE veteran doubts SmackDown’s future after big change, hopes Triple H’s creative team can make it work (Exclusive) 

Former WWE manager Dutch Mantell recently spoke about SmackDown moving to a three-hour format. The announcement was made official this week.

WWE is in the process of making some changes to its weekly programming. While Monday Night RAW is moving to Netflix from January 6, SmackDown will find home on the USA Network. In a recent publication on its website, the company announced that the blue brand would expand to three hours.

This week on Smack Talk, Mantell expressed doubts about WWE SmackDown becoming a three-hour show, pointing out that the third hour of any program can be tough to keep interesting. He hoped the creative team under Triple H could find a way to keep the viewers engaged and make it work.

"Going to three hours? I don't know. I hope the people know. Remember the third hour on any show is tough. Really, really, tough. A football game, even if it's exciting, for three hours, you're going, 'God!' You keep looking at your watch. When is this thing gonna be over? But we'll see what they can do. We'll see what the creative team comes up with." [From 8:14 onwards]

With one extra hour of television to fill, it will be interesting to see which new superstars jump ship to the blue brand in the coming weeks.

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