WWE taping SmackDown on Friday, Raw taping postponed

Tonight’s episode of SmackDown is being taped at the WWE Performance Center today.

Post Wrestling reported today that SmackDown was in the middle of its taping as of 2 p.m. Eastern time. In addition to the new content that will air on the episode, tonight’s SmackDown will feature a tribute to The Undertaker after his Last Ride docuseries on the WWE Network ended with Undertaker saying he has “no desire” to return to the ring at this point in his career.

That tribute will include WWE re-airing Undertaker and AJ Styles’ Boneyard Match from WrestleMania 36 on tonight’s SmackDown.

Styles defending his Intercontinental title against Drew Gulak, Sheamus presenting “a toast to Jeff Hardy,” and Universal Champion Braun Strowman responding to Bray Wyatt were announced for tonight’s SmackDown but aren’t currently being advertised on WWE.com.

NXT’s Shotzi Blackheart indicated that there is facial mask use among the NXT/Performance Center wrestlers in the crowd for today’s tapings. NXT’s Rita Reis also posted a picture of masks being used.

Post Wrestling also reported that today’s Raw tapings for Monday’s episode have been postponed to tomorrow (Saturday, June 27). “We cannot confirm how this affects the rest of their tapings as WWE was set to tape the following week’s episodes [of Raw and SmackDown] on Saturday,” Post Wrestling’s John Pollock wrote.

It was confirmed earlier this week that multiple people in WWE — including in-ring talent — have tested positive for COVID-19, but the exact number of positive tests hasn’t been revealed. Renee Young, Kayla Braxton, Adam Pearce, and Jamie Noble have announced that they’ve tested positive for COVID-19.