It’s all change in the world of WWE as Smackdown goes live this week.
This Tuesday July 19 will see a new era begin, as Smackdown moves to Tuesday nights with its own two-hour live show.
(Sky Sports will be picking up the UK broadcasting rights, showing Smackdown live at 1am weekly.)
As part of the new upgrade, the WWE are bringing back the “Brand Extension”, that fans loved so much from the Ruthless Aggression era.
From now on, Smackdown will have its own unique roster and storylines in a move that’s sure to see a lot more good wrestling make its way to the WWE Network and beyond.
It’s all kicking off this week with the return of the WWE Draft on Tuesday, as the WWE decides which Superstars will end up on each show.
There’s going to be a lot to take in; so here’s everything we know about the WWE Draft.
There’s going to be a McMahon in each corner
While it won’t be quite as clogged as the main event as Wrestlemania 2000, there will be plenty McMahon themed tomfoolery as the WWE Draft. Last week Vince McMahon declared that Stephanie McMahon will have ownership of RAW, while Shane will take over Smackdown.
So the Draft will also have a lovely background story of sibling rivalry as both McMahon children aim to outdo each other and grab the best roster to create a superior show. Colour us interested.
RAW gets the sweeter deal… kinda
Traditionally the flagship show of WWE, RAW is going to have certain advantages going into the WWE Draft. Stephanie McMahon is going to have first overall draft pick on Tuesday, so expect her to pick one of the big name Superstars like John Cena or one of The Shield to send a statement.
In an added twist, RAW will be allowed to draft three superstars for every two wrestlers that Smackdown drafts. The move is meant to reflect RAW being a three hour live show compared to Smackdown’s two, but expect someone to throw a tizzy over that spare pick.
Brock Lesnar is up for grabs…
The ‘Beast Incarnate’ Brock Lesnar will be one of the Superstars available for draft come Tuesday. The man who broke The Undertaker’s Wrestlemania streak, before dropping John Cena on his head 16 times will sure to be a blue chip draft candidate.
Relaxed work schedule or not, drafting Lesnar to your brand will be a big deal, so it’ll be interesting to see where he turns up.
But The Undertaker is not
Once again, The Undertaker remains a law unto himself in the badlands of WWE. The Deadman is not listed as one of the WWE superstars available for draft on the official WWE website.
Now aged 51, The Undertaker is winding down his storied wrestling career, so it makes sense he won’t be featuring on free TV much more. There’s a good chance the next time we’ll see him will be in the lead up to Wrestlemania 32 where he’ll most likely face Joh— *computer shuts down*.
Tag teams come as one pick
When the WWE Draft first came along, it saw a lot of tag teams get split up as RAW and Smackdown looked to nab one half of some of the more electric team ups in WWE history.
This time around, tag teams won’t get split up. WWE rules now count tag teams as simply one draft pick, so there’s teams like The New Day can continue to hang out after Draft Day,
UNLESS, a McMahon wants to pull a stunt. Again, as the WWE Draft page states, a Commissioner/General Manager can break up a tag team if they specifically only want one member of the team.
Expect tomfoolery.
SIX NXT Superstar are available for draft
WWE weren’t kidding when they said the draft would be the dawn of a new era. Shane and Stephanie McMahon will be able to pick three Superstars each from the world of NXT (WWE’s developmental leagues) to boster their rosters.
With NXT playing host to stars including Finn Balor, Bayley and Shinsuke Nakamura, expect the new call ups to make major waves on each brand after the Draft.
We still don’t know what’s going on with WWE Champions
Dean Ambrose may be the WWE champion (at time of writing, he’ll be facing off against Seth Rollins for the title this Monday as the main event of RAW), but we still don’t know what’s happening with title holders after the draft.
At the moment, all of the current champions (Dean Ambrose, Charlotte, The Miz, Rusev and The New Day) are listed as Superstars available for the draft, but we don’t know if that means if they’re allowed to defend their belts on both shows.
It’d be somewhat odd to have the WWE Heavyweight title only defended on one TV show and on PPVs, so we will wait and see what happens.
Expect SHENANIGANS, especially with the Battleground pay-per-view this weekend
In the world of WWE, expect the unexpected always. Even with all of this information, there’s still a lot up in the air.
What does this mean for Roman Reigns?
Will a McMahon risk breaking up a tag team to make a new star?
Can a Superstar refuse one show because they have a feud?
It’s only going to get better/worse with the Battleground pay per view on this weekend on July 24. With a number of notable feuds reaching their climax, how might the brand extension play into stories? Could this be the last time we see Kevin Owens face Sami Zayn for a while.
Expect shenanigans this Draft Day. We can’t wait.
All images via WWE
