WWE will have Smackdown going to a live broadcast in July, which will re-introduce the superstar draft and the brand split
Despite the fact that the shows and pay-per-view events have been sometimes disappointing recently, one thing that’s wholly undeniable about the current WWE product and the roster is that this might be the most talent-rich period for the company in quite a long time. However, the problem that has cropped up has been that there aren’t enough spots on WWE RAW with WWE Smackdown only serving as a secondary show aired on tape delay.
All of that is about to change, though.
On Wednesday morning, Variety broke the story that WWE Smackdown will be moving to a live broadcast on USA Network starting on July 19. Given the push for live content and the way spoilers from the tapings affect Smackdown, that would make sense that WWE would want to shake things up to try and get more eyes on the show.
In the same report, though, came the more interesting bit of information. Variety notes that WWE wants to distinctly differentiate between the RAW and Smackdown brands. Even more curious is that the report also states that there will be a superstar draft before July 19 to “determine which wrestlers on the company’s talent roster will be assigned to which program.”
Considering that there have been rumblings and rumors of a brand split for quite some time, this is quite shocking to see that it’s actually happening and that it’s coming within the next two months.
There will obviously be more word on this moving forward, but this news alone is enough to get a huge amount of buzz going regarding Smackdown and, in turn, WWE as a whole.
Update
Here’s the teaser posted from WWE themselves:
"Who will lead the New Era of @WWE #SmackDown on Tuesday nights? @StephMcMahon & @ShaneMcMahon give their thoughts.https://t.co/Yn29xlqYwB— WWE (@WWE) May 25, 2016"
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