The wrestling world is buzzing now that the WWE has revealed that starting with the live edition of "SmackDown" on July 19, the brand split will once again be in full force.
The company revealed in a press release that "RAW" and "SmackDown" will have their own rosters and storylines and one show will be run by Shane McMahon, while Stephanie McMahon will control the other. It's unknown at this time which McMahon sibling will reign over which show.
Here are the latest news and notes surrounding the brand split. To read our mock draft, click here.
1) There is a lot of speculation that each show will have its own World Championship, so after finally narrowing the belts down, it seems the World Title picture will again be complicated. Rather than have Roman Reigns wrestle on both shows, he and his WWE World Heavyweight Championship will be exclusive to one brand, while another title will be created for the other.
2) The Intercontinental Championship and United States Championship will be on separate brands, so it seems as it stands right now, The Miz and Rusev will not end up in the same place.
3) There has been talk of having the Women's division be exclusive to one of the shows, so whichever brand the Women's Championship ends up on will likely get all of the ladies of the WWE.
4) While the WWE World Heavyweight Champion will be confined to one show, it is believed the Tag Team Championships will be defended on both brands. That means tag teams will be selected from both GMs and The New Day will float between "RAW" and "SmackDown" like they do now.
5) The date of the draft has yet to be revealed, but it is believed that the July 11 "RAW" event in Detroit could be the site of the proceedings. It's also possible that the WWE kicks off the first edition of live "SmackDown" on Tuesday, July 19 with the draft.
6) There is likely to be a lot of NXT call ups to the main roster, which could be why the next Takeover event is called "The End:"
On June 8th LIVE on @WWENetwork#NXTTakeOver: The End...
Where do we go from here?— Triple H (@TripleH) May 26, 2016
Several big names have tweeted about the upcoming brand split:
#Smackdown going live July 19? Nothing better than going LIVE!#ThingsAreChanging#SmileyFace — Shane McMahon (@shanemcmahon) May 25, 2016
This is incredible news for @WWEUniverse and for all @WWE superstars! Opportunity is knocking, #NewEra indeed!!!! https://t.co/jdzLO3cYqy
— John Cena (@JohnCena) May 25, 2016
We're bringing @WWE #SmackDown to Tuesday nights, LIVE on @USA_Network, starting July 19. https://t.co/ij5VwSgJ0p pic.twitter.com/OeqeixVd7e — Vince McMahon (@VinceMcMahon) May 25, 2016
The new era of #Smackdown has arrived. Starting July 19, Smackdown will be broadcast LIVE TUESDAYS on @USA_Network. pic.twitter.com/ULrGy57aFz
— Triple H (@TripleH) May 25, 2016
Source: F4WOnline.com
