WWE Reveals Official Draft Day

Ever since it was announced that WWE would be bringing back the brand split, one of the main questions on everyone’s mind was when the actual draft would take place.

WWE gave us the answer this morning, when they revealed that the draft will take place on the first live episode of “Smackdown” on Tuesday, July 19. The draft will be conducted by the two general managers of both “Monday Night Raw,” as well as “Smackdown,” both of which have yet to be revealed.

Below are some quotes from the official article that was released on WWE.com earlier this morning:

“This is an exciting new era for WWE in which we will yet again reinvent ourselves by creating a second night of compelling live television,” said WWE Executive Producer Kevin Dunn.

“We’re already hearing the excitement among WWE fans for SmackDown’s new live format, and our audiences are eagerly anticipating the live Draft and what it means for their favorite Superstars,” said Chris McCumber, President, Entertainment Networks, NBCUniversal Cable Entertainment. 

The beginning of the first brand split took place in 2002, after Vince McMahon purchased WCW from Ted Turner. Both “Raw” and “Smackdown” featured separate rosters until August 29, 2011, when Triple H announced that superstars would compete on both shows.

Editor’s Note:

This reminds me of when WCW hit the ‘reset’ button on the April 10, 2000 edition of “Monday Nitro.” They completely changed the landscape of their company 6 days before a pay-per-view, which is happening in this case as well. It will be interesting to see what happens at “Battleground,” and how the brand split will effect that event. Either way, I can’t wait for this historic “Smackdown,” which will solidify the start of a new era in WWE!