Breaking Rules: Why SmackDown Stars Are Included In The World Heavyweight Title Tournament

There’s a reason for that. Over the last few weeks, WWE has changed up its roster, with the WWE Draft sending wrestlers to Monday Night Raw or SmackDown, along with new names coming up from NXT. The wrestlers will now be exclusive to these shows, at least most of the time. There is a potential notable exception this week, and now we know the reason behind the thinking.

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Starting last night on Monday Night Raw, WWE began a tournament to crown the inaugural World Heavyweight Champion. The tournament featured twelve competitors, including six each from Monday Night Raw and SmackDown. This is despite the fact that the title will be exclusive to Monday Night Raw. According to Wrestling Observer Radio, this was done to counter the NBA and NHL Playoffs, which are expected to cause heavy damage to television audiences for Monday Night Raw, SmackDown and Dynamite this week.

It was a busy night. Check out the three tournament matches:

Opinion: This is the kind of thing that makes sense from a behind the scenes perspective, but at the same time, it doesn’t help when the Draft was held over the last two weeks to prevent this kind of thing. At the end of the day, having SmackDown stars involved makes things feel a little off, especially if one of them isn’t even going to win the tournament in the end.