An upcoming WWE brand split has been made official as the company has announced that its show SmackDown will move to a live broadcast, with it set to air on the USA Network in the US and Sky Sports in the UK.
The change will take place on Tuesday, July 19th, meaning that the show will also be moved up by a day, with it previously having been recorded on Wednesday evenings and then broadcast on Thursday. According to a report from Variety, substantiated by the WWE, this will follow a WWE brand split in which the roster will be divided into two, with half of the athletes solely appearing on RAW and the other half appearing on the newly revamped SmackDown.
A statement released by WWE CEO and Chairman Vince McMahon reads: “WWE’s flagship programs will both leverage the incredible depth of our talent roster, distinct storylines and the unpredictable nature of live TV. This move will undoubtedly build more excitement and deepen engagement with our fans around the world.”
The WWE also released a video on its Twitter page showing Stephanie and Shane McMahon, whose on-screen characters both “run” RAW, debating over which member of the McMahon family will take over SmackDown.
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
This is not the first time a WWE brand split has taken place, with the most high-profile “draft” taking place during the show’s brand extension back in 2002. This proved to be a very lucrative era for SmackDown, allowing for then-new talent such as Brock Lesnar to rise up the ranks, while veterans such as Kurt Angle and Eddie Guerrero were given more ample roles in the main event scene. However, in later drafts the format would prove to be less successful, with a diluted talent pool meaning that eventually the WWE reverted back to having its entire roster appear on both RAW and SmackDown.
With so many WWE Superstars now at the company’s disposal, however, now’s the right time to execute another brand split in order to give some of the company’s more under-utilized talent their time to shine.
