WWE is splitting up RAW and SmackDown into separate brands with their own rosters, writers, and stories starting on Tuesday, July 19. The first move in this change is the WWE brand split draft, which will take place on a live edition of SmackDown on USA on that day: It’s not the first live SmackDown ever, but it is the first in this new television schedule that will air the two-hour show every Tuesday, live on the USA Network.
WWE brand split draft: TV schedule, live streaming, and rules
The rules, rosters, and how to watch for WWE’s upcoming draft.
WWE
Prior to the draft and this live SmackDown, WWE will air a draft pre-show on the WWE Network, starting at 7 p.m. ET. There will also be a supplemental show aired on the WWE Network during the draft, with WWE describing it as a “second screen experience” for fans who want to go all-in on the draft for a few hours. A subscription is required, but WWE Network is free for a month to new subscribers.
WWE unveiled rules for the draft over the weekend, then explained them again on RAW.
- RAW will get the first pick, and since that show is three hours while SmackDown is two hours, RAW will also draft three times for every two picks the shorter show makes. The longer show needs a bigger roster to work with.
- Tag teams count as one pick unless the show selecting them only wants one wrestler from the team. So, this really means that if, say, SmackDown wanted to draft all of The New Day with one pick, they could, but if they just wanted to get someone they could move into the main event scene like Big E, they could separate him from his tag team partners.
- There will be NXT wrestlers — from WWE’s developmental brand — selected in the draft. We don’t know who they are, but we do know that there will be six of them available (and likely all picked).
WWE also released a full list of wrestlers eligible for the draft, save those six NXT superstars. The list includes every tag team and stable eligible for the draft as well, with 11 of them total. RAW might end up focusing on some of the smaller and lighter WWE wrestlers, as they announced on Monday’s show that the Cruiserweight division was being reintroduced exclusively on that brand.
On the July 11 RAW, it was revealed that Stephanie McMahon would run RAW, and her brother Shane McMahon would run SmackDown. They can also select general managers to run the shows on the weeks they aren’t there, and those GMs will likely end up being part of Tuesday’s draft.
For RAW, Stephanie McMahon surprised everyone by announcing Hall of Famer and fan favorite Mick Foley as her GM. Shane McMahon made the obvious (and right) choice for SmackDown, going with the recently retired Daniel Bryan for Tuesday’s GM.
How to watch the WWE draft on Tuesday, July 19
Pre-show: 7 p.m. ET, WWE Network
SmackDown and the WWE draft: 8 p.m. ET, USA Network
WWE Draft Center Live: 8 p.m. ET, WWE Network
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