It's an exciting week in the WWE stratosphere as the WWE Draft returns and will happen live on Smackdown on Tuesday.
For years now, Smackdown has been inferior to Raw and has been considered to be the "B show". But that's all about to change on July 19, with Smackdown going live as part of the brand split.
The brand extension has happened before, notably in 2002 and 2011 and served up plenty of excitement and controversy. With a new and updated roster, one can only hope for more of the same in the reintroduction of the brand split.
Here is all you need to know about the WWE Draft.
Both Raw and Smackdown will have storylines and rosters exclusive to their respective brands. Vince McMahon's children are tasked with creating the very best in-ring product - Stephanie is the commissioner for Raw, while Hell in a Cell jumping enthusiast Shane is the commissioner for Smackdown.
Rather confusingly, the two will each pick a general manager for their brand, with the announcement to be made this week on Raw.
The draft formula has changed over the years. The original draft in 2002 was NFL-esque, as then general managers Vince McMahon and Ric Flair made their picks in the same way the captains pick their 5-a-side football teams on the school playground.
WWE experimented with different version of the draft, done on a random generator in later years, but it didn't have the same feel to it. Fortunately, this one is operating like the one we see in the NFL, with Shane and Stephanie trying to one-up one another.
Smackdown has the short straw to start off with. Raw gets the first pick and so Stephanie has the beauty of picking the big guns. Also, for every two picks made by Shane and Smackdown, Raw gets three picks since Raw is three-hours and Smackdown is an hour less.
One of the peculiar issues going into a draft is the involvement of tag teams. On the official website, WWE have confirmed that tag teams will be chosen as one pick, unless one of the commissioners wishes to select one member of the team. That means the tag team Champions The New Day could well be broken up, as could the Wyatt Family or popular tag team Enzo and Cass. It's happened before, as tag teams such as The Dudley Boyz and the APA were disbanded.
And then there's the NXT factor, which our good friend Paul Heyman talked about last month. Six members of the NXT roster will be involved in the WWE Draft, which should give both shows a new lease of life.
Former NXT Champion Finn Balor looks set to be in the mix, as does Bayley - who has been instrumental in the growth of the brand. Fans have been clamouring for tag team American Alpha to get a shot on the main roster and the draft presents the perfect opportunity do so. The likes of Samoa Joe and Shinsuke Nakamura have been touted as possible picks in the draft, but they look set to remain in NXT for now.
WWE released an official list of the talents who are available on their website. Interestingly, the Undertaker is not part of the list as he only makes sporadic appearances nowdays. But there is the option for either Stephanie or Shane to draft Brock Lesnar, even with his potential doping violation scandal. Like the Undertaker, he works a reduced schedule but brings huge star power when he's around.
Roman Reigns is currently serving a suspension wellness policy but will be back for the eagerly anticipated triple threat match at Battleground on Sunday. That means though he won't be on screen for the draft, he can be chosen.
The situation with current Champions is still not completely clear as of yet. It's worth noting that Dean Ambrose is being referred to as "the WWE Champion" but we still don't know if the Champion will float from brand to brand or he will remain exclusive to one brand, which would likely mean a new Champion is created on the other brand.
The same question can be applied to the tag team Champions the New Day, the Intercontinental Champion the Miz and The United States Champion Rusev. The latter two Champions will probably be allocated to separate brands.
As for the Women's division, it's possible that the Champion Charlotte floats over but keeping the division on a single brand, with more investment in storylines and characters could be the best option.
If previous drafts are anything to go by, expect plenty of controversy and shenanigans on Tuesday. John Cena was once drafted twice on the night and Triple H was once traded for three people. There have even been murmurs about WWE contacting former employees to fill out the rosters, so don't be surprised to see some of the old-guard return.
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One thing we do know, is that it's sure to be exciting. Sky Sports will be showing Smackdown live at 1am weekly starting on Tuesday, while there will be also be a special WWE draft centre second-screen experience - imagine the wrestling version of Gillette Soccer Saturday.
We can't wait to see what goes down and how it will all play into the Battleground pay-per-view on Sunday, live on the WWE Network.
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Images via WWE
Featured Image Credit:Topics: Smackdown, Raw, NXT, WWE
