WWE Draft Plans Remain Uncertain, But The Brand Split Is Here To Stay

WWE continues to revise plans for its annual draft, but one thing seems certain: The brand spit between Raw and SmackDown isn’t going away.

Over the past several weeks, WWE has been plagued by a series of last-minute creative changes, which have become the norm in WWE but have also undoubtedly played a role in the company’s TV viewership descending to record lows. WWE’s tendency to change plans so frequently has now begun to affect the entire main roster, with this year’s draft apparently undergoing a number of changes and still having no official date set for what is typically one of the most anticipated shows of the year.

According to a report from Fightful Select (h/t WrestlingNews.co), WWE has been constantly changing plans for its annual draft and has yet to settle on a firm date, but the company has “no current plans” to end the brand split: “Fightful Select reports that a planned WWE Draft has changed several times…Per the report, a draft had been originally slated to take place at the end of August before then delaying it to September and later moved to October. The date for the draft had gone back and forth to the point where there’s no word yet on what the current plan is for a draft. That includes if it will take place, what brands are involved, or what the format is because plans have changed numerous times…It was added that there are no current plans to end the brand split.”

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The Wrestling Observer’s Dave Meltzer (h/t Wrestling Inc) adds that WWE is expected to host the draft in either September or October: “There were originally five different dates being considered for the new draft, but it has now been narrowed down to two possible dates in October. Meltzer also notes that up until last week, the draft was set to take place at some point this month. He says that it may end up being moved to September, but whenever the date may be, WWE intends to hold another draft in the coming months.”

Last year’s WWE draft was held in October to coincide with SmackDown’s move to FOX, and it actually wasn’t the ratings success that it had been in the past, perhaps due to its change in timing and the fact that part of it went head-to-head with the NFL’s Monday Night Football. In previous years, the post-WrestleMania draft or “Superstar Shakeup” had been a big viewership hit at least in part because of when it took place (WrestleMania season is WWE’s biggest and best time of the year) but also because of the excitement surrounding where top stars like Roman Reigns, Seth Rollins, AJ Styles, John Cena and more might land. The uncertainty surrounding this year’s draft likely has a lot to do with the Covid-19 pandemic that has altered much of WWE’s plans this year.

There is still no firm date set for WWE’s return to fan-filled shows, but regardless of whether fans will be there or not, the draft editions of Raw and SmackDown typically rank among the biggest shows of the year. The draft, however, is more than just a way for WWE to generate big TV ratings. It’s a means to refresh and reinvigorate the rosters without having to end the brand split, which Fightful Select says WWE has no intentions of doing at the moment. WWE opened up the restrictions surrounding its brand split earlier this year when it introduced the “brand to brand invitation,” essentially a lighter version of its infamous Wild Card rule that was created in 2019 to add more star power to Raw and SmackDown.

The Wild Card rule, of course, backfired because it instead resulted in WWE focusing heavily on the same names on both brands, which only exacerbated the company’s issues with creating new stars. The brand split shouldn’t end now or anytime soon because that would be a knee-jerk reaction to WWE’s struggling viewership and ultimately will create even bigger problems in the long run. Outside of improving the quality of its storylines, the best way for WWE to create some intrigue surrounding its product and to provide its biggest stars with fresh feuds and its most underutilized stars with new opportunities is to host a draft or a Superstar Shakeup that allows WWE to move some key pieces around, finding the right mix of stars for Raw and SmackDown.

There are, after all, several notable stars who could do well with a change in scenery, including but not limited to the likes of Rollins, Aleister Black, Shayna Baszler, The Miz and a slew of others. With the more time that passes until WWE hosts the next draft, more stars will be added to that list as well. But for now, WWE reportedly remains uncertain about when it will actually host that event, which means that many of the superstars who are currently being misused or poorly booked will likely be stuck in that role until significant roster changes are made.

When that will happen is anyone’s guess, but for the sake of freshening up WWE’s programming, it needs to happen by the end of the year.