For now it is the news of the year, and for anyone who has been living under a rock these past 24 hours, SUPER LUCHAS is responsible for refreshing their ignorance: the brand split is returning to WWE. Our colleague Sebastián Salgado already reported correctly yesterday as soon as the informative bombshell was known, also adding that starting on July 19th SmackDown will be broadcast live every Tuesday via USA Network.
As the hours passed, our colleague Coldkobe echoed the updates that were emerging throughout the juicy day yesterday. Among the most notable news, July 11th was indicated as the date of the Draft that will put an end to the unification of the brands; as well as the rumored creation of a new title for the blue show.
Almost 24 hours later, Dave Meltzer, in the most recent edition of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, has released new information that could expand the already known information. The first explains the reason for this decision, as it seemed that the brand split was a thing of the past. Apparently, it has been a decision planned for some time, although not as much as it seems. The main reason is to want to recover audience ratings, particularly for SmackDown, thus making this brand a strong asset for the company in this regard.
Smackdown Decade – 10 Anniversary/ kupywrestlingwallpapers.info
It is evident that the data from Monday Night Raw for almost the last year are behind the long-awaited "rebirth" of SD. WWE does not believe that it can continue to rely on its usual programming, and wants to make the blue show a solid flagship for Tuesday nights.
Under reports that we already knew, Shane McMahon will lead one brand and Stephanie McMahon the other, both acting as managers in principle. Probably, the betrayal will come from Stephanie to lay the foundation for the expected angle that will pit her brother against her husband at WWE SummerSlam 2016.
John Cena is expected to be the top superstar of one brand, while Roman Reigns is the biggest representative of the other. Reviewing recent rumors that have placed Cena in less relevant positions, it is assumed that he could become the face of SmackDown. Despite the imminent rise of this show, it is unlikely that Raw will lose so much relevance and be relegated to second place. Meltzer also refers to Lesnar in his notes, and does not venture to predict where he will end up.
John Cena and Roman Reigns (07/07/2014 - Bell Centre in Montreal, Quebec, Canada) / WWE.com
The Raw cast will do live events on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays. On the other hand, the SmackDown cast will do it on Saturdays and Sundays. It is possible that the live events for this last show will take place on Monday nights, just like in the past.
Meltzer confirms that there will be a world title of similar prestige for each brand, so we will witness the creation of a new World Heavyweight Championship, although we do not know what its name will be. Regarding the WWE Women's Championship, Wrestling Observer analyst contradicts what we believed, and says that it will belong to both Raw and SmackDown, with Charlotte moving between the two (a spoiler that Meltzer gives us, it seems that she will remain champion for now). There is no pronouncement regarding the WWE Tag Team Championship, which was indicated as the only shared one.
Updates are happening at breakneck speed in the last hours, and what has been said may change substantially or entirely, so stay tuned to everything that happens in SÚPER LUCHAS.