By Jason Powell, ProWrestling.net Editor (@prowrestlingnet)
WWE issued the following press release to announce the two-night draft that will be held in October.
STAMFORD, Conn. – September 15, 2019 – The destiny of WWE’s Superstars will be determined during a two-night draft taking place live on Friday Night SmackDown® on October 11 at 8 pm ET on the FOX broadcast network and Monday Night Raw® on October 14 at 8 pm ET on USA Network.
On both nights of the draft, Superstars from Raw and SmackDown will appear along with personalities from FOX and NBCUniversal programming who will announce select picks from each brand. The draft will determine the Superstars that compete for Raw and SmackDown, which feature distinct casts, unique storylines and dedicated writing teams.
Friday Night SmackDown on October 11 will emanate from T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas while Monday Night Raw on October 14 will take place at the Pepsi Center in Denver.
Raw and SmackDown are the #1 and #2 longest-running weekly episodic television shows in U.S. primetime history. The programs have aired more original episodes than The Simpsons, Gunsmoke, Lassie and Monday Night Football.
Raw will continue airing on USA Network while SmackDown moves to FOX beginning Friday, October 4.
Powell’s POV: Word of the draft has been out for at least a couple weeks, but it’s always good to have official confirmation. It’s interesting that NXT is not listed anywhere in the press release. It’s also interesting that WWE is emphasizing that Raw and Smackdown will have “distinct casts, unique storylines and dedicated writing teams.” Of course, the real question is whether they will actually adhere to their own draft rules this year or if this will all be forgotten a few weeks later similar to the WWE Superstar Shakeup.
I’m betting on this being completely forgotten about in a few weeks. It won’t be long until the “wildcard” is in effect and/or Vince forgets which WWE Superstars compete for which brand and everyone begins showing up everywhere as they do now.