‘WWE Smackdown’ to air live weekly starting on July 19

WWE is set to make history yet again.

The pro-wrestling promotion recently announced that, starting on Tuesday, July 19, Smackdown will air live weekly. Not only that, but starting then Smackdown and Raw will each have their own roster and storylines.

Yes, the brand extension is back, but is that a good thing?

Well, I became a wrestling fan in late 2004, so I never knew WWE before the first extension. And I liked the idea of two brands with their own roster, storylines, pay-per-views, and championships. I also liked the yearly draft between the brands.

This is because I’ve never been that into sports, so I thought that it was appropriate for WWE to have its version of the American and National Leagues.

My main concern would be how the company will split up the championships. I can’t imagine that any of them would become brand-exclusive.

Currently, WWE has five active titles: four male (one primary singles, one secondary singles, one tertiary singles, and one tag-team) and one female. When I started following the company, each brand had one world title, one secondary title, and one tag-team title, and Raw had the first Women’s Championship and Smackdown had the Cruiserweight Championship. The champions should be able to move between the brands freely.

I also can’t imagine that the minor PPVs would become brand-exclusive. But if they do, then the Big Four and Money in the Bank should remain open to both brands.

And split rosters could also affect NXT wrestlers and how they get called up, which could feed storylines and feuds.

I’m excited to see how this plays out.

Follow me on Twitter at @JosephFGargiulo, and spread the word about the blog.

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Here’s a video of the announcement:

 

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