It was announced during the NFL broadcast on FOX today that another WWE draft will be held on the October 11 episode of Smackdown and will continue the following Monday on Raw.
WWE is looking to completely separate the brands again once Smackdown moves to FOX, with different commentary teams as well as binning the “wildcard rule” that has been in effect over the past several months. Usually a draft is held after WrestleMania but this time WWE is doing it again to mix things up as WWE starts its most lucrative television deal in their history.
WWE later confirmed the news on WWE.COM adding that personalities from FOX and NBCUniversal programming will be on hand to announce select picks that will determine the rosters of each distinct brand.
With a Smackdown 20th anniversary show on October 4 and a draft episode on October 11, WWE is preparing to start on a high on FOX. Typically, anniversary and draft shows bring in bigger numbers than usual. In the past, the draft starts on Raw and then continues on Smackdown but it will be the other way round this time around.
FOX has been heavily pushing Smackdown on their NFL broadcasts with repeated commercials and hosts mentioning WWE coming over multiple times during the game.
