A SmackDown shakeup is about to completely reshape all of WWE. Beginning July 19, the second longest-running weekly episodic program in television history, SmackDown, will move from Thursday to Tuesday nights and air LIVE each and every week — for the first time ever — at 8/7 C on USA Network, the exclusive cable home to WWE’s marquee properties.

This bold move will have major ramifications for all of WWE and exemplify the New Era, as both Raw and SmackDown will each feature their own unique rosters and rivalries following an imminent Superstar draft.

"WWE's flagship programs will both leverage the incredible depth of our talent roster, distinct storylines and the unpredictable nature of live TV," WWE Chairman Mr. McMahon said. “This move will undoubtedly build more excitement and deepen engagement with our fans around th­e world.”

With so many explosive competitors emerging from WWE NXT, and top Superstars like John Cena and Seth Rollins returning from injury, WWE’s star-powered roster has never been stronger. Its historic division and the monumental revelation of SmackDown’s shift to a live format each week reflect the excitement and unpredictability of WWE’s New Era.

What awaits SmackDown on its new night, starting this July? Which live shows will claim your favorite Superstars? What will this all mean for the future of sports-entertainment? Stay tuned as WWE prepares to get shaken up like never before.

I still won't watch Smackdown.

But this is pretty exciting.

I'd like it if they tried to focus on the two different "fans" with this - maybe have Smackdown be the more smarky brand, where guys like Cesaro or Ziggler can get their push, and RAW be the casual one?

I'm not saying have Smackdown have all the internet darlings, or RAW have all the Vince guys, obviously a mix would be better, but they can lean in either direction for either brand.

That'd be cool. I assume Shane's gonna run one show and Stephanie the other, so that'd make sense if Shane ran SD and Stephanie had RAW. Either way, I'm glad they're finally bringing back to brand split and I'm REALLY glad SD is finally going live. It can actually be more than a filler show now.

I think Stephanie will run Smackdown and she and Trips will legit be in charge of content, and Shane will "run" Raw while Vince is still in charge of content. A trial run for them really getting control of the company in the not-too-distant future.

That is amazing news. I hope they create a new World Title or make it so there's a return of one of the extinct WHT.

With the brand split I'll definitely go back to watching Smackdown.

Man WWE is getting desperate to get some ratings

I have a feeling they will probably recreate a new Major Championship for SD. Probably bring back the WHT but I have a feeling they wanna make a new design

Man I didn't even think of what TNA is going to do

Probably die

they will probably have to move to a different night

I think they'll go back to Thursday.

Nah, TNA is just going to say "Well fuck this." and give up.

No more spoilers soon

– The big story today has been the announcement that WWE Smackdown will be going live on Tuesdays starting on June 19th and will be bringing back the brand extension. The Wrestling Observer has new details on their current plans for the brand extension, including the fact that people within the company seem to agree that there will be two World Titles again.

This comes with the usual Observer caveat that things can change, particularly on something as big as this, but according to the site the talk within the company is that each show will have a World Title and that one show will have the United States Title while the other will have the Intercontinental Championship. The Women’s Division is believed to be going to one brand, although that isn’t confirmed. The Tag team Titles will be on both shows.

The current plan is to have the Draft on the July 11th Raw in Detroit, Michigan. As of now, talent don’t know where they’ll end up. Vince McMahon is said to be “pumped up” about the brand extension and full of ideas regarding it. WWE is expected do NXT callups to fill the main rosters, and will aggressively pursue outside talent as they will have four tours (Smackdown, Raw and two NXT tours) going at times.

The site adds that the decision to do the split was made within the last few weeks and that some talent were told about it Sunday at Extreme Rules.

I wonder how long they'll stick with it this time?

I bet they will stop doing it again when ratings/attendance still stink.

I think they'll stick with it.

Is this also going to be an easier way to bring Raw back down to 2 hours? Or are they happy with / sticking with the 3 hour Raws?

If so, will SD be getting the extra hour too now?

Coach Smurf wrote:

If so, will SD be getting the extra hour too now?

Raw is sticking with three hours. I think Smackdown will be transitioned into being the "A" show for a variety of reasons.

Smackdown will be the A show until Raw starts to really suck ass then they'll start moving talent over to there to save the ratings.

I still don't think they'll make SmackDown worth watching.

I'm excited. Smackdown has always been my favorite show till they fucked it up a few years ago. Plus, Smackdown comes to the arena that's like 5-10 mins away from me whereas RAW doesn't.

I think this will definitely make SD worth watching. Just going live alone will, let alone with the brand split. I feel like the main reason nothing that big ever really happens on SD is because it was pre-taped, so spoilers. The last time anything all that big happened was when Del Rio beat Big Show for the World title on SD and that was all over the internet immediately. I'm sure, without spoilers, they'll do bigger and more entertaining stuff on SD, especially with it having its own brand.