The upcoming WWE draft, which is set to take place on the next episode of Friday Night SmackDown will see superstars move between both of the company’s flagship shows.
The goal is to establish completely separate rosters for both shows now that the blue brand is on Fox and Monday Night Raw is on the USA Network. WWE is promoting the idea of “brand supremacy,” so for the first time in years, it looks like there won’t be a lot of crossover between both shows.
We’ll have to wait until next week to see which shows WWE superstars end up on, but news on where two competitors will end up has potentially been spoiled already. Citing Dave Meltzer of Wrestling Observer Radio , Sportskeeda reports that Aleister Black and Buddy Murphy are heading to the red brand.
“[Aleister Black] is a Paul Heyman guy, so I kind of figured [he’d be coming to Raw ]. I kind of figured, there’s probably plenty of others, but the two Paul Heyman guys I know on SmackDown are Aleister Black, I mean there are others, and Buddy Murphy and I could see, especially since when they talk about the draft by the Street Profits, they brought up Buddy Murphy’s name too, so I could see those guys come to Raw .”
Black appeared on the latest episode of Monday Night Raw by cutting an intense promo then defeating Sami and Sunil Singh in a handicap match. It was the Dutchman’s first televised match since September, so a change of scenery might be a good way to kick start his momentum again.
Murphy has also been neglected on the blue brand lately. After playing a part in the storyline involving Roman Reigns, Daniel Bryan, and Erick Rowan — which led to the rookie beating Bryan in an entertaining match — he’s been an afterthought on the show.
Heyman’s position of the creative director of Monday Night Raw gives him a lot of influence backstage, so if these superstars are high on his list of targets, he’ll likely ensure that they get a lot of television time going forward.
As The Inquisitr previously reported, Heyman is also a fan of Cedric Alexander and wants to slowly push him. Therefore, it’s highly likely that he’ll remain on the red brand for the time being. Alexander has challenged AJ Styles for the United States Championship in recent weeks, so we might be seeing the start of his push in progress.