WWE.comWednesday morning, WWE announced the return of the brand split - starting July 18, Smackdown will air live on Tuesday evenings, with a unique roster and storylines. Though the announcement is still fresh and most plans haven't been finalized, details are starting to emerge regarding just what WWE's decision-makers have in mind.According to The Wrestling Observer Newsletter, the current plan is for Roman Reigns to be the top babyface on Raw, while John Cena anchors Smackdown. Beyond that, there are no solid plans, as even Brock Lesnar is currently not considered a lock for the Raw roster.The championship situation is still very much in flux, with the only definite being that one brand will get the Intercontinental Title and the other will get the United States Title. There has been talk of both the WWE World Heavyweight and Women's Champions working both shows, but in the case of the WWE Title, at least, that's a temporary measure - currently, the plan is for each show to have its own world champ. There hasn't been a decision regarding whether a new set of Tag Team Titles will be introduced.Backstage, the power structure is expected to remain the same, though there will be shifts in individual clout. Vince McMahon and Triple H will still have final say, but Ed Koskey and Ryan Ward (who are in charge of Raw and Smackdown, respectively) are rumored to have more control over their individual brands.Finally, there are reports that the idea of a "hard" split versus a "soft" split (with wrestlers occasionally making guest appearances on the rival brand) is still being debated.
Scott Fried is a Slammy Award-winning* writer living and working in New York City. He has been following/writing about professional wrestling for many years and is a graduate of Lance Storm's Storm Wrestling Academy. Follow him on Twitter at https://twitter.com/scottfried.
*Best Crowd of the Year, 2013
