Rollins Vs. Reigns With Big Stipulation Announced For WWE Draft SmackDown Special

The former Shield buddies will open the show to determine which brand gets the first Draft pick.

Oct 10, 2019 October 10th, 2019

With the eyes of WWE fans firmly on Friday’s SmackDown – which will begin the WWE Draft – a huge match-up has now been announced for this week’s outing for the blue brand.

Straight from WWE.com, Universal Champion Seth Rollins will face Roman Reigns in a non-title match that will open Friday’s show. Rollins will represent Raw, while Roman will represent SmackDown – and the winner will earn the first overall Draft pick for their respective brand.

Find the full WWE announcement below.

Seth Rollins (representing Raw) faces Roman Reigns (representing SmackDown) in the opening match of this week’s WWE Draft episode of Friday Night SmackDown on FOX, and the victorious Superstar will earn the first overall pick for the corresponding brand.

The stakes are high for this showdown between former Shield members, as the Universal Champion squares off with The Big Dog to decide which brand gets the all-important first selection.

Will Rollins secure the top pick for Raw, or will Reigns score a major victory for the blue brand?

Tune in for the WWE Draft with Friday Night SmackDown on FOX at 8/7 C.

Of course, Rollins and Reigns are more than familiar with each other thanks to their time teaming together as two-thirds of The Shield, and their time facing off against one another for singles gold.

Following SmackDown, the WWE Draft will culminate on Monday’s episode of Raw; the current belief being that Raw and SmackDown will then move forward with a strict roster split in place.

Andrew Pollard

Senior Writer

Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main dayjob, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks, Jamie Hayer, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg.

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