FOX's Photo Shoot for WWE SmackDown Live Hints at Multiple Big Stars Moving in Upcoming WWE Draft

SmackDown Live's move from the USA Network to FOX is just around the corner, and fans who were [...]

By Connor Casey

SmackDown Live's move from the USA Network to FOX is just around the corner, and fans who were waiting for a returning brand split between the Blue Brand and Monday Night Raw were given hope earlier this week when multiple outlets reported WWE was intending on bringing back the WWE Draft in mid-October. And while WWE has not officially confirmed the reports, a new set of images from a FOX photo shoot were leaked online over the weekend that potentially spoiled who will be moving to Friday nights.

The photo shoot reportedly took place during SummerSlam weekend and features Alexa Bliss, Becky Lynch, Rey Mysterio, The Miz, Mandy Rose and Randy Orton. The first four names on that list are all currently members of the Raw roster, possibly indicating that they'll be moving in the near future.

The draft is reportedly supposed to take place on the Oct. 11 episode of SmackDown (its second FOX episode), then continue on Raw the following week. WWE had a Superstar Shake-up back in late April, but it was almost immediately undone in early May when Vince McMahon introduced the Wild Card Rule that initially allowed four wrestlers from one brand to freely jump to the other. That rule was broken almost every week to the point where it was mentioned less and less by the commentary team.

There's also still questions on what roll NXT will play. The Yellow brand is moving to the USA Network (at least partially) starting on Sept. 18, and neither Post Wrestling nor the Wrestling Observer mentioned the brand in their reports on the new draft.

In a recent interview with ComicBook.com, NXT Champion Adam Cole stated that the concept of being "called up" to the main roster from NXT was effectively over.

"I think what this does is this solidifies NXT to what a lot of us have been saying for a long time, and that's that NXT is the third brand, I mean, a legitimate third brand," Cole said. "And we've been saying that time and time again, but now, the proof is right there. You have, Raw, SmackDown, and NXT, all three shows on major television networks, and this just furthers the development of the brand that NXT is growing into. At this point, I would look at it as a move to Raw or SmackDown, not so much a call up with NXT getting this giant move to the USA Network."

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