Another sign that brand split 2.0 is slowly eroding away like the original one did back in the late Aughts before being officially ended in 2011?
That’s not entirely clear. But coming so soon after John Cena: Free Agent, the booking of the feud which headlined the last Raw brand pay-per-view (PPV) for two SmackDown brand house shows will certainly keep the question alive.
Brock Lesnar vs. Samoa Joe - who we also just learned make-up half of Raw’s SummerSlam main event - are advertised for two blue brand live events: this Saturday, July 29 in Detroit and Saturday, Aug. 12 in Tampa.
The first isn’t too surprising. It’s a loaded show for WWE’s last trip to Joe Louis Arena, a building which has hosted three Survivor Series and a Royal Rumble in addition to numerous other shows, and is set for demolition soon. There’s no one obvious reason for the Florida date, which isn’t near Brock’s normal stomping grounds and is eight days out from SummerSlam.
Here’s some more information on these cards, courtesy of PWInsider, while you ponder what this all might mean for the future of the brand split:
July 29 in Detroit:
John Cena vs. Rusev
Randy Orton and Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Jinder Mahal and Dolph Ziggler
AJ Styles vs. Kevin Owens for the United States championship
New Day vs. Breezango vs. The Usos for the Smackdown Tag Team titles
Naomi, Charlotte and Becky Lynch vs. Natalya, Carmella, and Tamina
Aug. 12 in Tampa:
Jinder Mahal vs. Randy Orton for the WWE title
AJ Styles vs. Kevin Owens for the United States championship
Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Baron Corbin