Episode 116 is really all about the WWE Brand Extension Draft, the Raw leading into it, the Draft itself, and the inaugural episode of Smackdown Live which had more than just the Draft going on.
We begin by reviewing the final Monday Night Raw that had a merged roster. It began with a big announcement from Stephanie McMahon about something that will be returning and will be exclusive to Raw. We then got Stephanie and Shane’s announcements as to who they were selecting for GMs of Raw and Smackdown Live respectively. After that monumental beginning, much of the rest of Raw seemed almost anti-climactic. Kevin Owens teamed with Chris Jericho to take on Cesaro and Sami Zayn and there was a mammoth sized 12-man Tag Team match pitting John Cena, Enzo, Big Cass and the New Day vs The Club and The Wyatt Family. But the Main Event was where the action was as Seth Rollins looked to recapture the WWE Championship from Dean Ambrose the night before the Draft. We cover the match in detail, including the controversial finish and the things that took place on the WWE Network after the match that would result in Dean retaining the title and a rematch being set for the first ever episode of Smackdown Live the next night.
We then move on to that first episode of Smackdown Live. Obviously, we cover the Draft in detail. This includes the part broadcast on Smackdown Live, as well as the hour of extra picks that were made exclusively on the WWE Network after Smackdown Live went off the air. We will reveal all 59 picks for you and offer our thoughts as to which brand came out on top on a round by round basis, as well as who came out on top overall.
But we also review the action from Smackdown Live. This included matches between John Cena and Luke Gallows, Bray Wyatt vs Xavier Woods, and Sasha Banks taking on Charlotte and Dana Brooke in a handicap match. But, like the night before, it was the WWE Championship match between Seth Rollins and Dean Ambrose that was the real story. Who would prevail and go on to Battleground as the WWE Champion? We give you the answer to this, and provide a ton of coverage of an epic two days in WWE, here on Episode 116.