2011 WWE draft
The Brand Extension storyline was initiated in March 2002, in which WWE's Raw and SmackDown television programs were made into brands (similar to conferences within a league) to which employees were assigned; the ECW brand was additionally involved between 2006 and 2009. Annual drafts have followed since this occurrence, except for in 2003. As with past drafts, the purpose of the 2011 WWE draft was to increase television ratings of WWE programming and refresh the rosters for each brand. The 2011 event was confirmed by the RBC Center in April 2011, with WWE officially announcing it on the April 18 episode of "Raw". A USA Network executive had also confirmed the event to occur via a press release on the same day of the WWE announcement.
WWE Magazine
Shortly before that, the WWF/E had split up into two brands, Raw and SmackDown!. "WWE Magazine" and "Raw Magazine" were unaffected, however, until the January 2004 issues, in which WWE decided to have separate magazines for their respective brands. "Raw Magazine" retained its name but followed the style of "WWE Magazine" however; it focused solely on the Raw brand. "WWE Magazine" became "SmackDown! Magazine", and would focus solely on the SmackDown! brand. That lasted until the summer of 2006, in which "Raw Magazine" and "SmackDown Magazine" would be discontinued and a new "WWE Magazine" would debut with the August 2006 issue (Dave Batista cover).