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.
Survivor Series (2017)
In 2016, the WWE brand extension returned, splitting the roster between the Raw and SmackDown brands. Subsequently, Survivor Series 2016 featured several interpromotional matches to determine which was the better brand. This would be the genesis for the theme of Survivor Series 2017, which was brand supremacy. Every champion of the Raw brand faced their counterpart of the SmackDown brand in non-title matches: the Universal Champion against the WWE Champion, the Intercontinental Champion against the United States Champion, the Raw Women's Champion against the SmackDown Women's Champion, and the Raw Tag Team Champions against the SmackDown Tag Team Champions. As the WWE Cruiserweight Championship did not have a SmackDown counterpart, it was the only title to be defended, which was on the pre-show. Two traditional Survivor Series elimination matches, one male match and one female match, pitting five of Raw's male and female wrestlers against five of SmackDown's male and female wrestlers, respectively, also occurred.