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.
SummerSlam (2011)
In March 2002, WWE initiated brand extension, which promoted its core business of professional wrestling through such brands, named after their two major television shows, "Raw" and "SmackDown". On the August 29 episode of "Raw", it was announced that performers from Raw and SmackDown were no longer exclusive to their respective brand, thus effectively dissolving the brand extension. In 2013, Stephanie McMahon revealed in an interview with "Advertising Age", that WWE's decision to end the brand extension was due to wanting their content to flow across television and online platforms. However, the brand split was reintroduced in mid-2016, when "SmackDown" began broadcasting live on Tuesdays.