mobanmarket— In what could be construed as a hint towards separate champions on Raw and Smackdown, WWE began referring to Dean Ambrose as the “WWE Champion” on last night’s Raw instead of the usual “WWE World Heavyweight Champion”. Some may interpret this as WWE’s plan to bill one champion as “WWE Champion” and the other as the “World Heavyweight Champion”, much like they did during the last brand extension/split.
— Sami Zayn vs. Kevin Owens has been announced for the Battleground PPV on July 23. This is expected to be their culmination match with the idea that they will end up on separate brands after the draft.
— Also announced on tonight’s Raw, Michael Cole stated that the individuals who will run Raw and Smackdown following the brand split will be referred to as “Chief Operating Officers”, or COOs.