WWE has another huge brand switch planned that will likely round out the Talent Transfer Window.
Since late 2024, numerous stars have been moved from Raw to SmackDown and vice versa to shake up the rosters in the lead-up to WrestleMania. Although it was previously announced that the Talent Transfer Window was set to end over Royal Rumble weekend, Raw General Manager Adam Pearce made the announcement on the next episode of the show that they had secured the returning AJ Styles to be a part of the roster moving forward. According to a new report, SmackDown is also set to receive another former WWE Champion in return.
As reported by Dave Meltzer in the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Drew McIntyre is set to move to SmackDown and will feud with Damian Priest following their angle at the Royal Rumble that saw Priest eliminate The Scottish Warrior. Meltzer also notes that the move has been in talks for some time and there have been talks for McIntyre to feud with Roman Reigns and Cody Rhodes:
“McIntyre is moving to Smackdown. He’ll be working with Priest at first but the idea of him moving to Smackdown dates back long before there were any ideas for him and Priest. He’d been pushing Reigns in his promos for months for that reason. There is also a plan right now to get to Rhodes vs. McIntyre, which was scheduled for 2023 before Rhodes ended up not winning the title that year.”
WWE Talent Transfer Window Recap
Numerous former World Champions have been among the brand switches to take place during the Talent Transfer Window. So far, Braun Strowman, The Wyatt Sicks, Damian Priest, The Miz and Zelina Vega have all moved from Raw to SmackDown with Logan Paul, Austin Theory, Grayson Waller, Bayley and AJ Styles all moving over from SmackDown to Raw.
In recent news, a broadcast change is coming to the February 14 episode of WWE SmackDown.