Summary Of WWE Brand Switches On Raw After WrestleMania 42

Published: Apr 21, 2026 by Liam | Last Updated: Apr 21, 2026 by Liam

Liam has been reporting & analyzing wrestling news for over eight years, and is currently the Managing Editor at WrestleTalk.com. Immersed in wrestling for 18 years, he has over 11,000 published articles in addition to leading and overseeing WrestleTalk.com's coverage.

WWE

A number of brand switches were confirmed and hinted at during tonight’s April 20 episode of WWE Raw after WrestleMania 42.

Firstly, there was some NXT presence on the show, with Ethan Page confirmed as the newest member of the Raw roster and scoring a win against Je’Von Evans.

Next was Sol Ruca who faced Women’s World Champion Liv Morgan, though it wasn’t actually stated for sure that Ruca is officially called up and on Raw for good.

Another NXT star in Zaria cost Ruca that match ahead of their Last Man Standing match on NXT tomorrow. Again, it wasn’t stated whether Zaria is officially called up, and it may have just been to build for that match.

During the rundown for next week’s WWE Raw in Laredo, Texas, it was announced that Joe Hendry will have a concert on the show, and Michael Cole made a specific point of saying Hendry is on the Raw roster for good.

In other news, the Street Profits returned tonight – having previously been on SmackDown but absent for months – and they went after World Tag Team Champions Austin Theory and Logan Paul, so while not officially stated, it appears they’re on Raw going forward as well.

As far as championship pictures, WWE Women’s Champion Rhea Ripley bid farewell to IYO SKY and Raw, saying that she’s going to SmackDown now, so that’s confirmed.

Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes, technically on SmackDown, appeared tonight in a confrontation with CM Punk where they teased a title match.

It’s unclear if that match will happen soon or a long way down the line, and one would assume Rhodes is still on SmackDown officially, but he did appear on Raw tonight.

And as for the World Heavyweight Champion Roman Reigns, he is technically still listed on the SmackDown roster but he appeared exclusively on Raw in the leadup to WrestleMania, and now has Raw’s top championship.

Also, SmackDown’s Jacob Fatu appeared tonight to confront Reigns, with Reigns saying he’ll have an answer for Fatu’s Backlash challenge next week, so it seems they’ll be on Raw at least next week and possibly permanently, but not confirmed as of yet.