WWE Brand-To-Brand Invitational Notes And Rules Revealed

The new WWE Brand-To-Brand Invitational kicked off for the red brand on last night's RAW as King Baron Corbin lost to WWE Champion Drew McIntyre in the non-title main event. Corbin was representing the SmackDown brand.

Michael Cole noted during Friday's SmackDown that Superstars will be ale to appear on their opposite brand just 4 times per year under the rules of the new Brand-To-Brand Invitational.

It was also noted on SmackDown that WWE NXT will not be included in the Invitational as the rules apply only to RAW and SmackDown. This is interesting as NXT Women's Champion Charlotte Flair appeared during Friday's show and at one point her name was mentioned with the Invitational.

Flair did an angle with Sasha Banks and SmackDown Women's Champion Bayley on last Friday's SmackDown. That segment was done to set up the non-title Champion vs. Champion match between Flair and Bayley on this week's show.

RAW Superstar AJ Styles is working the tournament for the vacant WWE Intercontinental Title on SmackDown, which could use up his appearances in the Invitational. Styles will face Shinsuke Nakamura on Friday's SmackDown in a first round tournament match.

WWE Women's Tag Team Champions Alexa Bliss and Nikki Cross were mentioned with the Invitational at one point, but there's no word on if they are using their appearances in the current feud with The IIconics. They appeared last week and this week, and it looks like the feud is continuing.

WWE will likely change the Invitational rules as it goes, which they often do with similar gimmicks. It was recently reported that the Brand-To-Brand Invitational would be a simpler version of the WWE Wild Card Rule from last year.