On July 19, as part of 2016 draft, Rowan was drafted to SmackDown brand along with Bray Wyatt, while Braun Strowman was drafted to Raw. While Rowan kept wrestling with Wyatt, in October Rowan underwent surgery to repair a torn rotator cuff and would be out of action for eight months. He made his return on the April 4, 2017 episode of "SmackDown Live". On April 10, The Wyatt Family disbanded again when Wyatt was moved to the Raw brand as part of Superstar Shake-up. The short rivalry between Rowan and Luke Harper was ended at Backlash on May 21, where Harper defeated Rowan.