On July 19 at the 2016 WWE draft, Wyatt and Rowan were drafted to SmackDown while Strowman was drafted to Raw, separating him from the group. On the August 16 episode of "SmackDown Live", Wyatt walked away from Rowan after the latter lost his match against Dean Ambrose, leaving Rowan's sheep mask on Wyatt's rocking chair. Despite this, Rowan attacked Randy Orton on behalf of Wyatt on the September 13 episode of "SmackDown Live", continuing their alliance. On October 9, Harper returned at the close of the SmackDown brand's event No Mercy on October 9 in a match between Wyatt and Orton, whom Harper distracted to help Wyatt win the match, thus realigning himself with Wyatt. Prior to Harper's return, Rowan underwent surgery to repair a torn rotator cuff and would be out of action for four to six months.