WWE: Brand Split Needs to Happen Soon

Why, now more than ever, does the WWE need to once again split up their brands?

When the first and only WWE Brand Extension happened in 2002, it appeared to be a move made out of necessity. The company had recently absorbed the WCW and ECW and with the superstars that they chose to keep employed, the roster was jam-packed with talent. Coming over from the two companies were names like Booker T, Scott Steiner, Rob Van Dam, Eddie Guerrero, and Billy Kidman. These stars would join a roster already filled with already established workers like Steve Austin, Shawn Michaels, Triple H, The Rock, and Kurt Angle to go along with budding stars like Randy Orton, Batista, Brock Lesnar, and Edge. Needless to say, something had to give.

What gave was the formation of two rosters, specific for RAW and SmackDown. The formula worked well for over a decade and the yearly WWE draft special was always a must-see television event. But not only did the roster split give the company the ability to spread the wealth of talent it also did a couple of other things. For one, there was always the opportunity to keep the storylines fresh. If a guy’s act was becoming stale, a slight repackage and a trade to the other brand usually was enough to shake things up for him or her again.

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The other benefit to having two separate rosters was the idea that the company could give a potential main event worthy wrestler a shot without the risk of exposing him on a grand scale. Very simply put, SmackDown will always be the “B-Show”. Whether or not the show is a better quality (which is something we saw many times during the roster split), RAW, being the flagship show will always pull the higher ratings. So when creative wanted to give a young star a chance, or put the gold on a veteran who had not never tasted a world title, or even take a shot on a hunch, Smackdown was the place to try it out. CM Punk and Jeff Hardy are examples of it working out well, Jack Swagger and The Great Khali, not so much.

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The 2016 version of the WWE may be on the verge of having no choice but split up the rosters much like 2002. With the influx of talent that the WWE has compiled in the last 2-3 years that seem to be possible main event type guys, both domestic and foreign, the roster is ready to burst. Already flush with the likes of Dean Ambrose, Seth Rollins, Cesaro, Dolph Ziggler, and Bray Wyatt, the company went out and domestically signed Sami Zayn, Kevin Owens, Samoa Joe, AJ Styles, and Austin Aries, along with foreign superstars in Finn Balor, Shinsuke Nakamura, and Hideo Itami. That’s basically The Murderer’s Row of the available talent pool.

Now with the report that Seth Rollins, John Cena, Bray Wyatt, and Randy Orton will all be returning within the next two months, finding important airtime for the gaggle of relevant wrestlers they have will be extraordinarily difficult. And that’s where the brand split comes into to play.

Much like 2005, there needs to be three brands: RAW, SmackDown, and this time NXT. There is absolutely no reason to mess with the NXT product right now, so that can stay exactly how it is. WWE Creative would have their work cut out for them trying to sort everything out and they’d have a ton of decisions to make concerning roster moves, championships, and pay per views. The 2016 version of the WWE draft might possibly be one of the highest rated episodes in a very long time and might be the exact thing the company needs right now to jump start the WWE in the right direction.

With the amount of former and current world champions, there is an easy case for once again carrying two world championships specific for each show. Male and female workers included there are 24 superstars currently on the roster who have been WWE world champions in some capacity. There are also 7 NXT world champions, 5 TNA world champions, 4 Ring of Honor world champions, and 3 IWGP World Heavyweight Champions. That’s quite an accomplished roster, one that could easily accommodate dual brand champions.

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Just think of the all the possibilities. Not only could there be two massive world title matches on the big 4 cards every year, the roster split could also double the amount of the most popular matches they have. They could once again have two Money In The Bank ladder matches, two world title Elimination Chamber matches, heck, they could bring back the Fatal 4-Way pay per view for a duo of title matches. And with how good the staff currently is, just imagine all the five-star matches that could be produced.

As of right now the plan is simple. Shane runs one and Stephanie controls the other. And if one has to leave for whatever reason, it gives the WWE another ready-made storyline: who will be the next RAW/SmackDown GM? In the past, this gimmick has been used to bring back all different types of superstars and make them authority figures. Eric Bischoff, Mick Foley, William Regal, Booker T,and even Bret Hart have had runs as RAW or SmackDown GM’s. Since then a number of stars have retired that would be perfect to bring back in that role. Imagine Stone Cold Steve Austin running RAW? Or Edge and Christian running Smackdown? Wow.

The WWE has a unique opportunity on their hands. The roster is as talented as it has ever been and the only way to maximize it is by scattering the talent and giving the bevy of the most entertaining superstars the time required to make their biggest impact. By doing this the WWE could get their ratings back to where they once were. As Vince McMahon has said on numerous occasions, “It’s time to shake things up again!”.

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