The WWE brand split is the result of poor ratings, bad booking, and a hope that fans will forget both of those things.
Stop me when this sounds familiar: WWE has two weekly, episodic television shows, but most fans only care about one of them since nothing meaningful happens on the other. The entire roster is so jam-packed with wrestlers that more often than not, matches on both programs seem to be thrown together with no real regard for storytelling or plot development. In light of these facts, WWE management decides to draft major superstars to both shows in hopes of generating more fan interest and creating unique match ups.
In case you haven’t already guessed, I’m talking about the first WWE brand split that occurred back in 2002. At that time, WWE was filtering newly acquired talent from WCW and ECW and trying to decide who amongst these outsiders would fit into their brand.
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Cut to 2016 and all legitimate opponents to the WWE dominance over the world of professional wrestling have been long vanquished but they are still asking fans to watch over five hours of programming each week. The advent of the WWE Network and evolution of NXT has extended this commitment even further but the overall quality hasn’t kept up with their demands.
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What is old is now new and a brand split is once again coming to the WWE. Former ECW original and WWE superstar Taz shared his thoughts during a sit down with Sports Illustrated:
"“It’s a layup to me. They’re doing a brand split, which I humbly say that I predicted three or four months ago on my show. I know how they book and I know what works. They’re actually a little late on the brand split, frankly, but the brand split works.”"
Lest you think I’m being a debbie downer about the entire brand split idea let me be clear that I fully recognize it’s enormous potential for both us and individual competitors. The Miz would have never had a successful singles run if he hadn’t been drafted away from John Morrison in 2009. On the flip side, breaking up the Dudley Boyz in 2002 proved to be such a monumental mistake that they were reunited less than a year later.
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Keep in mind that I said this new brand split is “desperate”; I didn’t say it was wrong. The IWC (and undoubtedly some WWE investors) have been very vocal in their criticism over the last few years and it’s hard to imagine that at least some of these words (both typed and spoken) haven’t found their way to Stamford. I’m all for anything that attempts to correct the mistakes of the past and a split could do wonders for both the tag team and rebranded women’s division if managed properly. Should the New Day be split up? No. Should all female wrestlers be put on one show? Yes. There simply isn’t enough depth to have them pull double duty on both programs. Whether or not WWE feels the same way remains to be seen but I fear they will try to spread themselves too thin just as they did in 2002.
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Whether we like it or not, the brand split is happening and I genuinely hope it ushers in a new and prosperous era of WWE programming. With so much talent to be distributed evenly between two shows, we can only hope that the writers make it their mission to compete between themselves to see which show can be better. It may not be the Monday Night Wars, but competition breeds creativity, even within your own company.