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Top 5 Reasons Why the WWE Brand Split SHOULD Return

Click the thumbs up button if you agree with Francesca! The video with the most thumbs up will be declared the first round’s winner.

Over the last few months, and with Shane McMahon potentially winning control of Monday Night Raw at Wrestlemania 32, the likelihood of WWE bringing back the brand split has never been stronger. Here are my Top 5 reasons why they should…

1. SET IN THEIR WAYS

There’s an article on WWE’s website called the Evolution of Raw sets, with a slideshow of all the different designs the show has had. There’s the Manhattan Centre, small-time look, the Raw is War design, the shards of steel and so on. It’s the same over on Smackdown. Remember the fist? I heard Mae Young gave birth to it.

The point is, both shows changed their designs pretty much every two to three years…until 2008, where the Raw article stops. Because nothing has changed since then.

On January 18th, 2008, the WWE debuted a very, very expensive high definition LED Titantron for their first HD broadcast, and it stayed that way ever since. That’s five hours of programming a week – not counting all the identical pay per view sets now – with the same exact look. A brand split return could force Smackdown and Raw to undergo a makeover to make them appear more different from each other. 

2. Oh, You Didn’t Know? You Better Call-Up Somebody

A brand split would involve splitting the roster in two. That’s a tough one, as the WWE has nowhere near the depth of talent they did back in the mid-00s when they did the original brand split. NXT, however…does.

There are plenty of wrestlers down in the ‘developmental’ roster right now that could easily transition to the main stage. I say ‘developmental’ in air quotes there because people like Samoa Joe, Finn Balor and Hideo Itami down there have decades of ring time between them.

At the moment, us NXT fans don’t really want them to get called up. Because as soon as they are, Vince McMahon will probably want to put them in a cape and give them a Mighty Mouse character. I wish I was joking. That’s actually what he wanted to do with Neville.

The brand split would force the WWE to use these guys properly, as they would have to make the most of each wrestler they call-up.

3. Bragging Rights

Bragging Rights might have been an awful name for a Pay Per View, but the idea is sound. Having separate Raw and Smackdown rosters means you can build up to the occasional epic showdown event. The key there, though, is keeping them separate, not like the latter years of the original brand split, which had all the consistency of a Scott Steiner promo about doing long division.

Invasion angles, when done patiently, make for some of the best moments in wrestling. The early days of the NWO, the early days of the ECW/WCW alliance, the early days of the Nexus – note how I’m only saying the ‘early days’ here – with a brand split, the WWE can capture that magic whenever they want.

4. To Be the McMahon, You’ve Got to Beat the McMahon

Like them or loathe them, The Authority have been around for nearly 3 years now. That’s 3 years of 20 minute Authority promos opening Raw. That’s 52 hours worth of Triple H and Stephanie looking smug and saying the same thing over and over again. 

If Shane McMahon beats The Undertaker at Wrestlemania 32, he’ll gain control of Monday Night Raw. I don’t believe the Authority are really going anywhere, so by doing a brand split, at least they’ll be restricted to Smackdown appearances only. Raw will be free!

5. Raw and the Raw Replay

To WWE’S credit, Smackdown has been much better since moving to the USA Network and Mauro Ranallo taking control of commentary. But for years we’ve been conditioned to see Smackdown as just a Raw replay – with Raw rematches and angles that are either never mentioned or completely disregarded on the flagship show. A brand split could reboot both shows, letting Smackdown shed its younger, runtish cousin image. Otherwise known as ‘The Spike Dudley’.

Raw would get a shake up, too. And maybe – this is me dreaming here – it could cater for a more adult audience. With a brand split, Raw could go TV-14, while Smackdown stays a PG product.

Regardless of TV age restrictions, Raw and Smackdown would become distinct pieces of must-see television again, rather than just the same storylines spread thin between both shows.

So those are my top 5 reasons why the brand split should return to the WWE. If you agree with me, click the little thumbs up button and we’ll tally them up before the next video.

I’ve been Francesca Wood. Sweet dreams.

You can check out the counterpoint, 5 reasons why the WWE brand split should NOT return, in the video below:

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