WWE Brand Split: 5 Keys To Success

When WWE announced the return of the Brand Split, separating Raw and Smackdown! into two separate rosters, a wave of mixed emotions crested through wrestling fandom. WWE had been sluggish for a while, especially with the badly managed Roman Reigns experiment. Still, could we really put faith in a WWE creative team that seemed to care so little about its lower card to pull it off?

It’s going to take a lot to make this new Brand Split work. Unless the split is just a simple cash grab for more of the USA Network’s sweet, sweet ad revenue (we’ve not ruled this out yet) some changes are in order. To sell this to it’s audience WWE will need to bring a flatlining Smackdown! back to life and use the depth of its roster effectively right down to the undercard.

It’s no easy task, but here’s five key changes that might secure its success:

 

1. Have separate creative teams for both brands

Let’s face it. The Smackdown! of recent years has become the unloved younger brother of Raw. Much of this is to do with all the big action taking place on the Monday night show, but part of it is that fans have begun to view it as a two hour Raw recap show.

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After the brand split Raw and Smackdown! need different creative teams, each with a mandate to create tonally different wrestling shows. We’re not saying Smackdown! should suddenly become Lucha Underground, but letting Raw’s unloved brother step out of its shadow is the only way this brand split has a chance at success. Allow Smackdown! to borrow some of the psychology of NXT, focusing on action over words. Let it be the risk taking brand, experimenting with new ideas so that it’s older brother doesn’t have to.

Risk is not always good for business, but asking the busy viewers of 2016 to watch five hours of the same thing every week is undoubtedly the bigger gamble

 

2. Use it to propel rising stars

Right now WWE’s upper midcard is stacked. There are at least half a dozen guys who, given a steady 12 month push, could anchor one of the brands as its top heel or babyface. This is without even mentioning established main-eventers like John Cena and Seth Rollins. With a split roster their should be more space for these guys to make an impact.

With the last generation of main event stars reaching the twilight of their careers the brand split is the perfect time to start building new stars in earnest. We’re not just talking about the Shield either; Sami Zayn, Kevin Owens, Finn Balor and even Big E are perfect candidates to revitalise Smackdown! over the coming years. And make no mistake, Smackdown is going to need revitalising after what it has become.

 

3. Give performers an input on their characters

While the Attitude Era might not be the golden age of wrestling many older fans remember (the state of women’s wrestling at the time was pretty dire compared to right now) there is at least one thing that was better. Top level stars like The Undertaker and Steve Austin would defend their in ring personas against bad creative decisions.

Nowadays, with WWE creative on cruise control, wrestlers should be encouraged to speak up when they feel their character is being misused. Many of the promotion’s top performers are former indie stars who’ve spent up to a decade (or more sometimes) perfecting their character before arriving at WWE. These people know what’s best for their character, or they wouldn’t have made it to the biggest promotion in the world.

With creative stretched between two weekly shows, it’s the perfect time for some of the smarter workers to start throwing their weight around. Just a little bit, anyway.

 

4. Unify the Intercontinental and World Heavyweight belts

Okay, hear us out on this one. It’s highly speculated that WWE intends to give Smackdown! it’s own world title. We might soon be seeing the return of the World Heavyweight Championship. This would be a mistake.

Thing is, the WHC just doesn’t have the gravitas to inspire fans anymore. It’s sheen has become rusty beyond repair. No matter how hard the WWE tries, it will always be seen as second fiddle to the WWE Championship. The solution? Have the World Heavyweight Champion and the Intercontinental champion feud over who gets to headline Smackdown!.  Whoever wins gets a new belt. Not a world championship, but the cool championship. The Han Solo to the WWE Championship’s Luke Skywalker.

Kid’s love Luke, but everyone knows Han is the boss.

 

5. Create a women’s tag division

It’s probably safe to say that most wrestling fans today have never seen a WWE Women’s division with the volume of talent and strength in depth as what we have right now. WWE hasn’t always been great at utilising the current roster of women, of course. But from Sasha Banks and Charlotte on main right down to Alexa Bliss and raw talent like Liv Morgan on NXT, there has never been more a bigger glut of female wrestling talent.

WWE need to capitalise on this. Right now the company’s creative team only appear interested in maybe one and a half storylines involving the women’s division at a time. Where does that leave the other performers on the main roster? In a constant holding pattern, waiting for another title shot every six months or so. A women’s tag division would add a spark of excitement to the new brand split and give an excess of female wrestlers somewhere to go when they’re not in the orbit of the women’s title.

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