Flashback to 2002. Vince McMahon and the WWE was just a year removed from the purchasing of rival WCW in 2001. The WWE and the World titles were unified and "The Next Big Thing" Brock Lesner was fresh on the scene and wrecking havoc through the WWE roster. Vinnie Mac decided it was time to "shake things up", proceeded to split the roster into Raw and Smackdown!, with the two brands almost competing with each other. First it was 50/50 owners Vince McMahon and Ric Flair, with later, General Managers being named. Stephanie McMahon being in charge of Smackdown!, and the newly hired and former rival, Eric Bischoff being the GM of Raw. In the beginning, the WWE Undisputed Champion was to appear on both brands, until Brock Lesner beat The Rock for the belt. Then, Stephanie McMahon proceeded to sign Lesner to a contract making him exclusive to Smackdown!, which led to Bischoff handing Triple H the WWE World Championship so Raw would have a champion. For awhile, both brands were equal, and in some cases Smackdown! was considered the superior brand based on some opinions. With stars like Brock Lesner, Kurt Angle, Big Show (with Paul Heyman), amongst others helped with that. Of course, every year Vince McMahon would appear to announce that it was "time to shake things up again!", and we would see a draft lottery. At times it was pretty boring, but there were moments when there was some shock value, and meant good things for your preferred brand. Remember when Michael Cole was drafted to Raw, and Jim Ross to Smackdown!? Or like he referenced recently, when John Cena was drafted to Raw and unveiled the new WWE title? He was right, we were all pretty stoked about it all. Which also signaled the beginning of Raw becoming the "stacked" roster, and then later the brands coming back together.
What is the point of all of this? Look at the current WWE landscape. The titles are unified, making the holder the WWE World Heavyweight Champion. They haven't even opted to make them into one belt yet, which could mean they are looking to split them in the future. Include the overall size of the current WWE rosters, both the main roster as well as the NXT roster containing the rookies who will be looking for a place to land. Although it has been nice having the story lines carry over, and Smackdown! leading into a PPV, it is understandable that they would split the brands. Gives a platform to "push" more guys without displacing the current main event or mid-carders. Would we have ever seen guys like the late Eddie Guerrero or Bradshaw win the title if the brands weren't split? Who's to say if the JBL gimmick would have even worked as well as it did if not for being a Smackdown! product. Could help guys like Kofi Kingston, Dolph Ziggler and many others find their way (gimmick or simply a place to shine) with a brand split. Could even help Roman Reigns move away from Seth Rollins and Dean Ambrose if they decide to split up The Shield (which has been rumored since before Wrestlemania XXX). Oh, and then there is Brock Lesner. This isn't the rookie from 2002, this is the new Brock Lesner. Thanks to the popularity of MMA, we all now have an appreciation for just how legit this guy is. Plus, in case you haven't been listening to Paul Heyman's constant reminders, he's the guy who ended The Undertaker's undefeated streak at Wrestlemania. Brock may be in part time mode nowadays, but very few argue that he will be winning the WWE World Heavyweight Championship at some point. Perhaps he goes Raw exclusive this time around.
Only time will tell I guess. It does seem to be heading that way, and like mentioned above there are good things that could stem from this. There are some bad as well, but as long as they stay true to the original brand extension and keep the shows equal, it will be less likely to be so one-sided. The drafts were often better then not, and made for better shows then some of those celebrity guest Raw's with only a few exceptions.
