The Reasoning Behind The Brand Split
Whilst rumours of WWE re-introducing the brand split had been a rumour amongst the internet wrestling community since the beginning of 2016, many believed it would happen after WrestleMania, similar to the original split in 2002. When nothing came of it, fans assumed that the idea had been nixed.
So when WWE announced that a brand split will be arriving, and in July no less, fans were confused. Not over whether it was good or bad for the talents and the company as a whole (that is a completely different debate), but why now? What is the real reasoning behind this?
Well according to WrestlingInc.com, it’s all because of USA Network. The executives of the channel are, apparently, disappointed with SmackDowns! ratings, which really shouldn’t come as much of a surprise considering the show has been channel hopping in the past few years. In 10 years SmackDown! has had 4 homes, from The CW, to MyNetworkTV, then to SyFy and, now, USA.
WWE and USA apparently had a meeting over the low ratings, and a solution was brought about to bring the show live, as opposed to being taped and to create an identity for the program. Similarly to how NXT is a very different beast to RAW, USA now wants SmackDown! to also be different to the flagship, and treated as it’s own major show as opposed to a RAW companion piece.
Look for WWE to start putting more emphasis on SmackDown! going forward, with rumours of John Cena even becoming exclusive to that brand (at least during the start up of this brand split), as they plan to bring SmackDown! to the same level as RAW.
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