ARE WE APPROACHING A BRAND SPLIT IN WWE?
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...(READ MORE)