10 Mistakes WWE Will Probably Make With The Brand Split
1. Letting SmackDown Fall To Second Place
When Raw and SmackDown were first split up, the shows were meant to be equal, and the company didn't do a bad job of keeping up the illusion. Even though Raw was an institution, Smackdown had the greater exposure by being on network TV. It also got the top star in the company in the inaugural draft, The Rock.
Slowly, things started to change. A SmackDown match main-evented WrestleMania XIX (the first post-split 'Mania), but that was one of only two times that would happen. SmackDown switched networks and eventually, the blue brand's stronger stars would get sent to Raw during annual lotteries if they got too popular. In 2010's lottery, Smackdown lost top stars Edge and Chris Jericho, getting The Big Show and Christian in return. It was officially the "B" brand.
WWE would ruin the brand split if they let Raw overtake SmackDown like that again, and ultimately force the split to be dissolved once again. Raw will always be viewed as WWE's signature show, but SmackDown can be an institution in its own right. The company must treat it as important for the fans to view it as such, though - that's what will make or break this split.