10 Mistakes WWE Will Probably Make With The Brand Split

9. Not Pushing Underrated Stars

Smackdown Raw
WWE.com

When WWE first instituted the brand split, one of the main justifications for it was that now, undercard talent would be given a chance to shine. WWE briefly gave lip service to the notion, pushing men like Bubba Ray Dudley and Rikishi in the wake of the split. Those pushes turned out to be half-hearted attempts, not a true focus on building new talent. In the end, the only wrestler already on the roster who ended up benefiting from the split was Bradshaw.

WWE finds itself in a similar spot now, only with a more talented roster and smarter fans. In today's wrestling environment, fans are very vocal about who they want to see, often at the expense of stars the company has chosen. Wrestlers like Zack Ryder and the recently-released Damien Sandow always got great reactions, but WWE still chose not to use them. With more slots on what amounts to two rosters, it's imperative that Ryder and wrestlers like him get their chance.

Still, that doesn't mean it's likely to happen. WWE's decision-makers form their opinions about talent relatively quickly, and it's not like they haven't had plenty of opportunities to push Ryder in the past. Even a company restructuring probably won't change how they handle him.

Contributor
Contributor

Scott Fried is a Slammy Award-winning* writer living and working in New York City. He has been following/writing about professional wrestling for many years and is a graduate of Lance Storm's Storm Wrestling Academy. Follow him on Twitter at https://twitter.com/scottfried. *Best Crowd of the Year, 2013