10 Mistakes WWE Will Probably Make With The Brand Split
7. A "Soft" Split
There are few details available about the upcoming brand split because very little's been decided thus far. Apart from the fact that the shows will have different rosters and that Stephanie and Shane will each run one, there's been nothing finalized.
One of the things still being discussed is whether to have a "hard" split, where the rosters will be well and truly kept apart, or a "soft" split, where the rules will be relaxed and wrestlers will make appearances on the opposite show. The latter seems more likely for the company, but it would be a mistake.
For the brand split to work best, each show needs to have its own identity and its own feel. There's already a lot of WWE programming on TV, and nobody wants to watch more - the draw of the new Smackdown is that it and Raw will feel like different promotions. Plus, during the last days of the last brand split, Smackdown superstars started appearing on Raw all the time, and it really hurt the illusion of two separate rosters.
Hopefully, with the exception of some traveling champions, the rosters undergo a "hard" split.