10 Mistakes WWE Will Probably Make With The Brand Split
2. Killing The Competition
WWE's been more aggressive over the past few years when it comes to recruiting talent, but expect that to kick into overdrive now. With more slots to fill on Raw, Smackdown, and NXT, they'll have to poach even more talent - as mentioned, Japan, Mexico, ROH, and TNA seem to be the sources to which the company will go. Given that no promotion has deeper pockets than WWE, it's not hard to imagine Vince McMahon controlling most of the sport's top talent.
That may not be as great for WWE as it sounds. The company's most successful years were 1999 and 2000, when it was still involved in a promotional war (albeit a very one-sided one) with WCW and, to an extent, ECW. Since 2001, the whole wrestling world has learned that competition makes the sport stronger, and even helps WWE.
Just as the company was unable to hold onto WCW and ECW's fans, what would be the point of gutting New Japan or Ring of Honor if they can't hold onto those groups' customers? It will only hurt the industry as a whole. Weakening what remains of WWE's competition may come back to bite the company once again.