10 Post-Brand Split Wins For WWE SmackDown
5. Creating A Fluid Roster
No, Shane McMahon didn’t melt the SmackDown Live roster into liquid form while you weren’t paying attention. He has, however, overseen the creation of an environment in which any Superstar could believably be pushed to the main event scene, resulting in an almost division-less roster.
Traditionally, wrestlers work their way up the card, but can be sent straight back down again if their time at the top doesn’t impress or if management wants to shake things up. This is still evident on RAW, where there is a fairly rigid undercard (Bo Dallas, the Golden Truth, Titus O’Neil), midcard (Sami Zayn, Sheamus & Cesaro, Rusev) and upper card (Roman Reigns, Chris Jericho, Kevin Owens).
Over on the blue brand, however, we just witnessed a WWE Championship Elimination Chamber match in which all six competitors looked like worthy contenders. You could argue that this has been born out of necessity, and a need to keep things from growing stale, more than anything.
But it has
been executed through smart and unpredictable booking, and a commitment to
rotating talent in a way that’s believable and entertaining.