10 Times Vince McMahon Had To Swallow His Pride

9. Ending The Brand Split

When WWE originally split Raw and SmackDown into full-time separate brands, Vince's logic was simple. People want competition and choice, so we might as well be the ones to provide it. In 2002 the decision was made, the roster divided in half, and for nine long years, both shows operated independently with virtually no issues.

But the longer time went on the more the company found itself unable to arrest their declining ratings. House show attendances for each brand were down, PPV buy-rates were struggling and neither show really felt like it had the requisite depth of roster to really hook new viewers. WWE's biggest names from the turn of the millennium had mostly left the company and, in their stead, very few new faces had stepped up.

With seemingly no other option, Vince was forced to recognise that he'd simply been unable to create enough new stars to carry two separate shows and merged them again to hide the lack of drawing power.

Back in 2002 The Rock, The Undertaker, Kurt Angle, Scott Hall, Kevin Nash, Chris Benoit, and Hulk Hogan had been the first names picked. Nine years later only The Dead Man remained, and the likes of Del Rio, Miz, Swagger and Sheamus just weren't on that sort of level.