10 Ways The Brand Split Has Changed WWE (One Year On)
6. Stretched Women's & Tag Team Divisions
While most of WWE’s men’s singles divisions haven’t struggled for numbers since the brand split started, the same can’t be said for their niche groups. The company’s women’s and tag team scenes looked extremely thin prior to the 2016 draft, and splitting them in two has worsened the problems, particularly among the second group.
The New Day, Usos, and Breezango are the only teams with any kind of credibility on SmackDown, and the same goes for the Hardys, Sheamus & Cesaro, and The Revival on Raw. Directionless lower card teams comprise the rest of the rosters, and the same goes for the women’s division, with each brand’s group featuring just two or three legitimate stars.
It would’ve made more sense for WWE to throw all the women on one brand, and the teams on the other. The company decided against going down that route, however, and instead of two well stocked groups, we’ve been left with four top-heavy divisions with little of interest going on outside the main title programs. A shame, as there’s more than enough talent to make both scenes interesting and dynamic from top to bottom - they’re just stretched too thin.