20 Most Unbelievable WWE Moments From 2016
6. The 2016 Brand Split
The first time WWE split their talents into separate Raw and SmackDown rosters was in 2002.
After acquiring and eventually deciding to eliminate the WCW brand, WWE recognized the need to showcase, at least the perception of, more than just one promotion. In an attempt to establish competition, the company presented a "brand extension" that would last from May 2002 through August 2011.
Considering the 2011 decision to re-merge the rosters, the first brand split has to be considered a failure. The over-saturation of the company's events, championships, and talents brought upon by the brand extension only further diminished the quality of WWE's product, specifically SmackDown.
After unifying the WWE and World Championships in December 2013, WWE seemed committed to presenting one centralized product with the days of separate brands behind them.
As it turned out, that wouldn't last very long and in July 2016, WWE once again announced plans to split their talents into Raw and SmackDown rosters. Ultimately an effort to improve SmackDown ratings which moved to the USA Network in January, the 2016 brand split hopes to learn from past mistakes and provide a better long-term result than WWE's first attempt. Whether that ends up happening or not, the decision to split the brand in 2016 is definitely one of the year's most unbeleiveable moments.