5 Ups & 6 Downs From WWE Raw After WrestleMania 42 (Results & Review)

3. Crocodile Tears For A Non-Existent Brand Split

Sometimes, the lack of self awareness is staggering.

Rhea Ripley was crying backstage with IYO SKY because she got word that she has to leave Raw and “go be the champion that SmackDown needs”. Right, this might’ve worked if WWE actually honoured any kind of brand split, but they don’t. So, Rhea and IYO acting like they’ll never see one another again is silly and unnecessary. What's stopping them from dropping by on any given Monday or Friday?

The flaw in WWE's logic here was blown wide open by “SmackDown’s” Jacob Fatu getting involved in the main event picture on Raw in the very next segment on the show. Like, that was literally next after Ripley and SKY were getting all emotional and Liv Morgan was saying "see you around" to Rhea before they shared a frosty glance. Maybe "see you around" means, 'see you in a few weeks, Mami!'.

Do the writers really believe that people buy this sort of brand extension stuff in April 2026 when they've spent years only pretending it matters when there's a Draft coming up? What next: Rhea donning a blue t-shirt and fighting for SmackDown's honour the next time someone from Raw gatecrashes the show? She'd be doing that every other week if so.

Skits such as this one only make the roster look daft. It's the kind of thing Kevin Owens would ridicule during one of his switched on promos, then everyone would praise him for looking at things logically. Whomever scripted this should know they caused intense eye rolling. Intense!