5 Ups & 7 Downs From Last Night's WWE SmackDown (Apr 10)

5. So Much For The Brand Split

xavier woods drew mcintyre
WWE.com

With the Superstar Shake-Up just a week away, the implicit information is that WWE's brand extension is still somehow relevant, even if empirical evidence suggests otherwise. Admittedly, the roster is somewhat nebulous over WrestleMania weekend, with talent rotating like a Dervish on a carousel, but it's usually clear that it's a one-off.

Not so this year. Not only have Raw and SmackDown talent being swapping houses like middle-aged spouses fishing keys from a bowl, but we were treated to a squad of unconfirmed NXT call-ups as the shows desperately aimed to arrest their slides. The complete chaos became even less clear on SmackDown, with various superstars bearing nameplates assigning their registered home.

Sure, it's a decent advert for the upcoming slew of switches next week, but does it really mean anything when, say, Drew McIntyre can simply turn up on SmackDown under the Raw banner in any given week anyway?

Advertisement
Editorial Team
Editorial Team

Benjamin was born in 1987, and is still not dead. He variously enjoys classical music, old-school adventure games (they're not dead), and walks on the beach (albeit short - asthma, you know). He's currently trying to compile a comprehensive history of video game music, yet denies accusations that he purposefully targets niche audiences. He's often wrong about these things.