8 Signs WWE's Latest Brand Split Is Dying
5. No More Authority Figures For Each Brand
Part of WWE's grand idea to "shake things up" back in December was to get rid of general managers all together on Raw and SmackDown Live. It can be argued that fewer authority figures is never a bad thing, but this only meant that the McMahon family would have an even bigger presence on WWE programming from week to week.
That's the exact opposite of change.
WWE brought back the GM position when the Brand Split was reinstated in the summer of 2016. Mick Foley and Daniel Bryan were put in charge of Raw and SmackDown respectively, and played their roles remarkably well by and large (whenever they weren't being upstaged by Stephanie and Shane McMahon, that is).
It wasn't until Baron Corbin was given the reins to Raw that a GM had abused their power for the first time in nearly a decade. That pretty much ruined it for Paige, who was unceremoniously booted from her role as SmackDown GM in December and hasn't been seen on WWE TV since.
The McMahons have mostly added nothing to Raw and SmackDown in 2019 and have been more of a hindrance than a help. Vince and Shane being all over Raw and SmackDown as heel authority figures feels like a poor rehash of the Attitude Era.