Is WWE Bringing Back The Brand Extension?

Following Shane McMahon's carefully-worded demand for control of "Monday Night Raw," rumors have surfaced that WWE is once again considering implementing a brand extension. PWInsider's Mike Johnson is reporting that WWE has been hosting internal discussions regarding the reinstitution of the extension over the past few weeks. If Shane were to defeat The Undertaker at WrestleMania and win control of Raw, that would leave Smackdown! open to being run by The Authority. The next logical step might be a division of talent. There's little concrete evidence to support the plan, save for a notice on Ticketmaster.com that the May 23 Raw in Baltimore, MD is being billed as "Monday Night Raw vs. WWE." This could be indicative of an upcoming storyline, though not necessarily - for years after the WCW/ECW Invasion angle ended, similar information would pop up advertising "WCW" tapings, only to change in time. WWE's original brand extension started in 2002 following the end of the Invasion angle, dividing a more crowded talent roster than the company had ever seen. Over the course of the next several years, myriad General Managers took the reigns of each show and all Pay-Per-Views, save for the "big five," were divided up among Raw and Smackdown! The extension ended in the summer of 2011 when WWE COO Triple H announced that Smackdown! wrestlers could appear on Raw.