WWE using champions differently can add new wrinkle while keeping brand split

It isn’t time for WWE’s brand split to end, but it’s a perfect time for a commitment to changes.

Vince McMahon’s company has been working with mostly separate “Monday Night Raw” and “SmackDown” rosters since 2016. WWE has strayed from it at times, introducing the wild-card rule in 2019 that allowed a limited number of wrestlers to cross over between brands. Others such as Brock Lesnar and Ronda Rousey have acted at “free agents” at times and shown up on both brands.

There are currently signs that would make one believe the brand extension could be slowly on its way out with Roman Reigns currently the Undisputed WWE Universal champion after his title unification match versus Lesnar at WrestleMania 38. The Usos, Reigns’ cousins and fellow members of The Bloodline faction, are scheduled to face RK-Bro in a match to unify the SmackDown and Raw tag team championships at the WrestleMania Backlash pay-per-view on May 8.

For now, all the unifications are happening within The Bloodline’s story. Until WWE unifies the women’s championships — which are being used to highlight some of its biggest stars in Bianca Belair, Becky Lynch, Charlotte Flair and Rousey — it’s hard to believe the brand split as we know it will be tossed aside.

For one, WWE has always split its talent up over live events and having clear brand distinctions makes that easier. Giving Fox and USA Network stars they know they can promote and will have on their shows every week is likely a comforting thing for networks and the shows’ writing teams. Having separate rosters still maximizes the amount of air time you spread out amongst your talent. Otherwise, 40 minutes a week would be taken up by Reigns’ entrances alone.

But with WWE’s television deals coming up soon, this is the perfect time to make a few tweaks to freshen up the product. So if you aren’t going to combine the rosters, then streamline your titles for an extended period of time and see how it works to have one world champion and one pair of male tag team champions for an extended period of time. That means keeping the titles joined after Roman Reigns and either the Usos or RK-Bro. Not having the WWE champion on “Raw” every week has already allowed other storylines to get the extra time they need to grow and be told in a more complete way.

Another option is to let the Intercontinental championship get some added prestige by allowing the person who holds it to bounce between brands — with the focus still being on “SmackDown” — and put on some great wrestling matches, similar to what the TNT champion does in AEW. When it’s time for the draft, there will be a better chance of having some established history between wrestlers than in the past.

By letting singular champions move between brands, it allows for a little more variety in who they interact with. Why can’t Reigns have a feud on “Raw” with the likes of an A.J. Styles that leads to a title defense on TV and then mix it up on a “SmackDown” with Drew McIntyre in something that culminates in a pay-per-view match? The same would go for the Usos or RK-Bro. One week they could have a match versus New Day on “SmackDown” and a few weeks later the Street Profits on “Raw.” A No. 1 contenders match could draw the champion to a brand for the following week.

I understand from a live event/ticket standpoint this may not be ideal, because someone buying a ticket to “SmackDown” may have less of a guarantee of seeing someone like Reigns, but the majority of the roster will not be in flux.