The time before the brand split in WWE isn’t that far back as we’re in the sixth year of the split. However, there was a time before the original 2002 Brand Split when WWE simply worked even with a fairly bulky roster. Was it the product at the time?
Could it have been that it allowed for long-running stories that were fast-paced and filled with excitement? Maybe it worked because writers could mess up at one part of a story but had more room to recover within that same week instead of “You better stick it next week”?
I’d say it was pretty much all of these reasons and more.
Why Did WWE Work Well Before the First Brand Split in 2002?
Before the 2003 brand split, the roster was whole. There were RAW and SmackDown shows but organizing the roster by brand wasn’t exactly necessary. At least it wasn’t until the roster got even bigger thanks to WWE purchasing WCW and later ECW.
Even then, there was a brief period where WWE was juggling multiple balls and getting things done with pushes and storylines. It was an interesting balancing act because you’d think that a lot of stories would be wrapped up faster because there were two primetime TV shows to continue the story.
Personally, I believe that worked in WWE’s favor from a continuity standpoint. Think about it; if two wrestlers get into it at the end of RAW and one of them ends up taking a finisher onto the belt, shouldn’t that be continued later that week?
I’d think the wrestler who took the L on Monday would want to get some payback as soon as possible. The following Monday isn’t exactly as soon as possible when you’ve got a Friday show. If anything, that wrestler should’ve simmered down and come up with their payback for the new week.
Having stories run at the start and the end of the week kept us enthralled throughout the week. We anticipated that blue show a few days later to see if a face was going to balance the scales or if the heel was going to double up on the shenanigans.
We can’t forget non-brand split go-home SmackDowns. Also, the Attitude Era product and the products before that were good for multiple shows. I’d say the Hulkamania, post-Hulkamania, and New Generation eras were even better because those were times when the champion didn’t have to wrestle on television that much or at all.
Hell, the champion didn’t even have to be the arena. Given how television was done back then, the champion could be on the show via a quick promo hyping up the MSG or Spectrum shows. Of course, by 2002, the WWE roster had gotten beefier and the company had a few duplicate belts for different levels of the card, so why not attempt a split?
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