WWE Brand Split Update Heading Into WrestleMania 39

03/27/2023 06:00 pm EDT

WWE's Brand Split between Monday Night Raw, Friday Night SmackDown and NXT currently seems like a distant memory. The split between the three brands was re-introduced in 2016, resulting in the return of the WWE Draft, concepts like the Superstar Shake-Up and the introduction of brand-specific championships like the Raw/SmackDown Women's Championships and Tag Team Championships. However, the concept was weakened during the COVID-19 pandemic with the introduction of the "Wild Card Rule" and "Brand to Brand Invitational," allowing wrestlers to cross brands seemingly on a whim.

The concept has been virtually nonexistent ever since Paul Levesque took over booking last July as champions and challengers alike have appeared on both shows without any pushback from onscreen authority figures like Adam Pearce. Every member of the main roster is designated to a particular brand, but that never gets in the WWE Creative Team's way of building new storylines. A mere glance at the WrestleMania 39 card is indicative of that with matches like Roman Reigns (SmackDown) vs. Cody Rhodes (Raw), The Usos (SD) vs. Kevin Owens & Sami Zayn (Raw), Rhea Ripley (Raw) vs. Charlotte Flair (SD) and Rey Mysterio (SD) vs. Dominik Mysterio (Raw). There have been reports of WWE reviving the Draft (something not done since 2021) after WrestleMania, but nothing has been confirmed by the company so far.

Sean Ross Sapp dropped a new report on Fightful Select on Monday, jokingly pointing out that the "Brand to Brand Invitational" has been long dead in the eyes of the WWE Creative team after not being mentioned for a long time. It was seen as just one of many attempts from the Vince McMahon regime to boost ratings and sources claim it hasn't been mentioned since Levesque too over. Sapp noted, "even FOX and USA Network have relaxed their insistence on distinctly different brands of late."

Do you think the brand split is gone for good? Will that hurt or help WWE's product overall? Tell us your thoughts in the comments! 

WWE WrestleMania 39 Card

• Undisputed WWE Universal Championship: Roman Reigns vs. Cody Rhodes (Night Two)
• WWE United States Championship: Austin Theory vs. John Cena (Night One)
• Seth Rollins vs. Logan Paul (Night One)
• Undisputed WWE Tag Team Championships: The Usos vs. Kevin Owens & Sami Zayn
• SmackDown Women's Championship: Charlotte Flair vs. Rhea Ripley
• Raw Women's Championship: Bianca Belair vs. Asuka
• WWE Intercontinental Championship: Gunther vs. Drew McIntyre vs. Sheamus
• Brock Lesnar vs. Omos
• Edge vs. Finn Balor (Hell in a Cell Match)
• Rey Mysterio vs. Dominik Mysterio
• Becky Lynch, Trish Stratus & Lita vs. Damage CTRL (Bayley, Dakota Kai & Iyo Sky)
• Braun Strowman & Ricochet vs. The Street Profits (Montez Ford & Angelo Dawkins) vs. Alpha Academy (Chad Gable & Otis) vs. The Viking Raiders (Erik & Ivar)
• Liv Morgan & Raquel Rodriguez vs. Natalya & Shotzi vs. Ronda Rousey & Shayna Baszler vs. TBA

WWE's WrestleMania 39 takes place at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood (Los Angeles), California on April 1-2. Stay tuned for live, full coverage of the event this weekend! 

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