Will WWE Actually Unify the Raw and SmackDown Tag Team Championships?

By Connor Casey

WWE initially advertised a match for WrestleMania Backlash between RK-Bro and The Usos that would unify the Raw and SmackDown Tag Team Championships as a part of The Bloodline's quest to continue growing their power over the company. That match was later scrapped for a non-title six-man tag team match involving The Bloodline, RK-Bro and Drew McIntyre and it was later reported that WWE had no intention of unifying the two sets of championships. However, Riddle and Randy Orton opened this week's Raw by saying they would be heading to SmackDown to demand the unification match. 

Dave Meltzer addressed that storyline on the latest Wrestling Observer Radio, saying that despite the idea continuing to be pushed WWE still isn't planning on combining the titles. He noted (h/t WrestlingNews.co) "This is what I was told on this. They are going to do the match, but as of right now, and this can change, they are not planning on actually unifying the titles. They are planning on doing the match. So, I don't know if that means another run-in DQ. They can always change their mind, but they are right now planning on doing the match. I'm presuming it's going to be the next pay-per-view. That, I don't know for sure."

WWE has already unified the WWE and Universal Championships and the brand split between Raw and SmackDown has been noticeably weakened this year, usually whenever The Bloodline get involved. However, there have been multiple reports stating that the brand split is going to continue sticking around as FOX officials want exclusivity on stars competing on the SmackDown brand.

One of the biggest supporters of the brand split is, surprisingly, Reigns' special counsel Paul Heyman. He explained why in an interview with Ariel Helwani last November. 

"There's not enough space for new talent to rise if you're going to have both shows dominated by the same personalities," Heyman said. "It's a matter of the amount of time it takes for a talent to resonate with an audience and how much you have to define that persona and learn about who this person is, why I should care about them and why I should pay to see them. And if you have both television shows dominated by Roman Reigns, The Usos, The Bloodline, Paul Heyman, Brock Lesnar, Randy Orton, Big E, Becky Lynch, Charlotte, Sasha Banks, Bianca Belair, we now have both shows booked.

"Okay, so when do the young stars emerge? How do you get Humberto Carrillo in a decent spot? How do you get Angel Garza in a decent spot? Where does Hit Raw make their debut and against whom and for how long? How long will they have to rise to the top? You need to have these separate and distinct entities so that there are three hours to fill up on Monday, so that there's two hours to fill on a Friday," he continued. "And if Roman Reigns just dominates both shows then you have to keep the storylines cohesive, so whomever Roman is working with on Raw, the story continues on SmackDown. Top spot is locked up. Top spot on SmackDown is not the same as the top spot on Raw. Big E has his thing going with Kevin Owens. ...Once you take that main event position and you give it to the same two, three people on both shows, your main event position is now locked up. So how do you rise?"

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