Views From The Turnbuckle: The Brand Split’s Undercard; Can WWE Allow It’s Stars To Shine?

The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not reflect the opinions of WrestlingInc or its staff

The brand split has only been active for a couple weeks, but already we can see the shifting of the gears in the WWE machine. While the main event picture has seen two fresher names challenge for the respective world championships (Finn Balor and Dolph Ziggler) the undercard, those wrestling outside of the main event, will likely define the success of the brand extension. The guys who were (or on their way to becoming) big stars before the draft are still going to be big stars after the draft; so the real opportunity with the brand split is going to be in the mid-card for guys and girls who may not have gotten the same chances under the old-formula.

The most successful aspect of the brand split so far has been to me, has been the chances for more people to try and get over. On an episode of Monday Night RAW, a greater array of talent is getting a shot to work matches and programs than previously. On the last two episodes of RAW, Darren Young and Titus O’Neil, two guys who were largely forgotten until recently, have gotten the chance to have matches, tell a story and work a program. So far the matches have not been very good and it is unclear where the story is headed, but the important thing is that they are getting the opportunity to try and become stars; at least more so than previously.

I have been arguing for the case of opening more roster spaces for talent for a while, but typically I have been pining for those spaces to be opened up by releasing talent that have proven to lack the ability to really get over on the main roster. Instead, they have effectively done that by splitting the brands up, which as mentioned above, has given more spots to different talent. With NXT rapidly acquiring more and more talent from the independents, guys from NXT need to be called up and given a chance on the main roster and that has been what WWE has done, calling up wrestlers like Balor, Enzo and Cass, American Alpha, Alexa Bliss and even Eva Marie, and giving them TV time and at least a shot at getting over with the live audience.

Another thing I have liked so far has been the increased focus on the United States Championship on RAW. Now, WWE has a ton invested in Roman Reigns and any storyline that involves him is going to warrant a lot of TV time, but it is still nice to see the United States Championship actually taken seriously like it deserves to be. I was a big fan of RAW’s ending last week, with it closing with an impromptu championship match and continuing the feud between Rusev and Reigns. You can’t watch that finish and think that the United States Championship is worthless, which unfortunately has been the prevailing opinion of it for far too much of the last decade.

The big mistake I …

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