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On the latest episode of RAW, many Smackdown LIVE superstars - including the likes of the WWE Champion Kofi Kingston, Roman Reigns, and Daniel Bryan - made their respective appearances. Even the main event was contested between two top Blue Brand Superstars for the top prize on the Blue Brand.
The WWE fans are now theorizing that this might be the sign of something that would embark the end of the brand split in just three years. Even though there are some signs that validate this claim - like the ratings of the TV shows plummeting every week - there are a few that destroys this rumour.
The Blue Brand and Red Brand will co-exist as rivals for at least a few more months with a nuanced roster. The newly proposed "wild-card" rule may not even exist after a few months.
In this thread, we will take a look at a few signs that still suggest that the Brand Split will not end anytime soon.
#3 The Brand Exclusive titles are still Brand Exclusive
While the United States and Intercontinental title have moved between the brands many times since the 2016 Brand Split, the Brand Exclusive titles like the tag team championships and women's championship are still exclusive to their respective brands.
Sure, Becky Lynch is still appearing on both RAW and SmackDown LIVE with both of her Championships but she is still treating both of her titles as separate entities (more on that later).
The RAW tag team Championship has only been challenged by only one team from SmackDown LIVE - when The Bar faced the team of Matt Hardy and Bray Wyatt at the Greatest Royal Rumble for the vacant RAW tag team Championship.
Other than that, it would be hard to recall an instance where a tag team exclusive to one brand challenged the titles from the other brand.
#2 Becky Lynch's title reign
In 2013, the then Heavyweight Champion John Cena, and the then WWE Champion Randy Orton clashed in a TLC match to crown the Undisputed Champion in WWE. Orton defeated the Cenation leader to merge both the titles together as the WWE World Heavyweight Championship. Orton did not defend both the titles separately - but went on to defend both the titles together. It was a period where Brand Split did not exist.
Fast forward to 2019 and we have a similar situation with Becky Lynch. Lynch defeated both the RAW Women's Champion Ronda Rousey and the Smackdown LIVE Women's Champion Charlotte Flair to take home both the titles at WrestleMania 35. However, both Lynch and WWE have confirmed that Lynch will defend both of her titles in separate bouts against separate opponents at Money in the Bank.
Lynch will take on Lacey Evans for the RAW Women's Championship and Charlotte Flair for the SD LIVE Women's Championship at Money in the Bank. If WWE were to end the brand split, they would have started it by merging both the Women's title.
#1 The FOX deal
The WWE fans are not treating WWE's deal with FOX TV seriously enough. As of now, both RAW and SmackDown LIVE air on the USA network. It means WWE can easily end the brand split right now and have its Superstars appear on both brands on a regular basis. However, later this year, on October 4, Smackdown LIVE will officially make its move to the FOX network.
Since both the FOX network and USA network are rivals to each other, neither of them will be keen to promote Superstars from their rival channels on their shows. That means that WWE would not be able to promote RAW Superstars on Smackdown LIVE and vice versa from October. If WWE were to end the brand split now, they would face a huge headache down the road - later this year.
