During the latest edition of his “Grilling JR” podcast, WWE Hall of Famer and AEW analyst Jim Ross commented on WWE’s first brand split that took place back in 2002, what the process was like coming up with the RAW and SmackDown rosters, and more.
You can check out some highlights from the podcast below:
On the initial WWE brand split in 2002: “I liked the brand split if it was a true brand split. I didn’t like the brand split to get watered down and become – I like exclusivity. I think that would have been the better way to go just from my taste and give these guys a chance to get established on their own vehicle, whether that be Raw or SmackDown. They always say there are plenty of right ways to do a storyline, but this is one way of doing it. My issue with the brand split was not the concept of doing it, it’s how it was executed once the trigger was pulled. It was very interesting times. We had not been there before, so it’s hard to predict how you would’ve done it, could’ve done it – there’s a lot of right ways to do it. But the key thing for me was maintaining some uniqueness and exclusivity once the brand split happened. I think that’s where we might have let folks down a little bit, at least in my opinion.”
On the process of coming up with the RAW and SmackDown rosters: “Any time you try to make multiple talents happy, you’re challenged because that’s almost impossible. Guys didn’t want to break up their riding partners, talents that were in relationships wanted to be on the same travel schedule, the boyfriend/girlfriend thing was an issue. But it was challenging. You can’t make everybody happy – the fans and the talent. I was involved in a ton of those conversations. People lobbying for their brand. It was challenging but a necessary evil I thought. We needed to do something, and hopefully if the brand splits were true, it gives everybody the opportunity to get more TV time in a prime time environment and puts a spotlight on them better. All in all, I was for the brand split, but I got less for it when they started migrating from brand to brand. I just didn’t think that was a smart way of doing it.”
(h/t – 411 Wrestling)
