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With SmackDown being touted as the “sports presentation” show that’s sort of what I expected (and why I was initially excited for the brand split). You’d have two distinct feels to the shows.
SmackDown would be the more “workrate” based show with Brian, Nakamura, Zayn, Cesaro, Reigns, Ziggler, New Day, Usos, Gable, Morrison, even guys like Sheamus, Jeff Hardy, Heavy Machinery, etc. who don’t necessarily fit in the top tier of in ring talent but can go and more importantly add some “character” and diversity to the roster so it’s not just a bunch of “vanilla midgets” applying submissions to each other. And yes, Brock and Rousey.
Raw would then be the more “entertainment” show with the bigger personalities. This is where Strowman and The Fiend fit. You’d still want some guys that can handle the action between the ropes to hold on to that “hardcore”/IWC audience. That’s where Rollins, Owens, Styles, Black, Joe, etc come in. This is where the first brand spilt went wrong; they seemed to go for similar “feels” as described above but they left Raw with a coming-to-the-end-of-his-career Austin, Hall, Nash, Big Show, Taker, Kane, Bubba Dudley, and Bradshaw. Grim.
Tbf, the current situation is different; you’d be unlucky to pick 3 random names out of a hat and not get at least one guy that’s at least an 8/10 in the ring.
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