The WWE brand split is over and I don’t care

SmackDown Superstar AJ Styles appeared raw Last night (May 29th). He helped open and close the show, first by congratulating Seth Rollins for beating him up Hero nightto claim the new WWE World Heavyweight Championship, and then by teaming with him to take down The Judgment Day.

This comes less than a month after the company’s 17th draft went into effect. Ostensibly designed to split up the key talent on the WWE roster by assigning wrestlers to Raw or SmackDown, it’s always a matter of time before they break their own rules so they can use people wherever and however they want. Hell, a bunch of people of different levels of importance were designated “free agents” in the draft – so they wrote themselves a loophole from the jump.

However, it was upsetting for some in the public to see WWE discard the draft so quickly after implementing it this year. In years past, I’d be with them. But I can’t take care of myself anymore.

Would I prefer that they take the concept seriously, or that they dump it all together? certainly. I still think there is potential in draft and branding with custom rosters. But WWE either doesn’t agree, or doesn’t agree enough to do the (much more difficult) work of creating their shows this way. And they won’t give up on the draft completely, because it provides increased ratings and interest every time they play one.

Did WWE “Break Me”? maybe. But as with performers whose work I don’t enjoy but others do, and the kinds of stories that instantly spark controversy among fans (at least the ones online), I’ve come to realize that the narrative inconsistencies in WWE don’t really affect my enjoyment of things. I like him. And there are plenty of them, in their red and blue shows, and all over the wrestling world. Getting so hot that they’re hand-waving away from the split slate to make a fun match with a scene of Adam Pearce admitting that’s exactly what they do? It only detracts from my ability to appreciate good things.

If dissecting and discussing the rules of kayfabe, and lamenting WWE (and other companies) inability to abide by them, makes you happy? Go for it! I used to put myself off, and as long as you don’t use your annoyance to sway anyone else’s pleasure, I can easily avoid those conversations.

I’m even going to share one with you for putting up one for WWE’s brand split of 2023. But then I’m going straight back to looking at Styles & Rollins vs. Damien Priest and Finn Balor, or whatever else has piqued me lately from this weird, grotesque, and often nonsensical pastime. which we all follow.

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