WWE Hall of Famer Eric Bischoff highlights the importance of a brand split.
WWE first introduced a brand split in 2002, as it held a WWE Draft and gave Raw and SmackDown exclusive rosters. The introduction of WWE ECW added a third brand to the mix before WWE gradually softened the split, which later came to an end in 2011. WWE launched another brand split in 2016, but in recent years, it hasn't been strictly enforced. The company continues to hold a WWE Draft almost every year to shake up the rosters. Most recently, WWE held the 2023 WWE Draft, and the rosters went into effect on May 8.
Speaking with co-host Jon Alba on Strictly Business, Bischoff was asked about the conversations about the WWE Draft from a network standpoint during his run as the Executive Director of WWE SmackDown. Specifically, Bischoff was asked about the 2019 WWE Draft, which came shortly after SmackDown's premiere on FOX. Bischoff noted that he didn't communicate a lot with FOX before he shifted gears and described why he believes a brand split is a necessity.
“In 2019, I really didn’t communicate much to FOX. I was overseeing the SmackDown brand for a cup of coffee, and as a result, all of my conversations were kind of focused on the brand. I didn’t really have a lot of communication with the network. A little bit, when it came to the brand. More as it related to promotions and things that we wanted to do leading up to the brand split, or the draft at that point. But it’s interesting to say what’s the value of the brand split. I don’t think there’s a value in a brand split. I think it’s a necessity. I guess the value, you could argue that the value is that you have two distinct brands. Therefore, you have two distinct television licensing opportunities. As in any television show, wrestling is no different, the quality of that show is oftentimes linked directly to the star power on it. In order to have two successful brands when you have two major media companies vying for the rights, bidding for the rights for those brands, the value has to be there. But the networks look at the rosters, and that’s the challenge. So it’s not so much immediate value, beyond the fact that you do have two separate brands that you can license. But it’s a necessity in order to keep your television parties happy, and that’s where it gets tricky because not all talent is created equal," Bischoff said.
The WWE Hall of Famer continued by detailing how it can be hard to keep both television partners happy when a company like WWE has two major shows. He stated that this aspect of the brand split is the biggest challenge, as both networks want the top stars.
"You can have your roster set and feel really good about it, but if you have somebody emerge as the biggest star in the company, who gets that star? Both networks are gonna want that star, and that’s when it becomes tricky because you’ve got to keep your television partners happy. If you’ve got one star, star A, who’s perceived to be and is, a bigger star that gets better ratings perhaps or by any other metric, is just considered to be the star in WWE at that particular moment, if that star is not on your network, you’re not happy about that. So that’s the challenge, is keeping your network partners happy. That’s the biggest challenge," Bischoff said.
Check out the updated rosters of WWE RAW and SmackDown following the 2023 WWE Draft here.
The tournament to crown the Raw-exclusive WWE World Heavyweight Champion will begin on the May 8 episode of WWE Raw. More information is available here.
Bischoff recently detailed a significant health scare, as he almost died twice. Click here to see what he had to say.
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