Published 17:52 IST, February 17th 2020
WWE: Mark Henry reveals why RAW and SmackDown were created as two separate brands
In a conversation with WWE network, WWE Superstar Mark Henry revealed the real reason why WWE chose to create two separate brands with RAW and SmackDown.
The era of Ruthless Aggression in WWE revolutionalized the sport of professional wrestling for all the right reasons. However, WWE had to take a strong decision at that time and it was about splitting the promotion into two separate brands. No wonder, a lot of fans thought that to be a bad idea. WWE veteran Mark Henry has now revealed what forced WWE to create two separate entities called RAW and SmackDown.
Why did WWE create RAW and SmackDown separately
According to 'World's Strongest Man' Mark Henry, the WWE roster had too many talents for one show and a lot of wrestlers were left unused in the process. Thus, WWE decided to create two separate brands - RAW and SmackDown. During his conversation with WWE network, Mark Henry stated, “There was too much talent for one show. You had 30 guys sitting around in the locker room not being able to get TV time. So the brand split was like the best thing since sliced bread, because now you have got another 8 guys, 12 guys, able to go and have a platform.”
The brand split up in WWE brought a lot of interesting turns for the promotion. Apart from one-on-one rivalries, the concept of ‘brand rivalry’ emerged in WWE. No wonder, WWE used the RAW vs SmackDown concept to build interesting storylines. It has benefitted them with massive numbers. Till this day, RAW and SmackDown are considered to be each other’s competitors. Thus, WWE is competing within themselves in order to prevent other emerging wrestling organisations of the world from stealing its limelight.
(Image courtesy: WWE.com)
Updated 17:53 IST, February 17th 2020