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• The Attitude Era Came To An End As Stars Like The Rock And Steve Austin Left

• The Brand Extension In 2002 Launched A New Era In WWE

• The Original Brand Extension Idea Saw WCW Continuing To Exist

Although WWE's execution of its brand extension has a divided opinion among fans and critics alike, many are fond of the idea of Raw and SmackDown being exclusive brands. Having two flagship shows with a distinctive roster allows a better possibility for at least one show to provide entertaining content for fans to enjoy. When WWE announced the birth of the brand split in 2002, it brought overwhelming change to the product as it helped launch the company into a new generation known as The Ruthless Aggression Era. The only question is, why did WWE decide to create a brand split as the company was coming off several years of one of the greatest eras of professional wrestling?

Related: WCW's Unofficial "Brand Split" With The NWO

The Attitude Era Came To An End As Stars Like The Rock And Steve Austin Left

WWE's Attitude Era was one of the most exciting periods of professional wrestling, as it launched the company into mainstream stardom for several years during the late 1990s and early 2000s. Much of that related to the amount of star power WWE had within its roster. During this time, WWE superstars like The Rock, "Stone Cold" Steve Austin, Triple H, The Undertaker, Kurt Angle, and many more were featured on WWE TV as main attractions.

However, as the old saying goes, "all good things must come to an end." With The Rock and Steve Austin winding down their careers in 2002, WWE launching the brand split allowed WWE to create new stars as some established ones were being phased out, an effective method to keep the company moving forward.

Related: Why A Hard Brand Split Is Best For WWE (& Why It Hurts WWE)

The Brand Extension In 2002 Launched A New Era In WWE

As WWE's roster was growing, on the Raw episode after WrestleMania 18, Linda McMahon announced via satellite that there would be a draft lottery taking place on the next episode of Raw, stating that the weekly shows, Raw and SmackDown, would get a distinctive roster. Following the first ever WWE draft in history, with the brand split launching into full gear the week after the draft, the days of the Attitude Era were officially over.

Although the idea of a brand extension was for Raw and SmackDown to be separate, during the many months after the draft, superstars from both brands kept switching to find their footing. It's also worth noting that there was only one world championship at the time, the Undisputed WWE Championship, as whoever carried it would appear on both shows. Overall, the brand split didn't take off as smoothly as some might've expected, seeing that the superstars weren't that exclusive.

However, around the fall of 2002, when Undisputed WWE Champion Brock Lesnar brought the title to the SmackDown brand and the World Heavyweight Championship was introduced by Eric Bischoff for the Raw brand, the brands became more exclusive moving forward for the next few years. As the brand split became more established throughout the years, fans and critics generally look back on it with fondness.

For instance, from the early years of The Ruthless Aggression Era, SmackDown received universal acclaim for its mix of in-ring action and cast of compelling characters like Brock Lesnar, Kurt Angle, and The Undertaker. One of the best aspects of the original brand extension is that it not only made room for new superstars to shine in the spotlight but also featured superstars from the Attitude Era, like Triple H, to work with them in the main event scene.

The Original Brand Extension Idea Saw WCW Continuing To Exist

After the Monday Night Wars ended in 2001, many former WCW and ECW superstars joined WWE, resulting in the company becoming loaded with talent. Because of this, the original plan for the brand extension was to relaunch WCW as an independent brand. As surprising as this may sound, WWE's plans to utilize the WCW brand got to the point where the company wanted weekly WCW programming to replace the time slot of Monday Night Raw.

However, plans to revise WCW fell through. On an infamous July 2001 episode of Raw is War, WWE experimented with a WCW led main event with Booker T defending the WCW Championship against Buff Bagwell. With the match getting negative feedback, it may have been the straw that broke the camel's back for WCW's potential revival. WWE instead went a different route regarding a brand extension. As WWE turned its Raw and SmackDown programming into separate brands, WCW was officially put to rest.

With that said, WWE potentially relaunching the WCW brand in 2001 generated many questions regarding how it would've panned out. Would WWE's brand extension have generated more success if the company decided to save WCW, or would it not have made a difference either way?