Royal Rumble 2012: A Final Dagger in the Brand Extension

According to the WWE, any superstar is eligible to compete in this year's Royal Rumble match.

This means that if CM Punk retains his WWE Championship, he can still enter the Rumble and win.

So what happens if CM Punk accomplishes this rare feat?  Chances are it means the end of the world heavyweight championship, and even further, the WWE draft.

But does anyone even care about the draft anymore? 

When it was created, it was actually a big deal.  General managers would go back and forth looking for the best superstars and proclaiming their show as the best in the company. 

Now—with no animosity or continuity—the draft is pointless.

Kane is Exhibit A in this scenario.  He gets hurt by Mark Henry on Smackdown, takes four months off, returns with a mask and automatically he is back on Raw.

Also, the Big Show is still technically a Raw superstar if you remember the draft way back when.

Superstars are now competing on both brands with regularity.  So why limit guys like Sheamus from getting the WWE Championship if he is on Raw every week anyway?

A title unification match at WrestleMania would have both positive and negative effects on the company. First, it would make the Intercontinental Championship relevant again.

That title would automatically retain its No. 2 spot in the company, and since the WWE title picture can only be so crowded, more established superstars would go after that belt.

On the other side of the coin, it could leave younger superstars on the outside looking in.  It would be much harder for these young guys to break in with one less major title to obtain.

However, this could also make the tag team division relevant once more. 

The WWE could actually create a number of established teams that could put on excellent matches week in and week out.

By dropping the world heavyweight championship, more superstars will be available to make these teams and this division important.

With the direction of the company today, it seems to be just a matter of time before the WWE title is the last one left standing. 

And this new rule at Sunday's Royal Rumble gives the company a golden opportunity to make that change.

Wanna know what CM Punk's best tweets are? Check it out at this link.

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