Projecting Destination of WWE's Championships After Brand Split

WWE's announcement the company is bringing back the brand split effective from July is a move that raises more questions than answers—but the most pressing one concerns the future of all the active championships on the main roster.

Questions of whether the main titles should be split into two different entities are being raised, and some are asking which championships are headed where when Raw and SmackDown branch out on their own. So with five active titles, what is going to happen to them all?

The Tag Team Championships

Like in the past, there could be a temptation to have tag team champions for each brand. However, that doesn't quite feel like the right move in this instance.

What would be wiser is giving the champions the opportunity to move between shows, almost as a privilege for being the top guys in the division. Yes, it moves away from the brand split idea to a degree, but they would have healthy competition from both shows.

If The New Day is still on top when the split takes place, the group could face competition from teams on both shows. But more importantly, you'd have opportunities for more tag teams to get into the mix as the battles heat up.

It would mean so much more than having The Vaudevillains as the only credible challengers. Enzo and Cass could go to SmackDown with The Dudley Boyz and craft out a compelling feud there—one that could be the best on the brand.

That would open the door for a team such as The Ascension to try and climb back up the ladder on Raw. The Social Outcasts could begin to make their presence felt on SmackDown.

All this would be in pursuit of the sole tag titles on offer in WWE. It would create competition, pressure for the champions and the possibility of the championships being defended on both shows.

Women's Championship

Given how WWE has just gone through the process of turning the Divas division into the Women's division once again, a move away from the sole-title format wouldn't be fitting.

With that in mind, you'd expect the WWE Women's Championship to remain on Raw and be defended there on a frequent basis.

There has to be some element of Raw remaining the marquee brand given how it's a three-hour show and the flagship name. 

So the champion would get to go about her business on Raw, and like with the tag titles, contenders could build up on both sides of the split. 

That means if we ever get to a dual-brand pay-per-view, we could see a number of SmackDown stars begin to threaten the existence of the Women's Championship remaining exclusively on Raw.

But in the initial stages of the split, it'd make sense to keep the title on Raw.

The Midcard Championships

A fairly obvious decision here is having the Intercontinental Championship and United States Championship head their own ways and have one on each brand—but which goes where?

In all fairness, it doesn't really matter. The good thing here is that with one title being exclusive to each brand, both are going to get a lot more exposure on a weekly basis.

With say, the U.S. title on Raw—with potentially John Cena and Rusev going at it over that strap initially—and The Miz's defence of the Intercontinental belt taking pride of place on SmackDown, each would gain more momentum and prestige.

That means if we get to a brand-exclusive pay-per-view, the midcard title in question would get far more of a push in terms of build, minutes in the ring and a greater showing when it matters.

All of which would be fantastic for both belts, which have had their moments in recent years—but not enough to make them matter.

The World Title, or World Titles?

This is without doubt the biggest question of all when it comes to the brand split.

Some of the decisions up to now should be fairly simple to make, but WWE's biggest question is whether it steps back into the territory of having two world titles.

The other option would be allowing the WWE World Heavyweight Championship holder to move between both shows, but that means double the workload and a significant amount of exposure—far more than any other star on the roster.

With plenty of stars returning, NXT looking stronger than ever and a fairly deep roster, the brand split seems to have come at a time when the company can cope with two different world champions.

It means you could have Seth Rollins, Roman Reigns and even someone such as Randy Orton on Raw. Then on SmackDown—a brand that could become the most exciting on the roster dependent on the split—you could have Dean Ambrose, Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens in world title contention. 

The one good thing about having two world titles in the past was that some stars who were previously languishing in the midcard got a chance to showcase their talents at the top end of the company.

This time, with WWE blessed with some phenomenal performers, it only seems right to give them more of a chance to scale to the top of the pyramid. It's time for the WWE Championship to be on Raw and the World Heavyweight Championship to make a return to SmackDown.