
The brand extension officially began on April 1 2002. Each owner would get a total of thirty picks. A draft was held the following week on "RAW". Their decision was to split the entire WWF roster into two separate entities, with Vince McMahon in control of the SmackDown! brand and Ric Flair in control of the RAW brand. cite web|url=|accessdate=|title=WWF Raw (March 11, 2002) Results|publisher=Online World of Wrestling] Flair agreed, however, the Board also reserved the right to review the ownership status of the WWF following WrestleMania. However, the WWF Board of Directors would only allow the match if Flair were to return one hundred percent control to McMahon. cite web|url=|accessdate=|title=WWF Raw Results (March 11, 2002)|last=Zimmerman|middle=Robin|first=Christopher|publisher=The Other Arena] After entering a feud with The Undertaker, Flair sought a match with him at WrestleMania X8. Vince McMahon detested having to share his creation with Flair and looked for a way to dissolve their partnership.
WWE RAW 2002 ARCHIVE SERIES
In terms of storyline, Ric Flair had become fifty percent owner of the WWF following Survivor Series 2001 after Shane and Stephanie McMahon had sold their stocks to him in order to purchase WCW and Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW), respectively. On March 18 2002, Linda McMahon announced the "brand extension" in which the company would be split into two distinct brands. cite web|url=|title=WWE Entertainment To Make RAW and SMACKDOWN Distinct Television Brands] cite web|url= |title=WWE Launches ECW As Third Brand]Īfter acquiring the remains of World Championship Wrestling (WCW), its main competitor throughout the 1990s, in March 2001, the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) sought a way to split itself into two separate promotions, because of the numbers of talent that it had acquired as part of its purchase.
WWE RAW 2002 ARCHIVE PROFESSIONAL
The World Wrestling Federation/Entertainment (WWF/E) Brand Extension was a process first used in 2002 by said professional wrestling promotion as a means of providing separate brands of wrestling through its two top shows, " Raw" and " SmackDown!", with the addition of " ECW" in 2006.
