WWE internally views Cody Rhodes, Gunther and Rhea Ripley as SmackDown’s top tier of talent, with CM Punk set to join that group upon his return, per the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
Randy Orton and Drew McIntyre are also viewed as part of SmackDown’s upper tier, even in their respective absences. Raw’s internally regarded top tier currently consists of Roman Reigns, Seth Rollins, The Usos, Jacob Fatu, Oba Femi, Logan Paul and Bron Breakker.
The brand split for Punk was partly driven by that Raw depth — WWE felt the company’s biggest pending free agent made more sense on SmackDown to balance the star power across both shows.
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