for the first 8-9 months of the brand split, Smackdown threads used to be hot shyt and went 60-80 pages deep every week. that's 60-80 pages in 2 hours vs around the same page numbers as a 3 hour Raw show. then after Mania, Vince decided to sabotage the show by destroying the roster and killing Talking Smack because God forbid there was a show that was making his beloved Monday Night Raw look like shyt.
still support having a brand split because it gives more opportunity for the talent and it's cool to have two different shows, but they need to add a bit more star power to Smackdown after Mania.