Stephanie McMahon stakes her claim to SmackDown

While many of us were wondering how Teddy Long got in the building last night at Raw in Oklahoma City... or wondering if his appearance was going to set-up a string of appearances by past General Managers like Vickie Guerrero, Mike Adamle or even Eric Bischoff... Stephanie McMahon's final message to Long gave us our first official hint of what many of us have long suspected.

A brand split means more McMahon drama.

Teddy was there, ostensibly, to campaign for his old job running SmackDown. He even tried to make like The Rock and get #TeddyLongRunningSmackdownLive trending.

The two things which seemed to upset Steph last night were (1) being called "baby girl" and (2) that Long was aiming for the show she wants. As security was showing Teddy the door, McMahon's tirade included:

My father wants someone in charge who is intelligent, who is young, who is vivacious, who is smart, who has business acumen, someone who is going to bring in the New Era right!

That's not my brother Shane McMahon, I'm going to let you in on a little secret Teddy... it's going to be me!

Now, it wouldn't be the first time WWE dropped something like that in a scene and failed to follow-up on it (or blatantly contradicted it later). But it seemed like an opening salvo in a story which, regardless of how tired you are of McMahon-centric angles, does make the blue brand feel important. And that's a recurring theme of rumors, and a wish of many fans - stop treating SmackDown like a 'B-show' for which you don't need to tune in to keep up with the product.

With only six Monday nights before SmackDown switches to live Tuesday broadcasts, it's probably time to start setting the groundwork for the brand split.

Shane was on vacation this week, so while the war hasn't started - Steph staked her claim last night.