Blurring the line

[Blade]

So since No Way Out, we've seen WWE stars popping up on shows they're not on, mostly SD stars going to Raw. HHH, Edge, Kozlov- All Smackdown stars who have gone to Raw in the last 2 weeks. And now John Cena might be going to SD to "follow Vickie".

So is this to just give the angles more build-up before the Big One? Is it to try and get a boost in ratings? And most importantly, will it continue after 'Mania?

It doesn't seem like it will continue since the draft has already been announced. But if wrestlers are allowed go to the show they're not on, what's the point in the draft? Hell, what's the point of the brand split?
While it might be very unlikely, could WWE just be testing the waters to see if bringing both brands together once again will work? Or is this just a run up to 'Mania thing?
Discuss

[Krush]

I think that it is just to build up storylines. Why announce the draft if you are free to leave to go to any brand you choose. The WWE is simply making fights and storylines.

[IamRage]

They do this every year before wrestlemania. Its just that usually they dont have basically every match a cross-brand match. They just needed fresh shit for WM. This will fade out afterwards. The draft will put them together for Backlash.

[LEGEND KILLER]

come on........ive heard this so many times its so damn irritating....the WWE IS NOT GETTING RID OF THE BRAND SPLIT! SMACKDOWN WILL REMAIN ITS OWN, and DITTO FOR RAW AND ECW....

Yes they are using the wrestlers on all shows to PROMOTE and build up wrestlemania....ist easier doing so on 5 hours of tv vs. 1 or 2....so get over the "end of the brands" and if you have something to write make sure its intelligent...

yes we all would like to see (most) the end of the brands however it ruins it for anybody with the exception of main eventers bc HHH, Orton, Micheals, Taker, etc will get all the time thus leaving little to none for midcarders and new developing talent....

This is wrestling which in laymen terms means ENTERTAINMENT...thus having a wrestler jump from 1 show to the next and back is their perogative and if you dont like it im assuming you can find something else to do....i enjoy the fact that the guys like edge, cena, hhh etc are jumping back and forth because they dont do it all the time every week all year just here and there and it creates in my opinion excitement....

[Blade]

yes we all would like to see (most) the end of the brands however it ruins it for anybody with the exception of main eventers bc HHH, Orton, Micheals, Taker, etc will get all the time thus leaving little to none for midcarders and new developing talent....


Not if they did it properly. Have the matches on Raw mostly main eventers but have a couple Midcard matches and vice versa for smackdown. It wouldn't be that difficult...

[PlayTheGame]

No, theyre just allowing this to happen in order to push their inter-brand storylines going in WM, something they do quite often. I'm sure it will stop after WM, as the draft will most likely set the rosters back into place while keeping up with what they were doing before WM- creating new feuds.

[tyler.durden]

i think they should limit this brand roaming to only the champion and GM, like with edge and vicky. it adds to the credibility of their title in that they have the power to do whatever they want. other wrestlers like big show and kozlov are a little too excessive and is kind of annoying.

[wwefan0405]

It is happening to build up the storylines but there is a good chance cena might get drafted during the draft

[hArdymAriomArk]

They wont be ending the brand split. It's definatly just to build new/fresh storylines for WM25. They also might be testing to see how for eg Cena goes on Smackdown, or Kozlov on Raw so that when the draft happens they may have an idea on who to swap etc.

Mostly just to build for WM25 though.

[Tastycles]

This is to drive up the ratings in the run up to WrestleMania, and rest assured it will be business as usual on both brands following this year's show. The brand split works, and it works well, and there is absolutely no way WWE will get rid of it unless it starts to haemorrhage money, which it won't.

The idea of a brand split has been knocking around for years- it's what Vince wanted to do when he bought WCW, and what Bischoff thought he could do when they presented nWo Souled Out and nWo Nitro. The idea is simple, more brands means more house shows and more PPVs. It is simple really, if you can perform twice as many house shows in a week (which you can, as both brands can work more shows than a single brand ever could) you make twice the money.

This could never be acheived by simply having half the roster wrestle some shows and half wrestle another, because you need a big champion to draw, hence why there is no Undisputed title any more.

The split PPV aspect of the split failed, because it essentially split the PPV audience in half, and buyrates went down. So WWE scrapped them. The same will never be true for house shows and TV programming unless the WWE started to lose money on every show. If this ever happened, the brand split would end quickly, but if things were that dire, a split roster would be the least of their worries.

[Starchild]

Wrestlemania 25 is being billed as one of the biggest ppv's ever and rightfully so. As such, they are doing all this to have the best set of matches/storylines possible which involve crossing over some of your top stars. Getting ratings before Mania is huge as it's the biggest show of the year, and WWE always delivers in the weeks leading up to it. Aside from that, we are seeing some of the stars getting some exposure on the show where they will be going..which is good to test out how ratings, audiences, etc. will respond. I think Trips will obviously be moving over, and while I thought it wouldn't happen I am starting to think that maybe Cena will be going to Smackdown.

As for this continuing after Mania, and particularly after the draft...probably not to this degree. Some guys (ECW in particular) do this alot and it's not just because we're heading into Mania. It hasn't been uncommon for Miz & Morrison or Evan Bourne to appear on 2 or even all 3 shows in a week, so guys like that might continue to jump around. But I think all the big names that are appearing on multiple shows will stop once the draft ends and they are drafted to their new home.