Should WWE Pay Per Views be Brand Exclusive?

[Mr. TM]

We saw it for a few years. WWE had pay per views that only showcased one of the brands, with semi annual ECW pay per views, as well as the four big Pay Per Views having all the brands. I always enjoyed this set up because it allowed the WWE to have time to build their feuds, it gave the mid carders some time off, and it didn't force the WWE to blow their feuds.

What do you think the WWE should do? Should they separate, or should they combine the rosters every month together, load it with Championships matches, and *********e the fans every month?

 

[And I'm Awesome]

Well, there are advantages to both sides of this coin.

First, Brand Exclusive. Longer time to build up storylines, and time on TV to build up midcard guys (because they're gonna be on PPV now, so we need to care). Who is happiest in this scenario? Most likely, the fans. Yeah, we'll get some stinkers on PPV (as happened with the brand exclusive PPV's when they were going down), but we'll have more build for a majority of the matches and probably care a bit more. Plus, as an added bonus for poor schmucks like me who don't get SmackDown!, I only have to get a PPV every other month in addition to the Big 4. Happy me. Unhappy Vince, because he wants to separate me from my hard earned money once a month (twice in October) every month, not every other month. Uh-oh. Unhappy Vince doesn't usually end well for us. Which leads me to:

The current setup of dual or tri-branded PPV's. Lots of title matchs, less story. Obviously, fans aren't loving this setup. Even I'm not a big fan, because I have to weigh whether each card has enough of my interest to invest my money. For example...the upcoming TLC PPV. We have DX vs. Jerishow...why? Because it sounded good to Vince? OK, I can buy that for reasoning. Sheamus-Cena in a Tables Match? Could be interesting. Not much story, again, but the match itself has potential. 'Taker-'Tista in a Chairs Match? Yawn. Pardon me, but I really don't care here. I love 'Taker, and enjoy watching him perform, but I just don't give two shits about The Animal. I think he's a decent performer, decent promo guy, but I just don't care. And Christian-Shelton in a Ladder Match. Jackpot! Now, I'll admit I don't religiously watch ECW, so I don't know if there's much story here or not. Last I knew, Shelton was a face and Christian was dealing with Bill. But...Christian. Ladders. I don't really need much else to know I'm going to enjoy the results. The only thing that could make this match better would be Edge. Of course, with a wonky ACL, he's not going to be playing around on ladders anytime soon, so I'll take what I can get. Well played, Vince. By giving me a TLC match I want to watch just to see if it is pulled off properly or is a shit fest (given that Shawn and Chris are involved, it should be damn good. Those two don't disappoint), and a ladder match with a guy I know can tear the roof off the place, you'll get my money this month. However, I didn't care much for, say, Breaking Point. I just wasn't interested enough to lose my money that month. So fans aren't so happy with this setup. On the flipside, Vince is. He more than likely gets his money from most fans every month, right on time. Creative work is easier because you don't have to really focus on building guys up, you just recycle from month to month. Unhappy fans, but happy Vince.

I think a majority of us would like Brand Exclusive PPV's again, especially if we could get rid of some of the stinkers that made it on to PPV just because. Problem is, the rosters aren't really big enough today (they were significantly larger when the Brand Exclusives were going down). Bigger problem: Vince is happy with the current setup. If Vince is happy, he isn't gonna mess with it. Would we like BE's? Yes. Are we going to get them? Not just no, but "Oh Hell No!"

 

[tboyd37]

i would love to see WWE revert back to brand exclusive pay per views.. I agree with you guys that it gives story lines more time to build & actually have something behind them cmpared to what we are currently seeing... plus its giving more talent a chance to get on the show for more then a minute or 2...

As for ECW give them maybe a match or 2 on each or brand them with smackdown again.. atleast then i could see some of the ecw talent because i'm always working tuesday nights & haven't seen ECW probably in a year or more

 

[The REAL Iron Chef]

Damn TM, this is what, your third good thread within a span of... oh, thirty minutes?

Anyways, I'm split on this issue. On one hand, with the brand splits, you have the ability to really build up feuds and make them personal: TO ENGAGE THE FANS. The rebirth of storylines becomes possible again. As of late, the E's idea of a feud/storyline is either 1.) completely centered around a title, 2.) consists of lots... and lots... and lots of multi-man tag matches while waiting to get to a PPV, or 3.) uses some generally weak, obviously-scripted promos to move from night to night. With more time comes the ability to make more engrossing storylines and feuds.

On the other hand, you have a few issues. First, the WWE Shareholder (thanks for that Sid) won't like this because it can potentially bring down PPV buyrates. When the little kiddies realize their hero John Cena, DX, or Undertaker aren't wrestling on the card, there will be less begging for the PPV to be bought, thus bringing revenue for the WWE down. Another issue is the midcard. While yes, they will finally be able to get the time of day (at least in theory they will), it will take quite a bit of above-average-to-great writing to make the fans care about a midcard feud not involving a belt of some sort. And finally comes the ECW PPVs. With ECW consisting of a grand total of about 5 wrestlers worth giving a damn about: Christian, Regal, Shelton... okay, maybe 3 wrestlers. If the other brand's PPV midcards would be a bit weak, how bad might ECW's be?

 

[RicSpade]

Here is the problem with brand exclusivity and I have stated this before when the discussion was brought up of having two many pay per views. The main problem is some people can't watch Smackdown because of being on mynetworktv so that means most people may not want to watch guys wrestle they don't ever see because they can't watch what feuds are building for the last month and a half. In terms of ECW there is no way to even do a PPV for them because we seen what a disaster December to Dismember was.

Raw and Smackdown have been having to rush their pay per view builds but exclusively seperating ppvs was shown as bad for business as it dropped ppv buys, the only good that ever came out of it was the building of stars like Brock, Eddie, JBL, Benoit as main event talent.

Honestly what needs to be done is what they have done with Jericho and Big Show and CM punk and cross brand matches. I was honestly excited to watch Christian and Jericho because its something you don't ever see or have Regal and Punk team up cause their the main eventers on their respective brands.

This is the first step, part two is shortening amount of ppvs to build which is what their doin at the rumble with 7 weeks of build the final thing that will be done is continuing feuds past 1-2 ppvs we saw this with Randy Orton and John Cena the only problem is they had to step up the match 7 times until the feud was done and by then no one cared what they were doin cause we had gotten stale of a submission match a cage match an iron man match a monkey tickles on a pole match. Goin big for ur buck isn't always better and that is what screwed them in the end.

 

[Mantaur Rodeo Clown]

We all love the brand split PPV's. It gives a feeling of every PPV being unique, and then you don't have to see the same people in the main event month after month. Feuds wouldn't have to feature so many rematches, as all you would need is two matches between them, and that in itself would kill 3 months.

But here's the problem with these single branded Pay Per Views. They're shit. Like, terrible. The reason the re-combined the Pay Per Views was because besides the main event matches, no one wanted to see the pay per views and buy rates sucked. In order to make up the time, you had awful filler matches going on, instead of the cream of the company, which isn't right. Can you honestly imagine an ECW only pay per view? Oh wait....

No, they shouldn't be brand exclusive.

 

[Dagger Dias]

I pretty much agree with what Mantaur Rodeo Clown said. However, I think I have an idea that could be interesting. Many of us want the PPV's to be brand exclusive again (minus big 4 and night of champions), but we also don't want there to be another boring disaster like December to Dismember....

So here is an idea. WWE seems to be turning all the "less important" PPV's into themed ones. Why not have ONE show where it is Smackdown exclusive, and ONE show where it is Raw Exclusive? That takes care of 2 more "less important" PPV's without having to make them an endless chain of the same gimmick matches in one night. I don't think WWE would go for doing something like that, but it would be a good idea in my opinion because then there would be one PPV where if you are on that brand then you are almost guaranteed to get to be a part of it.

As for bringing back the old "brand exclusive" PPV's several times a year.... it sounds like a good idea at first, but they would get boring. There's a reason they made every show tri-branded.

 

[Tastycles]

I don't think so. There is a lot to be said for this, but I'll keep it short and sweet. Basically, the drawing numbers during and after the brand exclusive PPV period were about the same. They don't get a better audience from them, and I think they are generally of a lower quality. With brand exclusives, you get decent matches on PPV, but it means that hardly any remotely interesting feuds are played out on TV, which isn't really a good thing. I doubt it'll effect the WWE either way, but I personally get more enjoyment out of the product as a whole with seperate brands and mixed PPVs.