Can you top that??? | WrestleZone Forums

Can you top that???

dionlyone18

Pre-Show Stalwart
Am i the only one who misses when the WWE was split brands and the GMS would basically play at every ppv a game of " Can you top that?" where if a smackdoen matchw as on first they would tear the house down then tell Raw to "top that" i remember watching Summerslam 2002 and Bischoff and Steph were in the same locker room and saying they can top this match and and so on and so forth. that night we got what i believe the best Summerslam in history..From Angle Mysterio to Rock Brock. am i the only one who misses this style of wrestling? it doesnt have to be tv 14 they can still do it in the pg rating and get away with it..i dont like this whole jumping brands and everyone shares the same ppv every month..so what do you think..do you miss the brand split basic game of "can you top that?" or do you like the new style?
 
I really am a fan of the competitive rivalry between brands,and I think Teddy would shine in that role as well,but until the Raw GM reveals himself I don't think we'll see it anytime soon.and Raw is not really known for keeping a GM long enough to sustain that kind of oneupmanship through an entire year.It was fun while it lasted,but I don't think we'll be seeing it again.
 
There wasn't and still isn't enough top talent to have brand split pay per views. Matches like Jamie Noble vs Billy Gunn, Zach Gowen vs Matt Hardy, Hardcore Holly vs Rhyno, Tajiri vs Jonathon Coachman, MVP vs Marty Garner, and Umaga vs Eugene aren't going to get good buy rates. By having both brands the WWE can get the best matches possible with the best talent. RAW and Smackdown are separate to allow new stars to grow and get pushed, the pay per views are about selling tickets and getting a lot of buys.
 
As I have mentioned before, this is the only way the brand split would make sense if they were like two different entities trying to compete with each other.

When the Brand Split for started it was because Ric Flair bought half of the wwe (Kayfabe) and owned Raw and Mcmahon Owned Smakcdown and they competed against each other. Then the stroyline continued with Raw being run by Bischoff and Stepahnie ran Smackdown, but they stiff kept the two brands separate, with the occasional "Invasion" from one brand to another would happen.

It worked so good in the way that you would have Bischoff getting upset because Stephanie would buy advertising time during Raw to promote smackdown. The two brands at that time were almost like two different companies competing against each other.

Unfortunately over time they started blending into each other, and it was no longer two brands competing with each other. But two brands living with each other. And that is why the brand split doesn't work anymore.

Even now when they have Raw vs. Smackdown battles, it's not believable anymore, because there is a good chance they were just on the other brand within the past few month
 
I definitely prefer the new format for PPVs. For me, the old way of doing things just made it far too expensive for people to get what they wanted.

Take for example, the upcoming SummerSlam PPV. Thus far, we have 3 matches already listed for the card and they are a cross of both Smackdown and Raw talents. We have the respective Championship matches and then a match between The Nexus and Cena’s team already confirmed. Now, if we were back in the old format, we would need to have waited 2 months after Money in the Bank to see The Nexus and John Cena’s team on PPV again. For me, that is too long to wait for a resolution to that particular feud. Nowadays, the WWE run a much more rigorous calendar and I think it is for the better. It means that I don’t have to wait two months to see Raw talents as the Smackdown talents take the helm for a month.

I think the new format gives everyone a chance and although having a brand-specific PPV might sound like a good idea because it would give the lower-card talents some time on PPV, I ask the question as to whether we would want to see that anyway? I doubt it. Right now, we get the best of both worlds on a PPV that we all pay our money for. I wouldn’t spend the same amount of money on a Smackdown PPV as I would spend for a Raw PPV and I think that is the consensus amongst many.

Yes, it takes away the competition between the two brands but I don’t really miss it at all. Both brands are doing their jobs well and give different people different things. I think that is probably the most lucrative and healthy plan for the WWE right now.
 
the old way was better because we didnt have 4 weeks fueds!!! i really hate that they have a number 1 contenders match every month and its always the same people and u can tell who is going to win. also when it was split everyone had a spot on the match card not just to main eventers
 
I have enjoyed the idea for SmackDown and RAW to share pay-per-views since it's conception in 2007. Half of the card are RAW and half the card SmackDown. That makes sure that their are no below average lower card match ups on the pay-per-views. Which we got a hell of a lot when pay-per-views were brand exclusive. There should be no reason to throw on a Shelton Benjamin vs. Kerwin White match on a pay-per-view but they did to fill a card.

Pay-per-views have been way more enjoyable since the decision to share them with the two brands. Sure there have been some truly weaker than others, but i'm sure it's safe for me to say there was some real shit shows when pay-per-views were brand exclusive. Every card you get could be worthy of putting on a performance similar to the "Big Four" pay-per-views due to the talent from each brand that gets to be involved. You didn't have that same epic feeling toward a match card when the shows were exclusive to brands. But now I find that match cards are having more and more potential and are better than they were five-four years ago, which happened to be the final years of brand exclusive pay-per-view events.
 
I personally like the new way of PPV. Occasional brand competition is good but definitely not during every PPV. Single brand shows were an obvious failure, nobody wants to drop 40 bucks plus on a show with a weak undercard. Only the elite should be featured on PPV and for good reason.
 
I liked the brand only payperviews because they had the chance to develop more wrestlers and carry on longer, more interesting feuds than they have been since the start of the dual brand ppvs, aside from Nexus of course. While we may not have to sit through as many horribly put together matches like Shelton vs Kerwin White as someone mentioned above but I miss seeing the talent that never makes it onto the card except for MITB and thrown together triple threat, 4-way, or 6 man tag matches. I for one would love to see a match like Evan Bourne vs anybody that isn't randomly added onto the card at the last minute due to lack of foresight and time to advertise it beforehand.
 
They both had their pros and cons:

On one hand, the single-brand pay-per-views showcased wrestlers who probably wouldn't be on a pay-per-view if it was both RAW and SmackDown. It would also allow more storylines and feuds to develop better. But on the other hand, no one would probably want to pay for matches they might see for free on either RAW or SmackDown. At the same time, the joint pay-per-views can showcase only top-quality matches that people would most likely pay to see.

I was a big fan of the early days of the brand extension when it was a competition of sorts. I always wanted the WWE to have RAW and SmackDown try to outdo each other every week and at every pay-per-view. But that whole legit competitiveness is gone. It's a shame too.
 
They both had their pros and cons:

On one hand, the single-brand pay-per-views showcased wrestlers who probably wouldn't be on a pay-per-view if it was both RAW and SmackDown. It would also allow more storylines and feuds to develop better. But on the other hand, no one would probably want to pay for matches they might see for free on either RAW or SmackDown. At the same time, the joint pay-per-views can showcase only top-quality matches that people would most likely pay to see.

I was a big fan of the early days of the brand extension when it was a competition of sorts. I always wanted the WWE to have RAW and SmackDown try to outdo each other every week and at every pay-per-view. But that whole legit competitiveness is gone. It's a shame too.

Perhaps when we finally find out who the mystery GM is he/she'll be able to develop an on screen rivalry with Teddy Long or whoever happens to be the GM of SmackDown at the time. I'll always remember the 2005 Survivor Series elimination match of SmackDown vs Raw, to me it had a great buildup with each group invading the others show and even before that they had brand battles at such events as Taboo Tuesday and JBL and others ripping into the shows claiming that each show was better than the other. If they were to treat SmackDown like they did then and put more top talent on it so that it would not appear to be the B show that it has been for the past couple of years it could easily work and bring up the ratings when they make the switch to SyFy. Maybe its just nostalgia but I felt that the brand rivalry was great and helped each brand put out great feuds and matches.
 
I miss the whole SD/RAW separation and competition thing.
It was exciting, and for those of us who didn't read spoilers back then it was a very exciting time.
 

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