Cooperate or Compete?

[IrishCanadian25]

In the spam zone here at the WZF, posters were asked for "Dream WWE.com Headlines." Someone posted "Eric Bischoff invades Smackdown, Paul Heyman invades ECW."

As most things do, this got me thinking. People seem to be longing for the days that had ANYTHING to do with attitude eras or Monday Night Wars. And there's no denying the on-screen value men with Eric and Paul's reputations have. In fact, it's safe to say that they were two of the best on-screen characters in the last 15 years of wrestling.

In the wake of the demise of ECW and WCW, the WWE brand split was originally meant to make the shows and brands compete. Raw had a leader, a champion, and a weekly show. Smackdown had a leader, a champion, and a weekly show. Now, ECW has a leader, a champion, and a weekly show. On-screen talents such as Bischoff, Heyman, and Stephanie McMahon used to compete for talent, trying to be the first one to sign the hot new free agent or make the roster-altering trade. The storylines of a returning Triple H, a debuting Scott Steiner, and an out-of-nowhere Brock Lesnar revolved around the shows they stayed with.

Since then, the brands have worked together amicably, having talent cross over and even watching certain championships transition around. Chris Jericho, originally traded to SD, now makes regular appearances on Raw. Some Raw superstars are regulars on SD. The lines are blurred, and though the competition is gone, it feels like there is more depth on BOTH rosters because either show can pull from the other.

So I ask you: did you prefer the competitive style of the brand-split, or do you like the current, team-focused approach? Please make sure you provide REASONS why you feel the way you do so you don't get tagged for spam.

 

[Low_Ki]

I would probably go with the team-focussed approach, Quite a selfish reason really, purely because if you cross brand certain bigger talents such as Jericho, I as a fan would take more interest.

For example, I would enjoy a Chris Jericho/Big Show promo far more than ANOTHER Chavo Vs Hornswaggle match. The team focussed approach allows for an all together better programme. And I guess it should theoretically help ratings.

That is not to say that the competitive side isn't a good idea. The competitive side of the brand split allows for new talent to be moulded, such as your MVP's, Jack Swaggers etc.

But overall I would definately go with the team focussed side of the brand split, it makes for a much more enjoyable and entertaining show.

 

[TheOneBigWill]

I hate to be the one guy to come in here and throw a wrench into the question, but I can't fully pick either decision. I have likes and dislikes about both.

Cooperate: While I love the fact that any top valued Superstar can show up and Wrestle in a Cross-Brand match on a Brand they aren't currently involved with, the fact is this hurts the overall value of a Brand's main Roster. What do I mean, you may ask? Simple.

Take Chris Jericho, for example. While he's a Superstar of Smackdown and he cut a promo on Monday Night Raw, more or less telling the crowd and Raw audience in general that he was leaving them and taking everything more or less with him - in less than two months, he's essentially a full-time talent on Monday Night's again, all because he's holding a Championship that is now considered the only Tri-Branded Championship. The Unified Tag Team titles, not too shocking, with a Partner from Raw.

This hurts Raw, and Jericho, because he cut a brilliant promo in more or less saying, if you want to see me ever again - watch Smackdown. Then he turns around, wins a title that allows him to come and go as he pleases, and he basically ends up more on Raw than anywhere else. Thats what hurt Jericho because it makes him and the great promo he cut, look forgotten, ignorant and downright stupid.

What hurts Raw, is with each Superstar from a different Brand taking up air-time, its cutting one Superstar from that Brand, off. While Chris Jericho is arguably greater than Kofi Kingston, M.V.P or even Mark Henry.. the fact is, when Jericho gets a Main Event match on the card, those guys typically don't.

Whats the point of having a Roster for each Brand, if you aren't going to follow through with having only those select group of individuals competing on 'said' Brand?

Compete: This was basically what brought a lot of people to hate the Brand-Split. Mainly because you have a roster of around 20 people more or less, and after about four months - you begin to fill your cards with a lot of repeat matches and feuds.

Take the first year of the Brand split, 2002. Chris Jericho & Rob Van Dam seemingly fought each and every other Monday Night for about a month to two months straight.. (around Sept.-Nov.) and yet neither of them had so much as ONE Pay per view show-down to finish off the feud, during this time. So, it was basically not a feud at all, so much as a lack of creative options to put either individual in alternative matches each week.

On the flip side, the lack of pure talent on Smackdown pushed guys like J.B.L and Renee' Dupree to the top of the scene, when neither truly deserved that push. And it elevated no-named talent like Luther Reigns, Orlando Jordan, Mark Jindrak and John Heidenreich to gaining more television time than they truly ever should've had.

So, to ignore Cross-Brand matches was to more or less "play with the hand you've got". This resulted in some of the worst Pay per view buys in the history of the Company, and even some of the worst build-ups to Pay per views. (I seen to recall Judgment Day 2004, a Smackdown only ppv, promoting only two matches that year; Eddie Guerrero v. J.B.L, and the Undertaker v. Booker T.)

This is what happens when you spread yourself thin, and you fail to realize you may not have enough star power to showcase for a 3-hour Pay per view.

Conclusion: While I couldn't stand filler matches on Pay per views, which is exactly what happened throughout the entire year of 2004, when selective Pay per views were "Single Brand Only". The fact is if you're going to do Cross-Brand promotional matches - why even have a Brand split, to begin with? Just bring everything back together, merge all of your other Championships, and reorder your depth chart of talent from Main Event to Opening acts.

However, if thats not what you wish to do, then go balls out and make each Brand unique, and to themselves. Make your unknown Superstars known. Help to better promote your weaker, seemingly talentless Superstars, into what got them the roster spot to begin with. And for the love of everything, QUIT ASSUMING 20 GUYS WILL MAKE FOR A BIG ENOUGH ROSTER!

 

[The Doctor]

I am really enjoying the cooperative approach, especially with the cross-band tag champs in JeriShow. It really brought home the fact that the belts could be defended on all brands, with them making appearances on both RAW and SD. It also makes the talent well much deeper. Their team has been the focus of many episodes for a while now, and it's fresh and interesting. One day they could be facing Orton and Cena on RAW, and the next they're facing JTG or Shad on SD. This makes the shows unmissable because you never know how their storyline will continue. If the brand split was competitive, we wouldn't have cross-brand teams and wrestling would, in my opinion, be less interesting.

 

[Cebeards]

cooperative approach seems to be, for the most part, a necessity at this point. We have seen most everything and the WWE is taking it's time on making and bring in/up new guys. But, who doesn't like competition?

My verdict is going to settle, not really but I'll explain.

I want cooperation with a vale of competition....get it?

The poster started it out right when he brought up Paul Heyman and Bishoff, the figureheads. They didn't sit in a wheelchair and bitch at their own wrestlers, they tried presenting each of their respective products as the best. I think, when Raw is done with the "please USA, host bit" we should have a revamped programs for RAW, Smackdown and ECW. Not in talent either, I'm talking about 3 leaders. Each of these trying to make their brands the best, while over the course of their progression, we could have plenty of interbrand matches to test superiority.

You guys fill in the blanks for GM's...maybe Heyman/Flair/Bishoff?

The main thing to remember for my angle is that these aren't just GM's running their own show, these are GM's running their show to be better than the other. If this is played right it could get pretty interesting, even entertaining.

We could see Christian in better matches while still having him bring up the prestige of ECW.

Also, while they are all trying to one up each other, imagine the matches we would get, the new wrestlers brought up, maybe even ECW giving us a cruiserweight title. Also, with all the squabling we could have some back stabs and trades.....enjoy

 

[Blade]

The Cooperative approach works so much better.

The competitive approach made such a huge deal out of Raw vs Smackdown. People did not want to see that, people enjoyed both shows and enjoyed them seperately. I mean, I somehow doubt there were children on a playground arguing over who'd win in a fight, Raw or Smackdown. I would have no problem if they were indirectly competing by trying to put on better shows than the other. But the GM's trying to screw each other over and the Brand vs Brand Survivor Series/Wrestlemania matches were lame. There was no story to those matches other than Raw vs SD, and it just took so much away from what were decent matches.

The way the brands are now is great. The shows are kept seperate, yet they do work together for the greater good. We occasionally see exciting matches between a Raw superstar and an SD superstar which aren't based around brand supremecy. It just works better on so many levels.

 

[imagekmcl]

OK here is how I see it, I like the competition, when it was WCW vs WWF we saw so many great shows granted some of the pay per views sucked but damn was it the best time to watch wrestling, after that they tried doing the same thing with the invasion angle but Vince was so pigheaded that he kept squashing the WCW and ECW guys until it was completely stupid and over. He then tried to change it where it was Flair vs Vince with each of them having their own show and we see how that went, but it still did bring excitement in the shows. The best thing to do is try again a storyline like what they tried to do with Trump and Raw is have a show be sold or acquired and it be completely away from the other then start trying to compete with eachother. Like Teddy Long gets frustrated with Vince saying he can't control his brand and then Teddy buys Smackdown and the talent to do with what he wants. Even change the name or whatever he wants bring back WCW for all I care but make it an actual compete storyline no cross branding pay per views ever but their own version of each..like instead they have a Royal Rumble but the other brand has World War 3 again but it be a different time of the year and have their own type of Wrestlemania...Idk these are my thoughts and I would like the competition to come back and have better matches with the titles actually meaning a damn to the shows instead of having the US title being defended every 3-4 months.

 

[Mighty NorCal]

Absolutely the competitive. Absolutely.

It made for more room for creating stars, it msde for different feels to all the shows, and it made for some HUGE matches and interactios on the few times the shows were together in the same building. I think if Vince truly tried to spin it to the creative teams that the shows were at war, it would work. He should get a few good wrestling minds, and just give them control on the seperate shows, and let them go to it. He of course, has the final say on everything, and if he is steadfast against something, he can vito it.

I have LONG been a proponet of having WWE Monday Night RAW, Teusday ECW, and Thursday WCW Nitro. Give them different creative teams, and keep them enitrely seperate from one another, to give them their own very distinct feels, and tap into all the niche fan bases. Give each show 3 matches on PPV, or 4-4-2 for the more popular shows, so on so forth.

We all know competition breeds a higher overall quality. Its that way on sports teams, and pretty much every walk of human life.

 

[IrishCanadian25]

Seems like a pretty fair split here. A few say the cooperative approach works best because it deepens the roster, a few say competition is best because it creates interest.

I have to agree with NorCal here. And I have several reasons.

1. Competition creates interest. It's why capitalism works. The idea of competition fuels people to want to do better. If Raw and SD each has its own writing team, and Vince basically states to them "your job is to turn in a better show than the other guy however you see fit," then each squad will work harder to outpace the other. The performers will too.

2. More variety in the product. Right now, WWE is under a blanket of PG programming to save sponsors, and I understand why. But as the current, young audience begins to mature (which is what I think fueled the late 90's attitude era with us all coming of age), is it too much to think that Raw COULD try to win the competition by going to edgier programming, or that Smackdown COULD try to win the competition by featuring more high flying lighter weight wrestlers?

3. It forces new talent into the time slots. The original purpose of the split was to actually thin out the rosters and feature more, young talent. Now, with guys like Jericho and Ross coming out and stating "we don't have a solid bench right now," the need for more TV time dedicated to younger stars becomes so much more important.

4. It allows ECW to become what it is destined to become. The farm system. I know NorCal is a big supporter of ECW, and that's cool. It's not my deal. But why not take ECW, put it in Heyman's control, and say "okay, ECW is the minor league system for young talent. All out new signings will go here, like OCW or DSW or FCW or whatever." Then, on a three hour annual special, hold "The ECW Draft" where Raw and Smackdown guys wrestle for draft picks FROM ECW! Put the main event on first (i.e Cena vs Edge) and the winner earns the top pick in that draft. THAT WAY, the winning show can pluck the ECW Champion and bill them as "the #1 pick in the ECW draft" and whatnot. 6 months after that, feature a "trade deadline" special with 3-hours of deals made between the GM's and such.

Competition is the way to go.

 

[Mantaur Rodeo Clown]

The Brand Split has been the defining aspect of WWE programming since the end of the Attitude Era, and I believe it should remain the way it currently is.

1. Competition creates interest. It's why capitalism works. The idea of competition fuels people to want to do better. If Raw and SD each has its own writing team, and Vince basically states to them "your job is to turn in a better show than the other guy however you see fit," then each squad will work harder to outpace the other. The performers will too.

I don't believe this will be the case at all. You see, RAW and Smackdown!, whilst they will be competing, will still at the end of the day be competing under the banner of WWE. There isn't a real danger to the ratings of the WWE as a whole. Sure, they may want to put out a better show than opposing writers, but they will not be scrambling to create something brilliant out of fear for their jobs.

2. More variety in the product. Right now, WWE is under a blanket of PG programming to save sponsors, and I understand why. But as the current, young audience begins to mature (which is what I think fueled the late 90's attitude era with us all coming of age), is it too much to think that Raw COULD try to win the competition by going to edgier programming, or that Smackdown COULD try to win the competition by featuring more high flying lighter weight wrestlers?

I think you're right in that there could be more variety if they choose to make it so. But it would be more than likely that the same formula would be used on the same shows as is being used now. RAW is still given to be the "storyline/promo driven" show. It's why the D-X reunion was done live on RAW, as well as the guest hosts. Santino doesn't do comedy on Smackdown or ECW either. The factors that make RAW the show that it is are a high emphasis on segments and comedy.

Conversely, and Im not talking shoes here, we have Smackdown! which has established itself as the wrestling show. The last few months of smackdown! have been near untouchable, and the matches that are being done on TV with talent such as Jericho, Morrison and Punk clearly delinate Smackdown as the wrestling show. This is very different to the RAW mentality of filling the show up with segments. Already, you can see that WWE programming has allowed for variety between it's shows. Want comedy? Watch RAW. Want matches? Watch Smackdown! What if I want all 3?

ECW as you say, is the farm system. This is where fans can come to see new stars make their mark. I think this has a good blend of comedic segments, such as the Abraham Washington show (YEAH I SAID IT!), as well as very solid wrestling, with some of the better TV matches coming from the Land of Extreme. Again, a different vibe than RAW and Smackdown, by utilising a loose brand split, rather than a completely seperate identity.

3. It forces new talent into the time slots. The original purpose of the split was to actually thin out the rosters and feature more, young talent. Now, with guys like Jericho and Ross coming out and stating "we don't have a solid bench right now," the need for more TV time dedicated to younger stars becomes so much more important.

I believe that any young talent that actually deserves time is getting it. On any brand, I can name numerous wrestlers getting time in matches and in segments. Swagger, Ziggler, Ryder, The Miz, Morrison, Legacy, Bourne, New Superstar initiative etc. I have actually posted Jericho's comments on the lack of a "solid bench", but I think he might be a bit hyperbolic in this statement. I think WWE is building a pretty solid future roster, as well as focusing on their current talent, not an easy thing to juggle. Sure, if there were a stricter brand split, Mike Knox would get more time (although he is getting a feud with Finlay now), but ask yourselves, how many wrestlers recieving this extra time would deserve it or use it well?

4. It allows ECW to become what it is destined to become. The farm system. I know NorCal is a big supporter of ECW, and that's cool. It's not my deal. But why not take ECW, put it in Heyman's control, and say "okay, ECW is the minor league system for young talent. All out new signings will go here, like OCW or DSW or FCW or whatever." Then, on a three hour annual special, hold "The ECW Draft" where Raw and Smackdown guys wrestle for draft picks FROM ECW! Put the main event on first (i.e Cena vs Edge) and the winner earns the top pick in that draft. THAT WAY, the winning show can pluck the ECW Champion and bill them as "the #1 pick in the ECW draft" and whatnot. 6 months after that, feature a "trade deadline" special with 3-hours of deals made between the GM's and such.

This actually isnt a halfbad idea. It beats the "random" draft where ECW is raped of talent and left with Goldust or William Regal. Keeping the flow of talent through ECW as a constant pace is essential I think. Getting the newest graduates out of ECW after 12-18 months is essential to keep young talent on their feet and prevent them getting stagnant. Taking guys like Kofi Kingston and Evan Bourne and quickly putting them in a bigger pond, without sinking them down in an ECW title program was the right choice, and this should be the standard for the whole brand. Sink or Swim.

Competition is the way to go.

I think the current compromise is the way to go. It has evolved into a form that really works.