Detailed Raw and Smackdown Roster Combination ideas

[s3machine]

Now I know that this topic must have been beaten to death on this forum before.. but I wanted to write up a detailed analysis of what the WWE would look if they were to combine Raw and Smackdown into 1 giant roster.

The ideas expressed here work off without making any changes to the current television broadcast schedule.

Im open to everyone's ideas and input.. The more suggestions we get the better the product we can make.

The basis of this thread separates the roster into different classes depending on their status as a main eventer, an upper mid carder, a lower mid carder, etc.. and so forth.

I have the roster split up into divisions based on which belt they have a realistic opportunity of chasing.. Its pretty much like how the UFC has different weight classes for their belts except the WWE's roster is divided into different classes based on star power.

The World Heavyweight Championship would mostly be featured on RAW broadcasts and PPVs since they are the more popular shows.. Although since the roster would be combined.. there would be no official limitations to where and when a belt can be defended. These are pretty much your main event players.

Unified World Heavyweight Championship
John Cena
Randy Orton
Christian
Alberto Del Rio
The Miz
Triple H
Undertaker
John Morrison (Management high on him.. only a matter of time)
Sheamus
Kane
Mason Ryan (has that huge beast look that McMahon loves)
Rey Myserio


Next are the guys who would be in the hunt for the IC belt. With the rosters combined.. this would no longer be a forgotten crown but instead be brought back to the stardom it had when chased by upper mid carders in the lat 80s

Intercontinental Championship
Cody Rhodes
Wade Barrett
R-Truth
Dolph Ziggler
Daniel Bryan
Alex Riley
Jack Swagger
Mark Henry
Big Show
Justin Gabriel (I really like this kid and think that he has a bright future)
Ezekiel Jackson


Next we move on to the US Belt which automatically gains more credibility since it can have some great talent in the hunt for it. The only thing I ask is that they change the hideous design of it


United States Championship
Kofi Kingston
Zack Ryder
Tyson Kidd
Ted Dibiase
Sin Cara
Primo
Johnny Curtis
Jinder Mahal
Evan Bourne
Drew McIntyre
Chris Masters
Heath Slater
Darren Young (I really really see potential in this kid)


Next we try and revive the EPIC FAIL that has been the tag team division for god knows how long.


Tag Team Championship

The Usos (these guys will finally get more TV time which they sooo deserve)
Santino and Kozlov
New Nexus (McGillicuty and Otunga)
Skip Sheffield and Tyler Rekes (New Age POWER and GLORY anyone!?)

Take these guys and form teams with them which will finally give the Tag Belts some real credibility:
JTG
Trent Baretta
Great Khali
Brodus Clay
Curt Hawkins
David Hart Smith
Hornswoggle
Husky Harris
Yoshi Tatsu

The roster combination gives the opportunity for 4 or 5 more tag teams to be made which can really get that division back from the tomb.


WWE Divas Championship
AJ
Alicia Fox
Beth Phoenix
Brie Bella
Eve
Gail Kim
Kaitlyn
Kelly Kelly
Layla
Mayrse
Melina
Natalya
Nikki Bella
Rosa Mendes
Tamina
Kharma (when she returns)



Im sorry if I mentioned anyone who has officially been 'future endeavored" from the company.. I got all the names from WWE.com

So what do you guys think? Im open to all suggestions you guys have.. If you think any of guys should be interchanged within divisions based on status feel free to say so.. Lets come up with the best combined roster we can..

This isnt to say that the 'E' would combine the rosters anytime soon.. but if they do.. damn.. I really think the product would benefit from it.

Thanks for reading!

 

[LegendKiller716]

@s3machine - Awesome sig. I want to buy that shirt.

Back on topic. I don't think the rosters will ever be combined again. At least not for a while. However, if it were to happen, I think it would be for a short period of time to build enough main eventers to split the brands again.

 

[daddyJ_t]

in theory it sounds great but not enough time to devolope storylines unless u make raw a three hour show or how would u do the seperate shows without pidgin holeing talent to ceertain shows like o hes on smackdown or o hes on raw? i like the roster idea cause u will get new fueds, but i fear with one giant roster, alot of people with get lost in the fold. with the seperate shows, people that would get lost at least have a chance to shine on one of the other shows. for example.....im on smackdown competeing with lets say 20 guys for tv time. then the roster gets combined and now i have to compete with 40 guys and my 10 match gets reduced to maybe a squash match. alot of good and bad points to your post. i do see how it would benifit the divas and tag division more then anything

 

[s3machine]

thanks LegendKiller.. I really want to get a hold of the shirt too.. its going for upwards of $300 on eBay... thats just crazy!

@daddyJ_t.. i totally agree with you that it would cut time from guys who are competing for a spot to shine.. but dont you think it would make the product better in terms of the precious time that is available going to the better talents?

Also.. how was it managed previously in the Attitude era? and the era before that where the IC and Tag belts were more prestigious? Was the roster just a lot smaller back then? if not.. how did they make time for everyone to get their piece of the pie?

I really dont remember how big the roster was back then.. if it was just as large as today seeing how it was managed in terms of stars could give us a good idea whether a roster combination would actually work out for the better with todays product or not.

Just my .02

 

[whoopin' ass]

but what makes one wrestler right for the IC title division and not the US title (or vice versa)? with your set-up, you have actually made the US title a low-level title much like the old European title but there is no actual criteria as to what makes someone a US title person and not an IC title person. I said it in another thread: what about weight class titles. both boxing and mma have the classes according to weight so your bigger guys would go for the world title, your mid-sized guys would go for the US/IC title and then you would bring back the Cruiseweight title. the, you push each champ and do the "pound for pound" thing like mma does so you can say Daniel Bryan or Ziggler is pount for pound the best when they are US/IC champ. or, make the wwe title outside of it all so you have the world title as your heaveweight title but then the world heavyweight champ, the IC/US champ or the Cruiserweight champ can challenge for the WWE title. it brings back the importance to each title since one of them will be going for the wwe title and it allows for big man-small man matches to happen.

the mentality over the last 10 years or so that only the wwe/world title is important and the rest are jokes drives me crazy. once upon a time, the IC/US titles were important titles too. not to say we didn't get bad champs but we also got bad world/wwe champs - it was just bad booking. but the past 10 years really made the secondary titles seem worthless.

 

[daddyJ_t]

but what happens to the product when this better talent gets injured? lets for example use cena. cena is everywhere all over ya tv. then bam he takes a bad bump and breaks his neck or leg. 3months out of action. then without any ado we go from seing cena putting on great matches(sorry made myself chuckle with that one) to trent berrata headlining. see what i was saying? i believe we need the 2 different shows to elevate younger greener talent so if something does happen to a "superstar" we the fans have a backup to root for instead of saying.. who the frag is this guy? the op has some great points and i do see some people flourishing with a combined roster and some divisions recovering. but i also see some people going bye bye to future endeavors with no tv time available. regardless im a fan and with watch regardless .................... just thought of another plus side to a combined roster. better chance of having one of those sick as hell 6 man hell in a cell matches.

 

[willross]

The roster seperation is important for a lot of guys. You think guys like Christian would be World Champ right now? Would Mark Henry be getting any kind of push?

The brand extension is what makes WWE unique. Raw is the entertainment show for the most part and Smackdown is the wrestling show for the most part. What seperates the IC Title from the US Title? Why weren't they combined? No brand extension means shorter feuds, less tv time for midcarders, and it would be 4 hrs a week of the same 4 or 5 guys.

This strategy is what has helped create a lot of current main eventers. Without a brand extension, you would have the same guys on top competing like how it was back before the extension. From WM14 - WM18 it was Austin, Rock, Foley, HHH, Kane, Undertaker. They would pair off with each other and that was really it, then there would be that month or two with Jericho, Big Show, and Kurt Angle were thrown in there, but very rarely. For the most part during that time Jericho and Angle were doing midcard stuff with Benoit and Guerrero.

If there was a brand extension then, the possibilities would of been endless and maybe would of developed even MORE stars.

 

[s3machine]

@whoopin ass.. With my theory the US title does become the lowest level title.. I thought it already was the lowest level title.. The IC belt is supposed to be a more prestigious championship but you wouldnt know that by looking at what they've done with the belt for the last decade lol.

With the roster combination you make all 3 belts credible.. and even if the US title is a "lower level" title it would still feature a great roster with the combination..

if not all talent can get on tv.. you can pretty much do what theyre doing now where the main guys are featured on RAW.. and you can have the IC and US belt mainly featured on Smackdown.. we just had what was it.. 6 matches on Raw this passed week? So i definitely believe that everyone can get their fair share of tv time.. With the new proposed roster guys like Cena would not hog tv time from Smackdown.. it would essentially still feature almost the same talent group thats on Raw and Smackdown now.. except without the brand naming.. As in Smackdown would still be the second tier show.. except with the roster combination I think you could make it a much better show then it is now with some better talent added in.

One of the underlying questions that we ask with this theory is.. are you guys willing to sacrifice the World Heavyweight Championship (the smackdown title) to add more credibility to the Intercontinental, US, and Tag Team Belts?

My answer is a definite, yes!

but here was the problem with that raw and the 6 matches. some of the same guys that we ve seen over and over again like del rio and rey. and some of those matches couldve been ppv but they were scaled down to 5 or so min shitfest. how can newer talent really thrive when they only have 5 mins to showcase what they can do. case in point. evan bourne vs sin cara. that should have been a solid 10 min match min but was shoved in as damn near filler for m.e. guys like cena and punk and so forth. do u think cm ponk situation would be as big as it is if we had a comined roster? and back to why i believe this is a good idea. the only diva stuff we get is kelly kelly vs another diva in another 3 bathroom break match. imagine if all the divas were combined on one roster. 6 pac challenge matches like we used to have back in the day or maybe even nattie neidhart vs beth ion number 1 contenders match?

I still think the Punk angle could have played out if the rosters were combined.. Him being a solid main event player in the heavyweight world title mix he could have still gotten the air time needed to the cut the shoot promo and such.. Ive been marking out so much to Punk lately that I forgot to add his name on that list lol.. he would definitely be in the World title Mix.

I agree with what your saying about matches that had PPV potential became 5 minute shitfests.. but with a combined roster RAW would not be the only show where you can have upper or lower mid card guys going at it.. Smackdown is still there.. You also have Superstars which would now be used to stage a decent match or 2..and since its broadcasted online you could even make Superstars 2 hours long now and use it to house a good chunk of the lower end guys from the US title and down.. NXT could also be utilized for these same talent level guys. Tat sure as hell would be a much better idea then watching Titus Oneal bark and beat up a tackling dummy lol. I know the point of NXT is to showcase rookies.. but they can fit their entire routine into 1 or 2 segments tops..Thats also broadcasted online.. hell.. bump that to 2 hours if you would need as well. If anyone would get some air time taken away.. it would be the green light rookies.. Which doesnt bother me at all because if any of them are actually worthy of camera time then they will without a doubt find themselves on the air one way or another.

The roster combination really gives a push to the upper and lower mid carders.. It may seem like they would get buried because of no tv time but their divisions would actually become more credible because of the fact that their is substantial talent now involved with them..

And like you guys said.. there is PLENTY of tv time.. they can actually use all of the time on Superstars instead of recapping what happend on RAW and Smackdown for 30 minutes.

Great ideas everyone.

 

[daddyJ_t]

but here was the problem with that raw and the 6 matches. some of the same guys that we ve seen over and over again like del rio and rey. and some of those matches couldve been ppv but they were scaled down to 5 or so min shitfest. how can newer talent really thrive when they only have 5 mins to showcase what they can do. case in point. evan bourne vs sin cara. that should have been a solid 10 min match min but was shoved in as damn near filler for m.e. guys like cena and punk and so forth. do u think cm ponk situation would be as big as it is if we had a comined roster? and back to why i believe this is a good idea. the only diva stuff we get is kelly kelly vs another diva in another 3 bathroom break match. imagine if all the divas were combined on one roster. 6 pac challenge matches like we used to have back in the day or maybe even nattie neidhart vs beth ion number 1 contenders match?

 

[Hardcore Heathen]

You know what's a real shame? With the US title not being confirmed as either a Secondary title or Tertiary title rookies can't become Grand Slam Champs unless they won the European or Hardcore title back in 2001/2002 so first I would replace the US title and switch it with the European title. This would make it hard to become A Grand slam champ but not impossible like it is now. And I would also make a ruling that Kofi can't have Matches with Ziggler.

Oh and also bring back Velocity, Jakked and Heat would be super awesome for the European Title to Be fought over. Thus making more time for the other titles.

 

[MWRedskins]

i always liked the World title and WWE title split because it gives other superstars a push. Guys like Jeff Hardy, CM Punk and Christian likely would never get title pushes due to guys like Cena. i like it because it pushes two guys and creates new stars. Punk was helped out when he turned heel after beating Hardy.

 

[RKO920]

This theory works but let me throw my own little twist with it.

This may help with the bringing credibility to the "lower titles" and I think would also bring a greater importance to the WWE or World Heavyweight title whichever it would be called in this scenario.

Much like the UFC rarely has multiple title matches on cards the WWE can do this with the other titles, except for the Divas title that can be defended anywhere. So lets use MITB as the example, go back to Over the Limit, if they had the Punk, Del Rio and Mysterio triple threat match then and built up the Punk leaving story for 2 months it would have been so much bigger than it is now IMO. So then what could have been done at Fatal 4 Way? Put the IC Title in the main event, Kingston, Ziggler, McIntyer, and say Ryder. What this does it gives a greater importance on titles other than the WWE title because its gets main event exposer and builds bigger stars because they are being seen more.

Still use Raw to push the upcoming title matches and build storylines this way people will want to watch Raw weekly so they don't miss anything, and at the PPVs have the guys who aren't wrestling sit front row or in a private box and show them on tv much like UFC does. This will also give guys some time off to rest and not put their bodies through hell day in and day out.

 

[CasualWatcher]

I've said it in the past, and I'll continue saying it. Just like many have said it in the past and will continue as well.

If WWE really sees RAW as the A-Show, and SmackDown as the B-show, I'd love them to have the unified WWE/WHC in RAW, leave the IC in Smackdown, have tag teams appearing on both, and finally, get rid of the US title in favour of the Cruiserweight title, which could either be spread across both shows, or only on SD as well.

They could move people across brands depending on the season, using it as part of storylines - if someone loses the WHC belt, or loses many matches in RAW, move them to SD, to make them have to climb back up, and have IC and general SD winners "earn" their move to RAW. That way, SD/IC guys can act as "enhancement talent" if needed for RAW guys, or have the latter push the former if needed (let's say Sheamus gets moved to SD after a losing streak, you can have Bryan defeat him to make him "earn" a possible move to RAW).

And of course, tag temas would work as an alternative, and Cruiserweights (or Light Heavyweights?) can be either "eye candy", or occasional alternatives for some guys like Morrison, Kofi or Sin Cara. Yup, it's one of the few things I kinda like about TNA, how the TV title was used as secondary, or even a "trampoline", for the HW title when it was the Legends belt, and especially their approach to the X-Division, when they actually approach it at all, and hang it on guys like Styles or Kaz.

And no need to mention the Divas. Eye candy as usual, with the occasional hint of brightness here and there (Beth v Nattie, for example?)

 

[oldhamandy1]

Both shows are seperate brands in their own right, a shame if you ask me, but still the case. I would like to see the mid card to lower card get a push on thier on show a la Superstars, but make more of a show of it. Everytime i watched it seemed they spent more time recapping the stuff I had already seen on Raw/SD. Bring back the Cruiserwieght as it gives something for Bourne and Sin Cara to fight for, also I would like to see the Hardcore belt back. The European could also be a good one to bring back, this could lead to having Euro/Hardcore and/or CW belts fought on Superstars.

 

[tripleddd]

yeah ive got no problem with getting both brands together and morew importantly unifying the wwe/whc belt - if written well and worked well it would be like the attitude days - trouble is dont think theyd do it

 

[whoopin' ass]

you want to make things better? actually treat raw and smackdown as 2 seperate brands. think back to the mid-90's with WWF and WCW. each had a main 2 hours show (RAW and Nitro) with large rosters and 3 main sets of titles - world, IC/US and tag titles (plus a few others but ignore those for now). look at raw and smackdown now - what is the difference? roster size is similar to the old wwf/wcw roster (okay wcw had a lot of guys but think of how many you actually saw on tv), both have 3 sets of belts (or at least did until they were merged). there is no reason why raw and smackdown can't be treated like 2 seperate brands like they were supposed to. the moment you do, the US and IC titles become important again since currently anyone can appear on any show - the world title has taken over the place of the IC and US titles. it is the top on smackdown but secondary to the wwe title which pushes the US and IC titles down. you make it 2 seperate brands, keep the rosters seperate and only share a handfull of ppvs, your titles mean something. right now, we have too many titles for one company. that is why the wwf european and hardcore and the wcw hardcore, tv and crusierweight tag titles disappeared. the added plus is that when someone does switch rosters, it is a big deal - interpromotional matches are suddenly dream matches instead of something you have seen a dozen times before.

 

[TempestH]

I would actually keep the brand extension on an unofficial basis. The superstars would continue to mostly appear on one show. The General Managers would remain in place as they are in charge of "RAW and SmackDown the TV shows" rather than "RAW and SmackDown the Franchises."

I actually wouldn't mind a change in the television schedule. I kind of like the idea of Superstars returning to TV. Superstars would become a 1 1/2 hour program akin to WCW Saturday night. It would consist mostly of the low card wrestlers, with the main event being between the upper midcarders (Ziggler vs. Kofi or Bryan vs. Rhodes/DiBiase), or possibly a low card or midcard wrestler jobbing to a main eventer (Zack Ryder vs. The Miz, Randy Orton vs. Tyson Kidd, Drew McIntyre vs. John Cena, etc.)

• I would unify the WWE and World Heavyweight Championships.
  
  I would make the Intercontinental title THE upper midcard title
  
  I would make the United States title the new 3rd tier title for the low card guys.
  

• I would bring back the Cruiserweight Championship as well...While a lot of posters think that it would create a "glass ceiling" for smaller guys, I see the opposite happening. Since most of the main stars are under the old weight limit of 225 lbs, I see a lot of them fluctuating up and down the card in a Chris Jericho-like fashion. Much like Jericho held the Intercontinental title in between World Title reigns, I can see the bigger name cruiserweights holding the Cruiserweight Title in a similar manner. When a bigger name is holding the belt, it will be explicitly called the "World Cruiserweight Championship" by the commentators
  
  Cruiserweight Division (superstars under 225 lbs)
  Cody Rhodes
  Curt Hawkins
  Daniel Bryan
  Dolph Ziggler
  Evan Bourne
  John Morrison
  Justin Gabriel
  Kofi Kingston
  Primo
  Trent Barreta
  Tyson Kidd
  Yoshi Tatsu
  Zack Ryder
  

• I would reunite all the tag teams that broke up unnecessarily such as
  The Hart Dynasty and Zack Ryder & Curt Hawkins
  
  The Usos
  Santino Marella & Vladimir Kozlov
  David Otunga & Michael McGillicutty
  Ryder & Hawkins
  Cody Rhodes & Ted DiBiase
  Hart Dynasty
  
  Also there are other teams to consider...
  
  - Ricardo Rodriguez can begin regularly teaming with Alberto Del Rio, in addition to competing in the cruiserweight division.
  - A Miz/Alex Riley reunion could be possible if and when the Miz turns face.
  
  
  If you take into account those who are in FCW/NXT, they can be brought to the main roster to create teams. The individual members of the teams will also compete for the midcard titles.

• I would also revive the Hardcore Championship (without the 24/7 rule) or create a similar title. (While Hardcore would obviously not be as "hardcore" as it was in the 90s, after seeing the Street Fight between Randy Orton and Kane on SmackDown, I think it could work.) The Hardcore Title could be renamed the WWE Extreme Championship and be given a new design (possibly copying the WWECW title in appearance) The emphasis on the extreme matches would be on the "no rules/No-DQ" aspect rather than on weapons and blood. However, The Hardcore/Extreme Championship would occasionally be defended in gimmick matches.