Is it Time to End the Brand Extension?

[FSWWE]

Vince, you already have a genuine rival in TNA, stop trying to create your own.

I dont know if you know, but even SmackDowns get more viewers than TNA!!!
And they dont use TNA to capitalize their superstars, but they can use SD! to make them grow up in the business!!

Well the adepts of the main brand go see TNA (WWE for the poors)!!!!

 

[DeadmanFan]

I dont know if you know, but even SmackDowns get more viewers than TNA!!!
And they dont use TNA to capitalize their superstars, but they can use SD! to make them grow up in the business!!

Well the adepts of the main brand go see TNA (WWE for the poors)!!!!

And this is the reason why Smackdown is so neglected- it's akin to the minor leagues. No one wants to see a show that they know is minor league. The "growing up" period should be at house shows or in OVW. No one should be given TV time if they can't bring it.

 

[Machianzo]

And this is the reason why Smackdown is so neglected- it's akin to the minor leagues. No one wants to see a show that they know is minor league. The "growing up" period should be at house shows or in OVW. No one should be given TV time if they can't bring it.

I strongly disagree with this. I've prefered to watch Smackdown over Raw for quite some time now, and I know some of my freinds have the same preference.

There are a few reasons for this. There is a lot more young and fresh talent on Smackdown, like Rhodes, McIntyre, Barett and Del Rio. How can a show that the E' is pushing their next biggest heel on (Del Rio) be neglected? Up until the Rock's return and the three way struggle with Cena and Miz, I prefered most of the storylines on SD! too.

Sure, you can make the argument that SD! is lacking star power, but I think they have just enough to not outshine the new and exciting guys. With Cena, Orton etc on Raw, that can only be said for Smackdown.

And finally, SD! not being live is a blessing for international viewers like myself. Being in the UK, I actually get to watch SD! Friday, unlike Raw where I have to wait till Tuesday (or 2am). Which, is nice.

(Also, isnt OVW a little out of date? Lol)

 

[deforty]

And this is the reason why Smackdown is so neglected- it's akin to the minor leagues. No one wants to see a show that they know is minor league. The "growing up" period should be at house shows or in OVW. No one should be given TV time if they can't bring it.

No one is saying its the minor leagues and yes the growing up is done at house shows but on the other hand when 1/3 of your roster is injured you need someone to step up and fill the role.

What happens when the brand split ceases to exist and Vince/HHH cut the roster down to 30 maybe 40 stars. They will be on both shows history tells us this (Nitro/Thunder and when Raw/smackdown started) WCW had Hogan on every time they could could because they thought he was the one who was winning the ratings for them. Lets look at who would be on the roster if he cuts it down.

Cena, Orton, Miz, HHH, Edge, Rey, UT, Sheamus, Punk, Christian, Del Rio, Swagger, Kane, Big Show, Koffi, DBD, Khali, Morrison, Ziggler, Vickie, Kelly kelly, maryse, eve, Natie, Beth, Santino. I am stoping here. Almost to 30 and it is whats there minus the nexus and the folks who showed up of nxt and no tag teams. What difference will it make keeping them split to run their separate shows, I would like them to stop the draft and let them come up with their own stories to keep us watching but they cant do that so they keep doing the draft. I would like them to compete more like who is the better show and play off the whole I just stole someone from you thing (using a Lex Luger type thing) Have the miz win a belt on Raw and the next Friday he is on smackdown saying how Raw sucks and he could't wait to get out of their hope they have fun trying get the belt back off of him because its his thus allowing them to create a new belt and some elements of surprise.

 

[tripleddd]

No I dont think they need to rejoin the pair but I do think WWE missed a trick when it restarted the ECW - that should have been the angle to take the up and coming stars and possibly start a new invasion angle with the wwe . They should have keep a little more faith with ECW and evetually let it grow, they could of gradually pulled all the established stars out and we would have seen the likes of Nexus, Seamus and all the others grow in there and slowly slowly get introduced to either Raw or Smackdown

 

[Machianzo]

I agree, but ECW could only work when it wasn't PG...and with Heyman. Without both of those, ECW was no longer ECW.

 

[tripleddd]

When i used to catch ECW with Paul Heyman the original version - it was bonkers but it proved to be a feeder for both WCW and WWE and ultimately failed I still think that when WWE bought it back they could have turned it nearer the knuckle even in the PG era and remember of recent times i dont think it was ever called Extreme we all assumed it . I think they missed a major major trick with this

 

[DDPandNWOfan]

There are simply not enough stars left to continue with 2 brands and 2 World Titles. Undertaker and Triple H are basicially retired until they have their rematch and at WM 28 and then they will both be done. Edge just retired last night. So who does that leave?

John Cena
Rey Mysterio (who is also about to retire)
Randy Orton
The Miz
CM Punk
Big Show (another guy retiring soon)
Sin Cara
Alberto Del Rio
Christian
Wade Barrett

And I'm really struggling to think of anybody else worth mentioning. I don't see how WWE can keep going forward with 2 seperate brands when that is all they have left. They need to build some new stars and FAST cause this company is in trouble right now.

I bet they wish they had pushed the MVPs, Kennedys and Benjamins of the world when they had the chance cause even their mid-carders are mostly unknowns now and it's gonna be hard to get them over and credible in such a short ammount of time.

It's gonna be even worse a year from now after WM 28 is over. Rocks final match and Undertaker and Triple H will both be done wrestling. So basicially WWE has a year to build some guys who can help carry the company into the future cause other than Cena, Orton and to a lesser extent Miz and Punk there are no stars left in this company that ain't ready to retire.

 

[Murphy]

I would love to see the two World Championships unified. A wrestling company needs to have one world champion, to signify who is the best. I am not going to go into depth here, as everyone knows what I mean. But there is no way in my mind that the WWE needs to have 2 world titles any more. Its worthless. Also a unified World Championship would make a better Main Event Scene.

As for the brand split. For the last couple of years I have been hoping for WWE to get rid of it. As you showed, there simply isn't enough talent to showcase on a brand each. It wouldn't even need to be a huge change. There would be less filler on each show, and there would be more time to develop fueds by having them on both shows.

 

[Constipated Badger Bottom]

I've been thinking the exact same thing as was thinking about creating a thread for it but you've beaten me to it

But yeah it's something that should be done sooner rather than later, I remember back in 2002 when the brand split was introduced after the Invaision storyline when the WWE had So much talent on the roster so on one brand they had Undertaker, Nash, Hall, Kane, RVD, Booker T, Big Show, Brock Lesner & Jeff Hardy all of who could compete at Main Event level.

But now these days each brand only ahs about 4 or 5 stars who could currently compete at Main Event level with with at least 2 nearing retirement and if any of those get injured then it leaves a massive hole and find themselves having to rush a push of a certain superstar which could hurt that career in the long run.

If they ended the brand split now then the main eventers would be

CM Punk
John Cena
Randy Orton
The Miz
Big Show
Rey Mysterio
Alberto Del Rio
Kane

And they could maybe ask/beg Chris Jericho and Booker T to return to the ring just help younger talent get over, and combine the 2 World Championship belts into 1 which will give the World Championship alot more credibility.

 

[VABurghman]

I have been saying for weeks that the rosters should be combined for 1 main show (Raw) but the general consensus has been the roster would be too big for one show which I disagree with. That's fine, everyone is entitled to their opinion. Someone else suggested reviving the Saturday morning show. Good idea. I would do that to air house show results. Revive the TV Title which could be the main event match for the Saturday show or something to that effect. Good chance to get NXT talent on the air too.

But yes, eliminate Smackdown, combine the rosters. Consolidate. The WWE, much like our military, is stretched far too thin.

 

[Nate DaMac]

Ugh. Again with this bullshit? First of all, I haven't seen one good reason to end the brand split other than you people seem to just want something to bitch about. Where is the benefit of taking away opportunities from people who otherwise wouldn't be anywhere near the top of the card? You would have Orton, Cena, and interchangeable heels as the main event, all of the time. On Smackdown, people are being given the chance to excel, people who wouldn't be given the chance if they were on Raw.

The failure to understand basic facts is astounding. I'm not going to pick this nonsense apart for the 40th fucking time.

 

[The Curtis]

Yeah I don't agree with the idea of getting rid of Smackdown. Why would they get rid of Smackdown and start a shitty little Saturday Morning show that nobody would be watching? Who watches wrestling on a Saturday morning?
I do agree that unless they come up with a bunch of new main eventers quick, that maybe they should consider stop doing the split brands. But if they do they would still need to keep Smackdown or make Raw an extra hour long as there are still enough superstars on the roster that a lot of them would get left out completely if there was only one single 2 hour show on every week.

 

[The Perfect Max]

I must admit, I didn't like the idea. However, you have changed my mind. You are right. Do it like they did with the WWE Undisputed Championship. Would be good.

WWE Championship Scene:
- Alberto Del Rio
- Big Show
- Christian
- CM Punk
- Daniel Bryan
- John Cena
- John Morrison
- Kane
- The Miz
- Randy Orton
- Sheamus
- Triple H
- Undertaker
- Wade Barrett
Good list of superstars with potential to be 10x Champions. I know, people like Triple H, Undertaker and Christian are on there last run, but, why not. Christian especially. I wouldn't mind if they did a Jeff Hardy and have Christian vs Alberto for 3 or 4 PPV's with the Championship changing two or three times. Christian would leave potentialy a 2x WWE Champion. Wade Barrett, JoMo, Daniel Bryan and Sheamus have huge potential and people like The Miz, John Cena and Randy Orton can carry them.

Intercontinental Championship Scene:
- Alex Riley
- Cody Rhodes
- Dolph Ziggler
- Drew McIntyre
- Ezekiel Jackson
- Kofi Kingston
- Rey Mysterio
- R-Truth

 

[Strife3]

It's time for the Brands to end. Get rid of the Raw GM and let Teddy Long run everything. The Roster is slowly shrinking and it shows a good time for titles to be unifided. Remove the WHC and the US Title and let the only thing to remind anyone of WCW is Booker T.

Edge, You will be Missed!

 

[onecrazykid]

Wait, why get rid of smackdown? It was around for 3 years before the brand split happened.


I'm kind of in the middle here because I see 2 sides to it. One side having 2 different rosters allows the wrestlers some time to rest if they're not competing on Monday and Tuesday so that's less wear and tear on their body. Also, as has been said, it gives others a chance to shine.

On the other side, it is getting pretty tiring seeing the same people in the main event week after week, month after month. I mean does Cena really always have to be in the main event, whether against Nexus, Orton, Punk, etc? Smackdown's been pretty good at rotating feuds and main eventers.

I think it should go to 1 title and the champions could appear on both shows (which I know completely goes against my first point). And also bring back some of the "midcard" titles to give them some worthy feuds.

 

[Skairipa Matrix]

i think the brand spilt should keep going for now because it gives guys like christian a chance to shine on smackdown right now its his chance 2 carry the ball but i doubt he will get his well deserved chance i hope guys like john morrison,drew mcintyre,daniel bryan and dolph ziggler move up to main event now so wwe has more ppl....also the original poster forgot about Sheamus hes basically like Y2J he can b mid card or main event

 

[SecondCitySaint]

I do not mind the brand split too terribly much. I do like having a variety of people to watch on each show. Whatever. I will say, though, that if they do keep the brand split for a few more years, bring back the cruiserweight/light heavyweight title. The E has high flyers in Matt Sydal, Sin Cara, Rey, Danielson even, Primo, Chavo, etc. Would I necessarily want Danielson locked into that scene? I don't think so. That's just my two cents, as worthless as it is.

 

[wooooo]

You don't get rid of Smackdown lol, what are you talking about.


Anyway for the last several years whenever someone has mentioned ending the brand split i've thought no there's too many guys, but looking at it now they really don't have a huge amount of really top guys so i wouldn't mind seeing them cut it down.

 

[nbda1997]

The brand split still has value from two perspectives:
1) Producing several hours of television per week while not working the boys to death
2) Maintaining an environment where young guys can evolve & stale characters can be repackaged & re-exposed without being outshined by the main eventers (Smackdown!)

It doesn't always work quite like this in reality, but in theory it's a good system.

 

[Toroc102]

"Ugh. Again with this bullshit? First of all, I haven't seen one good reason to end the brand split other than you people seem to just want something to bitch about. Where is the benefit of taking away opportunities from people who otherwise wouldn't be anywhere near the top of the card? You would have Orton, Cena, and interchangeable heels as the main event, all of the time. On Smackdown, people are being given the chance to excel, people who wouldn't be given the chance if they were on Raw.

The failure to understand basic facts is astounding. I'm not going to pick this nonsense apart for the 40th fucking time. "

Lol, obviously the words Brand Split are just a formality since Smackdown stars show up on Raw basically every week(just this past Raw, Edge retired, Corre had a match(and developed storyline), who knows where Mystico is gonna wrestle(I'm guessing they might keep him on SD until people can learn to work with him), Jack Swagger has been on Raw every week, Michael Cole and Josh Mathews commentate on both shows).

Basically, Raw is the Main-Event, Raw stars rarely appear on SD, SD stars regularly appear on Raw.

You don't need a brand split to promote new stars, in fact I'd say its limiting since that basically makes fans make a choice between which shows to watch, it makes people say, "which show is my favorite?" For instance De Rio seems pretty over on SD but when he was showing up on Raw it seemed like people didn't know him that well. WWE needs to come up with another way of doing things so you don't limit the shows. I'd say unify the World championships and eliminate the IC and US titles and change them to the SD and Raw titles which would make both titles more prestigious(really, what does "Intercontinental Title" even mean?) That way there'd be a reason to keep stars on one brand without making it policy. If a star was going after the SD title then he'd have no reason to show up on Raw. Also, there should be ONE MAIN guy anyway, the face of the WWE should be showing up on both shows.

I think thats thw way WWE's headed anyway.

 

[worldchamp101]

Wow, this is like the 5 trillionth thread I have seen that concerns of getting rid of the brand split. I personally like the brand extension because it allows for more wrestlers a chance to get exposed. I think there are many talented wrestlers currently signed to WWE who just aren't being used. It is just a matter of having them pushed. The reason for a lack of "superstars" is because there wasn't enough long term planning on the use of all the wrestlers.

 

[Serious Mozzarella]

I don't think anything drastic should be done until we see what happens all the new post-WM storylines. We're seeing the debut of Sin Cara (who's fucking A-M-A-Z-I-N-G so far), as well as some other new storylines with Cena and Rock, with Ziggler, R-Truth, and John Morrison entering the title scene. I think the WWE will fare perfectly well in the coming months, without having to combine the rosters.

 

[iwinulose]

you contradict yourself. raw and smackdown superstars already show up on both shows frequently, so it doesnt matter if you have 2 shows or not, the idea of the 2 shows was supposed to be so that more superstars and divas get some time to do something, as opsed to just one big show where all your big names are pushed and your smaller names are tossed way in the back, used only to push other superstars.
though you do bring up a good point, wwe need more titles so that other superstars can make their way up to the big times and maybe more title changes so that other talent can work their way to the top and get more of a fan reaction.

 

[Dysturbed]

I agree that at this point the split isn't absolutely necessary for new stars, but do feel that since WWE has so many people employed, that it may as well be kept.

I am still a fan of the split, even though it is currently a very loose split to to speak. Even though stars can appear on both shows the "defined" rosters do in a sense help provide an overall form of structure. The lines between who is on what roster may be blurred, but the structure still exists to a degree. We know that people from each brand can appear on the other one, sometimes more frequently than others, and currently too often in the opinions of some, but we also know who we will likely get from each roster on their own show, based on current storylines. Without the set rosters we may expect just about anyone to be on either show. That would be nice for unpredictablity but would also leave plenty of people with dissapointment as fans may expect to see someone specific and not get that. For example say that someone of a certain prestigue is on Smackdown roster. They may still appear on Raw but we don't necessarily expect it full time. We do however expect them to be on Smackdown unless they are injured. Take away the designated rosters and we (fans in general) may expect him to be on both shows every week forever simply because they can be. Granted that happens now to a degree but it would likely happen way more frequently without the designations and could even seem like overkill. It wasn't overkill years ago, but the past doesn't always define the present.

If (and I stress if) the reason for a lot of the leniency is that rosters on their own are considered to thin, then WWE should maybe attempt to work on that. There are plenty of people who could potentially have more individuality and don't. This is not a complaint on my part (since I for some reason try to see things for how they are and not how I want them to be), just an observation There are people who can have more airtime but don't. I know that a lot of people dislike the members of nexus for example but at this point they could maybe have more individuality while still in the group. Again it isn't absolutely necessary, but is always an option.

Anyone who has been on Superstars is capable of being used more as well. At first people will maybe say that they suck or maybe use the "they're only superstars material" line but when they are actually given a legit opportunity to prove otherwise at some point, maybe some will. On the main rosters alone Alex Riley, Brodus Clay, Nexus, and The Corre could each be singles stars at one point regardless of how people feel about them on this particular day. Ryder, Reks, and so on can be the same, regradless of what people think. We know that, even if we don't care for every NXT wresler that WWE does have a bunch of FCW guys to possibly get airtime one day. Therefore we do know that their are people that can be used if deemed worthy. I am not saying that anyone that I mentioned will be a huge star, but some can in theory be a bit bigger than they currently are. Maybe they could be legit enough to not only fill up time on Raw or Smackdown but to allow rosters to remain split, and with less movement in between. When I say fill up time I don't mean as useless filler, but to get time and see what they can do.