Monday Night Smackdown?

[lil steroid meat]

From the "Bring Hogan back as a Heel or Face" thread.

I say bring Hogan back as the GM of SD! and let him move the show to Mondays for a new Monday Night War.

I've been on this forum for about a year or two and during this time i have seen some very dumb comments but what you just said was probably the absolute dumbest most idiotic nonsensical thing I've ever read on this site.

You want the WWE to not only go into competition with itself but split its audience between raw and smack down on the same night? Please don't ever start a business. I really hope you were joking.

That idea might actually work to increase ratings, just off of people tuning in to see what the hell each show is going to do.

I don't know if it would be smart long term, but it would definitely increase ratings for each show for at least one night or even a couple of weeks. Have Smackdown and Raw go on the road separately so both crowds would be full.

Hell, it wouldn't really be a reach, if Sting is coming back to GM Raw like they say and Hogan comes back, maybe they call up Bischoff and they could run Smackdown. Doesn't even have to be Sting vs. Hogan/Bischoff, could really be anyone. HHH/Steph vs. Vince. Vince/HHH/Steph vs. Shane. HHH/Steph vs. Vince/Shane.

And the WWE really can't lose because either way they are going to get your viewership. If they sign to NBC Universal, this would be a great way to kick off a new era with a lot of promotion. RAW on USA with Smackdown on another NBC network.

I'm actually gonna make a thread on this.

So what do you all think?

I think it would be a great way for WWE to gain publicity and high viewership for whatever company they sign with for their new TV rights. If they can't get NBC to agree with having Smackdown on Mondays, they could have RAW play on USA, while Smackdown plays on the WWE Network (and then having it's TV showing in it's regular time).

In a business where everything under the sun has been done and nothing is new or original, I think that this is a legitimately new idea.

With Sting coming in to apparently GM Raw, and Hogan coming back, like I said, it could be Sting vs. Hogan/Bischoff. Or it doesn't even have to be Sting, Hogan, and Bischoff (I know Vince hates non-WWE creations), it could be HHH/Steph vs. Vince/Shane.

And the WWE really couldn't lose because either way, they'd be getting your viewership.

I don't know if it's a formula that could work for the next ten years

Spoiler

Although, if you really and truly separated the shows and had separate writers, production teams, etc. etc. and had midcarders on Smackdown (the Zigglers, Ryders, Rybacks, etc.) trying to prove themselves against the older guys who aren't going anywhere (Cena, Orton, Batista), it could create semi-competition and increase the overall quality of the WWE product.

I even proposed in another thread that WWE should redo a soft brand split and have midcarders on Smackdown fighting for a newly prestiged IC Title and the big timers on RAW fighting for the WWE WHC, it would force stars, just like the Monday Night Wars forced Austin and Rock and the rest of those guys.

I'd create a soft brand split. No draft or "Smackdown vs. RAW" or anything like that, but older guys, solidified main eventers (like Cena, Punk, Orton, Batista, Bryan, Mysterio, Lesnar, Big Show etc.) would only show up on RAW, and midcarders and guys who need more screen time (Ziggler, Barrett, Kofi, Ryback, Big E, Zack Ryder, Ambrose, Rollins, Reigns, Axel, Rhodes etc.) would be on Smackdown. With HHH switching between the two shows. I'd make it live and on Saturday nights. And talent would eventually "graduate" to RAW.

The US Title would be unified with the IC Title, and the new IC Title would be the main title (thus also solving the problem of the IC Title needing more prestige).

, but it would definitely create short term buzz and publicity. All eyes would definitely be on the WWE on Monday nights.

They could even play it off storyline wise with the Bryan and Punk situations, with Vince and Shane coming in to run Smackdown saying that HHH/Steph does not know what they are doing and they aren't ready to take over.

So what do you all think, dumb idea, or crazy enough to actually work to increase ratings, publicity, and product quality.

 

[Jack-Hammer]

So basically, the idea is for WWE to stage a Monday Night War....against itself??? The idea is to increase WWE's ratings by...splitting their audience???

I have little doubt that not only would this work, but it'd be viewed as an extremely cheap ploy by fans. One thing that made the Monday Night Wars so interesting was the fact that these were two completely separate wrestling companies legitimately competing against each other. Eric Bischoff himself brazenly stated that he wanted to put Vince McMahon out of business. I don't know if he was being serious or if he was being a cocky bastard, but it's what he claimed. The Monday Night War was a genuine competition that had legitimate consequences for both companies. Whichever company lost this war may have found itself out of business, and that's precisely what happened when WCW lost the war.

You can't manufacture a Monday Night War, especially not against yourself. Fans didn't have to be told in the late 90s & early 2000s that the competition was real, they knew beyond a shadow of a doubt it was without having to be told. Here we are in 2014, nearly 13 years since WCW went out of business, and people know that no other wrestling company can come close to being legit competition for WWE.

 

[lil steroid meat]

So basically, the idea is for WWE to stage a Monday Night War....against itself??? The idea is to increase WWE's ratings by...splitting their audience???

I have little doubt that not only would this work, but it'd be viewed as an extremely cheap ploy by fans. One thing that made the Monday Night Wars so interesting was the fact that these were two completely separate wrestling companies legitimately competing against each other. Eric Bischoff himself brazenly stated that he wanted to put Vince McMahon out of business. I don't know if he was being serious or if he was being a cocky bastard, but it's what he claimed. The Monday Night War was a genuine competition that had legitimate consequences for both companies. Whichever company lost this war may have found itself out of business, and that's precisely what happened when WCW lost the war.

You can't manufacture a Monday Night War, especially not against yourself. Fans didn't have to be told in the late 90s & early 2000s that the competition was real, they knew beyond a shadow of a doubt it was without having to be told. Here we are in 2014, nearly 13 years since WCW went out of business, and people know that no other wrestling company can come close to being legit competition for WWE.

The same way that the nWo having separate PPV's and shows and merchandise branding was viewed as a cheap ploy by the fans? The same way that McMahon allowing Steve Austin to do everything he did instead of just firing him was viewed as a cheap ploy by the fans? The same way that the prospect of CM Punk defending the WWE Title in Ring Of Honor and New Japan Pro Wrestling was viewed as a cheap ploy?

Suspension of disbelief would obviously be needed . . . the intention would not to be to sell it as "real". It would still be a professional wrestling storyline lol.

As far as the "splitting of the audience . . . well what would the WWE prefer? To keep getting 3.0's on RAW and < 1.0's for Smackdown or to get 3.0's on RAW and 2.0's, maybe even 3.0's on big nights for Smackdown. Not to mention, uncontested, undeniable domination of television on Monday nights.

It doesn't even have to be about ratings, it could get a few people to sign up for the network, just to get a first viewing of the new Smackdown, if NBC or whoever wouldn't let them have two primetime Monday night slots.

 

[bioshock]

Putting "midcarders" on one show, and all the stars on another show "the big leagues" Raw. Is the single dumbest thing EVER! You do know guys like Cena, Batista, Undertaker, Lesnar, Big Show, Del Rio, and any other supposed big star always needs the "midcarders" to compete against in matches, having all those midcard stars on another show isn't going to work because then you get to a point of having to have Cena vs Batista on Raw because of a lack of talent. Plus WWE doesn't have enough top level stars to have all the stars on Raw.

Cena, Punk, Orton, Batista, Bryan, Mysterio, Lesnar, Big Show - those being the stars you listed. Who do these guys face each other? Because as we speak guys like Bryan completes guys like Ambrose on a regular basis. Orton completes with Kofi on a regular basis. "Ziggler, Barrett, Kofi, Ryback, Big E, Zack Ryder, Ambrose, Rollins, Reigns, Axel, Rhodes etc." those guys all complete with stars listed above on a regular basis, and guess what they all get plenty of tv time on a 3hr show. And guess what. People don't want guys like Kofi getting more TV time, Ambrose gets a ton of tv time already, promos every week, having more tv time then Cena, and some times Bryan. No one cares about Ryder. Barrett gets plenty of tv time as well.

I really don't see any reason for WWE to do another brand split, everyone hated it and we still would. Go away with those brand split ideas.

 

[#tamale]

The same way that the nWo having separate PPV's and shows and merchandise branding was viewed as a cheap ploy by the fans?

They tried that and it failed miserably. Nobody was interested in the NWO as a seperate brand, only as a heel faction.

The same way that McMahon allowing Steve Austin to do everything he did instead of just firing him was viewed as a cheap ploy by the fans?

This is wrestling. They are trying to tell a story. McMahon did fire him and what happened...oh yeah, Austin kidnapped him and Vince soiled himself on national TV.

The same way that the prospect of CM Punk defending the WWE Title in Ring Of Honor and New Japan Pro Wrestling was viewed as a cheap ploy?

It did turn out to be a cheap ploy that fans bought into.

Suspension of disbelief would obviously be needed . . . the intention would not to be to sell it as "real". It would still be a professional wrestling storyline lol.

As far as the "splitting of the audience . . . well what would the WWE prefer? To keep getting 3.0's on RAW and < 1.0's for Smackdown or to get 3.0's on RAW and 2.0's, maybe even 3.0's on big nights for Smackdown. Not to mention, uncontested, undeniable domination of television on Monday nights.

It doesn't even have to be about ratings, it could get a few people to sign up for the network, just to get a first viewing of the new Smackdown, if NBC or whoever wouldn't let them have two primetime Monday night slots.

This idea has been tried in various forms for years and it never works. People are enticed by the idea but they fade out because the idea is not that sustainable. Don't complicate your storyline. Just keep it simple.

 

[lil steroid meat]

Putting "midcarders" on one show, and all the stars on another show "the big leagues" Raw. Is the single dumbest thing EVER! You do know guys like Cena, Batista, Undertaker, Lesnar, Big Show, Del Rio, and any other supposed big star always needs the "midcarders" to compete against in matches, having all those midcard stars on another show isn't going to work because then you get to a point of having to have Cena vs Batista on Raw because of a lack of talent. Plus WWE doesn't have enough top level stars to have all the stars on Raw.

Cena, Punk, Orton, Batista, Bryan, Mysterio, Lesnar, Big Show - those being the stars you listed. Who do these guys face each other? Because as we speak guys like Bryan completes guys like Ambrose on a regular basis. Orton completes with Kofi on a regular basis. "Ziggler, Barrett, Kofi, Ryback, Big E, Zack Ryder, Ambrose, Rollins, Reigns, Axel, Rhodes etc." those guys all complete with stars listed above on a regular basis, and guess what they all get plenty of tv time on a 3hr show. And guess what. People don't want guys like Kofi getting more TV time, Ambrose gets a ton of tv time already, promos every week, having more tv time then Cena, and some times Bryan. No one cares about Ryder. Barrett gets plenty of tv time as well.

I really don't see any reason for WWE to do another brand split, everyone hated it and we still would. Go away with those brand split ideas.

First off thanks for actually giving a reason for disagreeing and not just coming in and saying it was dumb.

Now since you mostly talked about midcarders being on Smackdown, which wasn't mentioned in the main post, only the spoiler, I'm assuming you read the spoiler. Which means you also read the part about it being a "soft" brand split and talent graduating to RAW.

Obviously Cena vs. Batista wouldn't be wasted on TV . . . but for example, the Dolph Ziggler "pipe bomb" . . . that would be a perfect example of the types of things that would be on Smackdown. Why was that wasted on a Backstage website thing? You could kind of blame Ziggler for dropping it then, but when else does he get mic time?

Smackdown could be a show for midcarders to do things that there's not enough time on RAW for. Of course Ziggler gets a Battle For Cleveland match on RAW, or Kofi gets put in a pointless match with Del Rio, but with this soft brand split, you've got an opportunity to actually create characters with these guys instead of just throwing them in random matches. Do you really know who Kofi Kingston is as a character? You could say he's bland or boring or whatever, but when was the last time he was given the opportunity to come out and open or close a show with an in-ring promo?

Guys like Ryback and Big E are funny as hell, but you'd only know that from their social media accounts and such. You think Ryback is ever going to get a chance to come out to the ring and cut a promo? You think that he's ever going to close a show? That's what Smackdown would be for.

And like I said, talent would "graduate" to RAW. In fact, it could be a cycle, you call up guys from NXT to wrestle on Smackdown, guys from Smackdown start going to RAW. A-Show, B-Show, C-Show. And guys from each show would still be able to wrestle on the other, it's not some strictly defined thing where you have a Draft and all that. Just like you don't see Lesnar on Smackdown now, it would be the same thing except it would just be you don't see Bryan, Orton, Cena, Punk, Lesnar, etc. on Smackdown. If those guys close RAW, and they close Smackdown, when are the middle guys supposed to shine (don't bring up Shield and Wyatts, they are two exceptions that are in high profile factions. I'm talking about the Zigglers, Rybacks, etc. who are talented but don't get any screen time except for a pointless match).

This is actually how it used to be, RAW was for the veterans (Austin, Rock, HHH, Michaels, etc.) while Smackdown was for the new guys (Brock, Cena, etc.), except back then, it was a strict brand split.

 

[The Perfect Max]

Yeah, this is lame. Don't get me wrong, I can see where you're coming from, the "wars" worked before, but that was when it was the World Wrestling Federation vs World Championship Wrestling. In 2014, with what you're suggesting, it would be WWE vs WWE. Four million viewers a week on Raw isn't enough to justify a split where you could lose a million or so viewers. Plus also, the WWE doesn't have a good enough roster. Sure, it has awesome potential, but they don't utilise it. That's a different story though...

The principle of this, however, does make sense. WWE has always thrived when the competition was major. The WWE was good because if not, it would have sunk and lost to WCW. The only way something like this will ever happen again is if TNA somehow keeps above sea level, or if another wrestling brand comes along like lightning. Otherwise, this won't happen.

 

[JoeFromTomsRiver]

Wait. Aren't you really just asking that the WWE go back to a brand extension of some kind where rosters are split up? You suggest this concept as if the WWE has never done it before.

Contrived competition does not yield the results of a real competition.

Having separate rosters had its pluses and minuses, but there was never a believable "competion" between the two shows. It was just two shows.

And again, it's been done before and if it was in their best interest to do it again I'm sure they would. In fact if it does happen it would be in a sense that Smackdown could be where guys from NXT first go up to so they're working in a taped environment. But not in a sense where there are two rival "companies".

 

[Kidpolean]

How does this help ratings? Changing the day of smack down won't bring in new fans so what's the point? I record Raw because I work during the time it comes on but I watch smack down live so all this would do is force me to record smack down as well. I just don't see a point to this.

 

[TWJC: The Beginning]

Wouldn't work for a variety of reasons. For 1, USA would be PISSED. For 2, the second network wouldn't go for it.

Second, it'd cannibalize the product. Imagine you own hot dog and burger carts around a city. If someone eats a hot dog, they're too full to eat a burger and vice versa. So logically, you'd spread your carts out around the city. If you put them all on one 50 meter stretch of street, none of them will make enough to be profitable. Same thing here.

Not only all that, but cable is dying. Just put it all on streaming devices (where the future is). They're going to negotiate a giant ass contract with someone to carry their weeklys and whoever is dumb enough to give them a billion dollar deal is going to have the winners curse just like they get with NFL, MLB, etc.

I think the core of your idea is to "create competition" but, as I've said a million times, wrestling isn't the WWE's only competition. Their competition is EVERYTHING available to people as far as entertainment. USA isn't impressed if WWE beats TNA. They want WWE to beat everyone.

 

[Reflection]

What Kidpolean said two comments above. How is this move going to increase ratings for RAW and Smackdown to 3.0 and 2.0 respectively simultaneously? The amount of viewers that watch the WWE on Mondays will remain the same, i.e. good enough to get around a 3.0 rating. Instead, shifting Smackdown to Monday night will mean splitting this audience into two parts, and the result will be RAW getting around 2.2 and SD around 0.8, which is less than what they get now. It would work only if both shows got your viewership numbers each time you switched between the channels, but obviously that doesn't happen.
So my conclusion is that this is a beyond-horrible idea, like the second guy that you quoted in the thread-starting post, had said.
Someone mentioned earlier something among the lines of "nobody liked the brand split". I might have misunderstood the context, but I disagree. The brand split kept things interesting to a large extent. Each show had their own wrestlers, and feuds exclusive to that show, you got less of the "The Shield or Wyatt Family vs Three random faces" matches that we get these days, also didn't have to watch Alberto, Kofi, Miz etc. on almost every show, every week. I'd pick the brand split over the current form anyday.

 

[d_henderson1810]

So basically, the idea is for WWE to stage a Monday Night War....against itself??? The idea is to increase WWE's ratings by...splitting their audience???

I have little doubt that not only would this work, but it'd be viewed as an extremely cheap ploy by fans. One thing that made the Monday Night Wars so interesting was the fact that these were two completely separate wrestling companies legitimately competing against each other. Eric Bischoff himself brazenly stated that he wanted to put Vince McMahon out of business. I don't know if he was being serious or if he was being a cocky bastard, but it's what he claimed. The Monday Night War was a genuine competition that had legitimate consequences for both companies. Whichever company lost this war may have found itself out of business, and that's precisely what happened when WCW lost the war.

You can't manufacture a Monday Night War, especially not against yourself. Fans didn't have to be told in the late 90s & early 2000s that the competition was real, they knew beyond a shadow of a doubt it was without having to be told. Here we are in 2014, nearly 13 years since WCW went out of business, and people know that no other wrestling company can come close to being legit competition for WWE.

This is why I never bought into the "brand extension". They tried to make it that "Raw" and "Smackdown" were seperate companies, with their own rosters and PPVs, yet everyone knew which brand won, Vince McMahon won regardless. Even this was not legitimate because it was the WWE competing against itself.

The "Monday Night Wars" worked because they were two legit companies, with legitimate seperate rosters who NEVER mingled with each other, and whoever lost would lose jobs, pride and some may have to go to the opposition to find work, which is exactly what happened with WCW. Any in-house manufacturing just isn't the same.

 

[Marshyishere]

Not the best idea.

I would much prefer if WWE just admitted that Smackdown was a B-rated show and started using it to push the IC, US & Divas championships.

I just cannot understand the logic in having NAO vs The Brotherhood or The Shield vs The Usos etc on both shows each week. Is just boring. Use Raw as the main event of the week, and use Smackdown to build up some good feuds for the mid-carders. Throw a Cena or Orton or Bryan in each week to have a match with a mid-carder and help put them over. Keeps the fans happy as they get to see their favourite, while building up some new stars.

Give a different NXT star a match on Smackdown each week so they can develop a name for themselves - and let the fans show WWE who should get a shot at the main roster.

 

[Straightfromthehart]

I quite like the idea of the return of split brand, not a Monday night war tho. Just back to the raw smackdown split. Not sure they have a good enough roster to pull it off though.

 

[rbv13]

I was the individual responsible for the original comment so I thought I would weigh in on the subject. When I mentioned Hulk Hogan, the SD! GM position and moving the show to Mondays I was speaking in jest, taking a jab at Hogan&#8217;s misfortunes during his time in TNA. At the time I had given zero thought to the possibility of such a move. I was really shocked when I saw that my backhanded jab had taken on a life of its own.

I would like to applaud the efforts of Chief Queef for taking a radical concept and looking at it for possible positives and using it as a spin off for other ideas/conversations. There are bad ideas in business but it is incredibly stupid to not look at every possible angle as it might open doors not previously thought of.

In the Hogan Thread Kidpolean called my business sense into question. What is funny about his statement that I never start a business is that I&#8217;ve been extremely successful in a number of ventures under the hospitality umbrella. I know a great deal in regards to entertaining a diverse client base. I would question Kidpolean&#8217;s inability to read between the lines and complete lack of imagination. When working with my professional networking group or employees I like to use an exercise where an obvious bad idea is proposed and despite any preconceived negative opinions individuals are forced to put a positive spin on it and find potential for success. This exercise typically creates some spinoff ideas that become positive for business.

The original post has created some good conversation and opened ideas for other avenues.

In theory, I was a fan of the roster split. It was intended to present unique brands and gave reasons to watch the different shows and super stars. What made it so ineffective was questioning the intelligence of the fans. Even the most casual of fans knew there was no feud or difference in management. If they would bring a split back they would need to be upfront with the fans. The shows would need to feature different super stars, agendas and production elements. It would need to offer a dramatic change as to how the current product is viewed. A move like this, once again not riddled with the mistakes of the past, would create a must see atmosphere for each show &#8211; televised or house events. One of the major issues currently facing the WWE is the repetitiveness of their shows. With so many hours per week it seems as if they books the same names and matches much to frequently in a small period of time. Personally I see zero need to watch SD!, Main Event or Super Stars because I&#8217;ll eventually see the match on RAW or at the very minimum get a detailed recap of those events.

As for moving SD! to Monday Nights, if it remains on tape delay, I could live the idea. I wouldn&#8217;t be stuck on a Monday Night War atmosphere as I am one to let the past remain in the past. I would like to see a new marketing approach and a new concept. I would suggest airing SD! live on Mondays from 7PM &#8211; 9PM EST on the Network (rerun Fridays on cable/satellite) and RAW 9PM-11PM on cable/satellite. Prior to and after the four hour block I would run live studio shows similar to any sports league/event. This would officially make Mondays &#8220;World Wide Wrestling Night.&#8221;

I realize there would be some kinks involving advertisers and the networks but this is just a jumping off point. I like the idea as it renews my interest in watching multiple WWE programs/talents and lets me do it all on a day that most individuals already regard as &#8220;Wrestling Night.&#8221;