Raw champ VS Smackdown champ as main event at Wrestlemania as the new format?

[wrestler36]

Excuse me if this idea has already been proposed, but what would you think? It would mirror what a lot of professional sports do (East vs West, AL vs NL, NFC vs AFC, etc).

Of course, there would be some loose ends to tie up. Maybe the winner of the RR the next night on Raw chooses to fight the Raw or SD champion at No Way Out. From then on, the road to Wrestlemania would be Raw's best guy versus Smackdown's best guy. Maybe the winner makes the loser switch brands and causes a tournament of sorts to crown the new champion of the other brand. Or maybe just a huge corny trophy that the brand gets to hold for the year.

 

[Hyorinmaru]

It won't happen. Not only would it make the Royal Rumble match completely worthless World Championships should be defended at the biggest show of the year. It would work every 5 years or so but any more would be stupid.

 

[ShinChan]

I totally agree with Frank N Stein.

I am okay with it being the main event of Night Of Champions PPV.

It surely doesn't need to be done at a bigger PPV like Wrestlemania or Summerslam.

And InterContinental Champion can face United States Champion.

 

[Azane]

I've never cared for Brand vs brand matches, Nothings on the line

"OH BRAGGING RIGHTS!" Nope, Nobody cares who won the fake bragging rights, Titles get us invested, Personal storylines get us invested. Matches MATTERING the next night or Tuesday matter, bragging rights just make us sick of hearing about them.

 

[Jack-Hammer]

Brand vs. Brand stuff doesn't really do much for me because it's pretty pointless really. Since WWE is doing the brand split once again, there needs to be as little interaction and crossover between the brands as possible otherwise they might as well just leave things as they currently are.

 

[Trill Co$by]

The only time of the year where I wouldn't mind a Raw vs. Smackdown match is Survivor Series, in a traditional 5-on-5 format. Other than that, the cross branded matches would be pointless. As someone who likes the idea of brand vs brand matches, I don't want to water down the significance it should have by doing a brand vs. brand match at every crossbrand ppv.

 

[enviousdominous]

Or maybe just a huge corny trophy that the brand gets to hold for the year.

Yeah, you're really not selling me with your closer.

It would likely have to be a huge corny trophy (of Jim Cornette?). The trophy would be almost as corny as the idea that no other performer would be allowed to compete for a world title at WrestleMania. The whole road to WrestleMania thing would be more like a road to an inconsequential grudge match.

 

[George Steele's Barber]

I'm not a brand purist by any means. I tend to enjoy when stories cross two shows. But this idea is too vanilla. Some would argue that conference winners competing for the title in legit sports has robbed us of better championship games or series.

Not that the Rumble winner story is that exciting any more. But this can be saved for a one off event or secondary PPV, as the WM main event it feels too manufactured.

 

[wrestler36]

Yeah, you're really not selling me with your closer.

It would likely have to be a huge corny trophy (of Jim Cornette?). The trophy would be almost as corny as the idea that no other performer would be allowed to compete for a world title at WrestleMania. The whole road to WrestleMania thing would be more like a road to an inconsequential grudge match.

Every championship trophy is a bit corny, you'd have to admit. In football, you have a bunch of 300 lb dudes passing around a gold football and kissing it for crying out loud.

As far as an 'inconsequential grudge match,' how so? The story line speaks for itself. You have the absolute best guy on raw facing the absolute best guy on smackdown to see who is the best of the best. There could be major stakes on the line, such as the GM loses his/her position if their champion loses and so forth.

 

[Woodstuff]

What an awful, awful idea.

The biggest match on the biggest PPV of the year... will now be the same basic set up every year?

Just no.

 

[HBKperfect23]

I do like the idea of it. Two world champions facing off in a winner take all at the biggest show of the year. The problem is the fallout afterwards. They're going to unify the belts just to split them again the next night/month and crown a now less prestigious world champion. I do like the mania season build the way it is with the rumble winner going to mania.

I'm anti-brand split/duel world champions but there is no use in complaining about those issues anymore since it's happening. So here's my ideal inter promotional match line up:

Royal rumble: 15 raw/15 smackdown

Wrestlemania: any and all raw vs smackdown matches

Summerslam: no interpromtional matches

Survivor seriesne team raw vs team smackdown match

Make the interpromtional stuff really special

 

[BestSportsEntertainer]

There are several problems with this.

1 - It makes the Royal Rumble useless - This devalues the Royal Rumble as the winner should always get a title shot at WrestleMania.

2 - The World Title is NOT defended at WrestleMania - This devalues the World titles as well because they should always be defended at WrestleMania.

3 - This prevents certain big matches at WrestleMania - What if Rollins, Cena, and Reigns are all on the same show? Who wouldn't want to see Reigns vs. Cena in the main event of WrestleMania? Well now you can't because of the champion vs. champion match.

4 - Raw vs. Smackdown stuff doesn't work - Are they wrestling for bragging rights? Because no one cares. It's the same dang company.

 

[Navi]

We already have a big corny trophy that means nothing when you win it. Remember the Andre the Giant Battle Memorial every year at Mania. Maybe they can use that as a brand vs brand match. If a RAW guys wins then they get the trophy for a year vice versa if a SD guy wins.

So in other words make it a brand trophy instead of an individual one.

 

[ComeOnVince]

Excuse me if this idea has already been proposed, but what would you think? It would mirror what a lot of professional sports do (East vs West, AL vs NL, NFC vs AFC, etc).

Of course, there would be some loose ends to tie up. Maybe the winner of the RR the next night on Raw chooses to fight the Raw or SD champion at No Way Out. From then on, the road to Wrestlemania would be Raw's best guy versus Smackdown's best guy. Maybe the winner makes the loser switch brands and causes a tournament of sorts to crown the new champion of the other brand. Or maybe just a huge corny trophy that the brand gets to hold for the year.

I completely follow the logic here: The best of each headlining the granddaddy of 'em all.

And I'm not bashing you or the idea - at all. But the "loose ends" you mention seem like more than just loose ends to me. These are huge gaps to fill - or as HBKperfect23 said, the fallout - and while I like what you proposed, I think it could only happen once. If there were a dream scenario where those two top guys need to clash at 'Mania.

But IF there is a title belt for each show, do we really want to look forward to a tournament or other mechanism to fill one of those voids EVERY year? I think it's a good idea for a one-off, but I think many many many of us would see that as tedious and lifeless after about twice.

But I do think that in the future, if some dream feud were worth the effort, it would be a cool scenario once.

I like The S#cial Sector's idea about the Survivor Series match. It could be a big deal for guys from each brand to qualify for their brand's team (like the Olympics), and it would be great if it were made to be a big deal with big stars just for the sole purpose of repping their brand. Nothing else at stake except that. That can be the main event, and the rest of the card can feature mid card talent and titles, perhaps.

Since the days of monthly PPV's, I have not cared for the RR winner automatically being in the Main Event of Wrestlemania. YES, they did manage a few times to make that contingency compelling. A few times. I would probably like it more if they used the entirely of the rumble match to continue or start feuds - if it were written better. It really the past few years has just been a matter of sitting through a long boring match (with a few cool guest spots and the occasional exciting superstar return) to see who is getting the top shot. And the past few years have been really terrible. And every year, the rest of the RR match is pretty terrible save for a few moments. But I also don't want the RR to just be a bunch of mid carders and jobbers, either, so I don't know what my solution would be.

But back to the SD v RAW main event at 'Mania, I would only do this if the stars aligned for that matchup to be epic and unforgettable. Every year would get tedious. I do completely get the idea behind the post and I want there to be a way to do this in a big way. I think Survivor Series is too small, though I want to see that 5v5 matchup between brands. But I think 'Mania is too big and would leave too much crap in its wake on an annual basis.

 

[Spencesc11]

Really Dumb Idea. Now you could have the Champions headline a different PPV with the Titles not on the line. Like say Royal Rumble??? This would make sense considering then every other main superstar could be in the Rumble. Then the Rumble winner gets a title shot against the champion from whichever show their on. And the other show's #1 contender is determined by an Elimination Chamber match at Fastlane. This provides continuity for the WWE as a whole each season with both brands. And the Non-Title Champion vs. Champion match would be fine at Rumble because the Royal Rumble Match could then be the Main Event.