Should Smackdown Be Renamed WCW?

[Midnite Express 2009]

Before everyone kills me, please hear me out:

Smackdown was supposed to be, during the brand split, its own brand, but I'm not exactly if it is in reality. It seems more like its own show like it used to be when it was first created. Also, the name Smackdown really is a word that The Rock created, and I'm not sure if he's getting royalties for that or not. Be that as it may, I think it's time they change the name from Smackdown to...WCW.

Sure, WWE tried that with ECW, but I personally think one of the reasons why the WWE's version of ECW didn't pan out the right way was due to the history of the old ECW and how basically the WWE didn't stay with that particular version of ECW, although they really couldn't, given the current PG era they're in.

However with WCW they have something that can draw back older fans who probably went the way of Impact Wrestling, and create a bit of nostalgia. They already have the World Heavyweight Title on the show, which is a direct copy of the former NWA/WCW World Title. They could easily make the switch between the Intercontinental and U.S. titles, bringing the U.S. title over to the WCW show/brand and taking the Intercontinental title over to Raw. There's already Sin Cara on Smackdown, who could be the fuse to light the new way of Lucha & Cruiserweight stars, and Booker T., a former WCW Champion is one of the announcers.

Also, with the advent of the Bragging Rights PPVs that have been around for a few years, they could revamp that PPV for one night only as a renewed battle between WCW & WWE, except we all know WCW isn't an actual company, it's a show by which a name is placed on it under the umbrella of WWE. Smackdown is Smackdown. Pretty decent show, but it doesn't really compete with Raw all too often. But if they changed the name to WCW, perhaps just maybe it could bring a little bit of excitement back into the company. This wouldn't be an invasion angle, just a name change but with a larger meaning. So what do you guys think? Think it could work? If so, how would you handle everything once the name change happened? If not, please let me know your reasons as to why. Thanks.

 

[The Brain]

What’s in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet.

This topic comes up every once in a while and most people end up agreeing bringing the WCW name back would not accomplish anything. If it wasn’t for the purpose of some type of invasion angle how would a name change create a rivalry with Raw? WWE likes to have the freedom to shuffle their roster around on any given week so any kind of true rivalry will never happen. Do you really think simply changing Smackdown to WCW would bring back old fans who forgot about wrestling over ten years ago? I doubt it. I don’t mean to insult your idea but I don’t see how bringing the WCW name back would benefit anybody.

 

[Jeff]

I understand the idea and I actually respect it. I see what you are trying to do. Maybe renaming it to WCW would create a "rivalry" between the two brands that doesn't seem to be there anymore. However the problem isn't the rivalry the problem is the programming and how the WWE is treating Smackdown. WWE is treating Smackdown as a B show. There are never any shocks and nothing special ever happens on the show. WWE just had three Special RAW episodes in a row...where is the special Smackdown episode? Everything happens on Raw now. The only reason to tune into Smackdown is really for the wrestling. WWE isn't even attempting to make Smackdown as important as Raw.

 

[Joshua]

No. Vince already killed wCw. I'm surprised he even gave wCw a DVD and I'm sure he hated doing it. He continues to shit on wCw to this day proof in this past weeks Raw. Michaels and DDP interaction. Subtle as it might be, its still there. And WWE isn't mareking the company as a brand war (Raw vs SD!) they even took it off the game this year. Fun idea but I can't see it happening.

 

[Dagger Dias]

At tgis point it would be a really supid idea. Back when the brand extension first began and WWE had just bought WCW then it would have made perfect sense. That is no longer the case because now Smackdown has created its own history and to end that for a poor attempt at recreating WCW is not a good idea at all.

 

[Jack-Hammer]

Personally, I think it's an interesting idea on paper. It would definitely be something that would generate buzz and it would be nice, in a nostalgic sort of way, to see WCW back on television in some form. At the end of the day, however, I don't really see much in the way of long term benefits for the idea.

In this day and age, it would be extremely difficult if not impossible to recreate a WWE vs. WCW rivalry and make it all that believable. Why? Because everyone knows that WWE owns any and all things WCW. What gave the Monday Night Wars its teeth was the fact that it was two rival companies at each other's throats week after week. An Invasion storyline is something that could work but it'd take a helluva lot of work to pull it off. Even though nobody would really believe WWE lost control of the WCW brand, they'd at least have to pull off a storyline intriguing enough to suspend one's disbelief. WWE has had it rough in the stock market as of late so that could be used. Maybe Vince had to "sell" the rights of WCW to a small production company that turns out to be secretly owned by Shane McMahon perhaps. The problem is Shane has severed ties to WWE and is out there doing his own thing. There are just so many things and complications that could go wrong that the whole idea could just implode on itself right in the middle of things.

Like Brain said, WWE does like to schuffle the roster around whenever they feel like it and the current set up allows them to do that. The idea might be more practical and feesible at some point in time but right now, it'd accomplish little more than just temporarily shaking things up and causing a ton of buzz. And, at the end of the day, just shaking things up without accomplishing anything doesn't do much from a business perspective. Money talks and bullshit walks.

 

[The Champ]

Honestly, I don't see what it would accomplish even if it was a realistic possibility. We all saw what happened when WWE instituted ECW as a third brand. At first, it seemed pretty cool and like they were really trying to make it different from WWE. But over time, those differences slowly evaporated, and it became just another WWE show. Now, I'm not one of those people who will scream "WWECW sucked, it wasn't like the real ECW!" I personally didn't care because it was a great way to get young talent out there and it was much more of a wrestling based show than some of its alternatives.

The point I'm trying to make here is that changing SmackDown to WCW might shake things up for a couple of months, but eventually, it would go back to the way it was. And then you would have a show named WCW that's run just like a WWE show. They might as well not throw away eleven and a half years of history from their number two television show just for an attempt to recreate interest that would most likely fail.

 

[darbare]

Anyone who says Vince killed WCW is mental. Turner killed WCW because he pulled the freaking plug on a sinking ship..He sold it like it a piece of grapefruit at your local market. Bischoff tried to buy but in the end Vince did. Russo and his morons killed WCW. But no WCW should rest in peace. Plus theres not enough WCW talent to make it interesting. All they have is Rey, Big Show, Booker T and Regal. It would be interesting for a type of gimmick Ppv one time only thing. They could redo the Invasion team vs match. On Team WCW have Jericho, Big Show, Booker T, Rey, and Regal vs Cena, Kane, Sin Cara, Sheamus and Miz. But def not a show instead of SD

 

[Brilliant Human Being]

Yeah, with the WWE trying to market their product to a new generation of fans, changing the name of their number 2 show to something that their target market would not recognise would only serve to hinder, rather than help. Although it would undoubtedly be interesting to see put into practice, perhaps there would be an initial spike in ratings as people would be drawn in out of curiosity to see what comes of the name change; if the change is more than just superficial. But when all is said and done, I can't see the WWE changing the name to WCW in the current environment.

 

[iwinulose]

you can change the name of smackdown to wcw but that doesnt mean the show itself will change, just a new logo, we would still get the same stuff. The only way changing the name would be evne slightly relevant is if VKM let what happened back in the days when WCW was a brand to happen again, i mean all the shenanigans and all the great, brutal matches happen (which is unlikely cause of the whole pg thing). so changing the name is pointless.