The Brand Extension: It's Successor

[wrestlingfan]

Since 2011, WWE has incepted the Brand Extension, splitting rosters to each brand RAW or Smackdown but with the way things are going in WWE currently we're seeing a lot of overused matches and less variety. Here's what I think should happen if WWE end the Brand Extension and simply turn the brands into shows.

General Manager/Owner/COO: Triple H

Undisputed Championship:
John Cena
CM Punk
John Morrison
R-Truth
The Miz
Randy Orton
Christian
Sheamus
Daniel Bryan
Alberto Del Rio
Wade Barrett
Tyler Black

Intercontinental/US Division:
Alex Riley
Brodus Clay
Johnny Curtis
Chris Masters
Cody Rhodes
Dolph Ziggler
Drew McIntyre
Ezekial Jackson
Ted DiBiase
Mason Ryan
Jack Swagger
Tyler Reks

Tag Teams:
The Usos
Zack Ryder & Curt Hawkins
Santino Marella and Vladimir Koslov
Husky Harris and Michael McGillicutty
The Great Khali and Jinder Mahal
David Hart Smith and William Regal
The Brothers of Destruction

Cruiserweights:
Rey Mysterio
Primo
Sin Cara
Tyson Kidd
Trent Barreta
Justin Gabriel
Evan Bourne
Kofi Kingston
Yoshi Tatsu
JTG

Divas Roster remains the same, and Nexus will be sent to a special developmental contract.

Any roster management ideas of your own?
Discuss, and don't be lazy.

 

[TWJC: The Beginning]

Tyler Black is in the undisputed title category? You are a mark for him aren't you? I mean, there is absolutely no other reason you'd have a guy in an undisputed championship role without even seeing if he can get over unless you were. He wasn't even that over in ROH, he actually got a lot of heat for not having any charisma and having all his best matches against Nigel and Danielson, which, I could fuckin have a good match against them.

You have Kane and Undertaker as a team? Why? Nostalgia for you? Undertaker is in a totally different level than Kane. Doesn't make much sense.

Bringing back the cruiser title. You do know that a cruiser/x division has really never drawn right? Why not just put these guys in a midcard title area and see if that works. These guys won't get over on the basis of "they're smaller and more athletic and more technically proficient" because that doesn't get over in mainstream america. Don't even use the WCW cruiser division, it wasn't that over and when it was, it was because they literally had the best workers in the world like Guerrero who created an emotional connection.

So basically this looks like how YOU want the WWE, but it doesn't make good business sense.

Here's what I do. Keep the brand split and continue to push and develop the young guys. The roster has loads of potential and very good young guys. They need time, the only way to give them time is with the split.

 

[EastCoastFan]

The brand extension is not going anywhere. If they ever do end it, half the roster will get cut. That said, I do agree that there should be ONE World Champion. It's too confusing having two of them.

I like the idea of having the CW division return, but that's me.

The Divas have fallen so far that they may be beyond help. Without a major focal point (like Sable, Trish, Lay-Cool, ...) and with the restrictions they get, the best thing might be to kill it. Turn the hotties into managers and let the wrestlers go to TNA or Shimmer.

 

[Marzyk]

I dont care much for the "what I would do in the future" posts... When people talk about guys that have been around for years being the future, they completely disregard the fact that the future, quite possibly, hasn't arrived yet... Imagine someone having made long term plans with the 1994 roster... They would have missed the entire boat.

 

[Shafer757]

I don't understand how in most of these what-if threads each list of wrestlers is divided into divisions based upon each belt they'd be pursuing. Both our current intercontinental and united states champion are former champions of the higher tier.

Asides from the cruiserweight and divas division, I don't see how wrestling can be divided into divisions. I'm glad to read that that's just me.


All well.


Why would you team DH Smith and Regal together? Shouldn't DH get a younger, more suiting partner? IMO he is one of the most underrated and underused talents WWE has.

 

[brighamosity]

Damn! WWE has trouble fitting most of these guys on two brands, and you want to combine them? I don't necessarily like everything about the roster split either, but it works. People whine about how guys like Zack Ryder don't get enough TV time, but then they want to combine the rosters? If they did that, we would see Cena, Orton, CM Punk and the Miz on both shows and guys like Ziggler and Barrett would be wrestling on Superstars. I will admit that it took me years to accept the roster split because I didn't like the idea of paying for tickets to Raw and only getting to see half of my favorite wrestlers. But I have come to accept it and it's not going anywhere, nor should it. WWE would lose money on ticket sales (since they are only running half as many house shows) and would ultimately be forced to make roster cuts, most of which would probably go to TNA or ROH. That sounds good to the IWC but probably not to stockholders.

 

[Guyzwitgunz]

OK let me run down the pros and the cons of merging the brands like they werre pre-2002

PRO's

-More Main event level talent (that most people tune in for) can appear on both shows which would seriously help lift SmackDown's rating and help both shows.
-Far more storyline options that are not restricted by the split (according to the split Mark Henry and Big Show should not be feuding)
-Better attendance for TV tapings and also House Shows which often do dismal numbers, especially SmackDown ones. With House Shows they would likely want to do two separate tours but would be able to change the guys that appear on them at any time, not restricted by who is on which brand.
-Titles have more value: Because more guys would be contending for them, especially the Undisputed world title then they would have more value and prestige and the fans would be more interested when there is a new champion.
-WWE already has the brands halfway split...: Some of the stuff I said above, WWE already does so I think they are starting to become restricted by their own split. If they just ended the brand thing totally...

CON's

-Not enough time: Face it, with the current management of WWE, young guys would seriously suffer because WWE would be tempted to flood both shows with all their top level talent and most under-card competitors would likely miss out on a lot of TV time.
-New stars won't get built: As per what I said above there will just be not enough time for building new stars since they will want the majority of their main event level talent appearing on both shows.
-House Shows: I said above that House Shows could tour with two differant 'teams' but that could be hard to manage and could be a hassle for WWE and the talent, Also same goes for having talent appear on two shows. I would say talent ejoys not having to go to Raw then the SmackDown tapings on Tuseday right after that.
-WWE has such as large roster of talent that if they merged it all together it's almost certain that a whole load of guys would be sitting on the shelf for months on end with nothing to do.


I say that they should just stick with the split as it is but SmackDown definatly needs a boost. They need to stop loading up Raw with all the main eventers because Cena can basically carry that show on his own.

 

[wrestlingfan]

Tyler Black is in the undisputed title category? You are a mark for him aren't you? I mean, there is absolutely no other reason you'd have a guy in an undisputed championship role without even seeing if he can get over unless you were. He wasn't even that over in ROH, he actually got a lot of heat for not having any charisma and having all his best matches against Nigel and Danielson, which, I could fuckin have a good match against them.

You have Kane and Undertaker as a team? Why? Nostalgia for you? Undertaker is in a totally different level than Kane. Doesn't make much sense.

Bringing back the cruiser title. You do know that a cruiser/x division has really never drawn right? Why not just put these guys in a midcard title area and see if that works. These guys won't get over on the basis of "they're smaller and more athletic and more technically proficient" because that doesn't get over in mainstream america. Don't even use the WCW cruiser division, it wasn't that over and when it was, it was because they literally had the best workers in the world like Guerrero who created an emotional connection.

So basically this looks like how YOU want the WWE, but it doesn't make good business sense.

Here's what I do. Keep the brand split and continue to push and develop the young guys. The roster has loads of potential and very good young guys. They need time, the only way to give them time is with the split.

No I'm not a mark for Tyelr Black. Barely know anything about him, Thought he'd fit competing for the World Title.

Why I have Kane and Undertaker for a Tag Team? Because they're in the twilight of their careers, and they would be a good dominating tag team that can put over the Young Guns. In terms of markeability I would say Undertaker is in a different level then Kane, In terms of actual talent, despiste, Taker's athletic ability, they're the same.

Well considering that there's a PG Audience right now, Kids come these days to see guys like John Morrison, Rey Mysterio, and SIn Cara jumping around the ring. I do think that would gravitate towards them.

Okay we an push and develop the ytougn guys with the split but here's the problem with the split, We see too many overused matches and the young guys they don't push usually don't draw.