The Pro's and Con's of the Brand Split

[Aeon Mathix]

Smackdown Live and Raw have been their own entities for about 7 months now which isn't something new to the WWE world. I even grew up watching wrestling when they were separated back in 2002. Since it's been going on for a while I want to discuss the good and bad aspects of it and get everyone's take on it.

Pro's:

1. More wrestlers get a chance to shine. With guys like Finn Balor, Samoa Joe, the Shield, Kevin Owens, and soon Shinsuke Nakamura along with all of the previous main eventer's, it would have been a challenge trying to showcase them all on Raw. I realize Smackdown was always there, but for years it was never more than a pointless main event tag match with nothing ever happening on it of note. The brand split opens up slots in the main event on both shows with the new NXT talent coming up.

2. Variety. Probably the biggest one is the variety of wrestler's on both shows. Needing to watch both because one wrestler you like may be on Raw or Smackdown is a smart business decision and adds some excitement as a wrestling fan as you know there isn't a show you can miss.

3. More rest for the wrestlers (?). I put a question mark there because I don't have a ton of knowledge how the touring schedule works now, only an interview with one of the guys that said it's a nice break having Raw and smackdown tour separately rather than having every person be at every live event. That might not be true though, for all I know Smackdown AND Raw tour 5 nights a week just in different cities. I'm going with the latter but I could be wrong.

Con's

1. Repetitive matches. This is the biggest one for me. On Raw it has been nothing but Owens/Jericho vs Reigns/Rollins since around the summer. I don't even want to count all the matches they have had with each other as I would wonder why I never tuned Raw out. It just got so boring for me personally and it felt like creative was stalling all fall and in a limbo. I understand Balor being injured may have put a wrench in things, but how big of a wrench would that have been?

The same is true for Smackdown with AJ vs Ambrose and that god awful Ellsworth stuff. I was sick of watching all of that by around October.

2. More championships. I would have been perfectly fine with just two world titles and the Tag Team titles being on Smackdown along with the Women being exclusive to Raw. That would have been great. Having two separate divisions for each show when you can count the number of competitors on one hand is ridiculous. By this time next year I would wager 80 percent of the roster on both shows will be able to say they are a former champion.

My biggest gripes are the repetitive matches and amount of people that will be able to claim they were a champion soon. Becky Lynch and Alexa Bliss have held the Smackdown Women's Title and they are about 25 percent of the division already. Titles, although props should have some sort of value to them instead of being reduced to participation trophies.

What are everyone's thoughts on the brand split thus far? Do I have valid complaints or do you disagree?

 

[Fire Marshall Bill]

I get your point on repetitiveness.

The biggest pro for me, and sounds like many, is that Smackdown is actually worth watching nowadays. I still miss it occasionally because I forget it moved to Tuesday. It had been that long since I'd watched it when it was on Fridays. There was no point in watching it before the brand split. 30% of the time was taken up by Raw recaps. Then you had other completely meaningless matches that had something to do with a Monday storyline anyway. If, and I mean if, anything worth watching happened, it was spoiled earlier in the week, or you could watch the recap Monday on Raw. It was a giant waste of time.

 

[Deoxyribonucleic A.C.I.D.]

I don't really think I can make a pros and cons list because I mostly have mixed feelings. I still feel that the split is just a front image and it wasn't really needed to begin with.

The feuds and programm we had these past months were the following:
Styles as champion
Owens/Y2J vs Rollins/Reigns
Wyatt Orton
Miz as IC champ
Rusev/Reigns in the US title
RAW tag teams
Slater & Rhyno as SD tag teams
Charlotte vs Sasha
SD women's division

Where am I going with this? I wana say, that most of these things could still have happened even without the brand split in place.

Let's be honest, Owens never felt as a "world" champion. This feud could still have occured and it'd feel the same even without a belt and maybe even be better without a belt.

The SD tag division is fun but it's also a joke at the same time. You know that Slater and Rhyno and Orton and Wyatt don't really need those and American Alpha are still two fresh to be champs and it even feels like there's no competition for them atm.

Miz could still be the IC champion even without the split and his reign would also have been better as he could have many other different options as contenders and not only Ziggler.

I get why they did it and it does bring eyes to Smackdown, but RAW has suffered and the SD midcard/undercard is non existable.

The only thing that got elevated from the split is only the Smackdown Women's division. But I think it will get better in 2017, as top NXT stars will debut, some big names, others will have grown and maybe the rosters can get a fair shuffle.

But until now the split only happened because they wanted to "sell" the new Smackdown and needed an excuse to do so, because their creative couldn't think enough ways to make two shows watchable at the same time.

 

[Kodo Sawaki]

Also, fact that more wrestlers has a chance to shine doesnt mean that all of them need to be there. Especially at PPV where at this years Elimination Chamber there are matches like 3 women singles matches, Ziggler vs Crews and Calisto and American Alpha vs teams that literally havent won(some of them havent been seen) a match for a long time. I get that they want more PPVs so you can get more for a month, but not every wrestler deserves PPV treatment. Its special event, get us fewer PPVs and treat them special.

One thing I dont mind about brand split is how effected Rumble. After years of predictability we got one year where 5-6 guys could score a win. Granted its because we had 3 big part timers there, but still, last couple of years kinda felt lackluster because winner gets to go for one title and it was always about maximum 2 guys who had chance to win. One thing they dont need are second women and second tag team championship. Both divisions now lack debt. So much debt that aside of 4 women(if Emmalina finally debuts then 5) RAW doesnt have nothing there. Cruiserweights dont have to be separate show either. They could just take women to RAW, cruiserweights on Smackdown and tag teams could share on both shows. Hoping they would do something this year to improve all that because now feels like all 3 lack some depth.

 

[The Samoan Heritage]

Repetitiveness- This has been an issue for years now, way before the brand split. You can pick any week from Rollins first reign as wwe world champion, and I would bet that it either had him fighting Reigns or Ziggler. Pick an Owens match, pre-brand split and more than likely his opponent for one week, would be his opponent for the next 2-3 weeks. The Shield as strong as they were booked, were pretty much a repeat each week. Attack someone on Raw, have a 6 man tag on Smackdown. In some cases whoever they were feuding with would have 2 partners on Raw in a 6-man tag, lose and get two different partners for another 6-man tag on Smackdown.


As for as the plethora of championship titles, I agree there are way too many...but also if wwe would build the other talents in the division, outside of the title picture, the divisions could succeed.
You take a look at the weaker divisions in wwe, and they aren't all that bad.

While American Alpha are the superior team on Smackdown, the Ascension and Breezango are talented and when given the chance, have shown it. Haven't gotten the chance to see much from Vaudevillians but I heard that they are pretty charismatic, specifically Aiden English.

Then you have Sasha and Charlotte dominating Raw's women division so long without building the other women in the process that now that Sasha/Charlotte have moved on from each other, people don't care (as much) for them or their feud.

Pros:
Character building- wwe has done a better job now than they were doing pre-brand split. This I do have to give props to Raw for. Gallagher, Dar, Neville, Zayn, Strowman and more have all been given development with their characters. Smackdown I feel like Wyatt(& Family), Ambrose, Vaudevillians, etc could be given more focus than what they've gotten so far with their characters.
Cons:
Lack of main eventers(specifically Raw). It really doesn't bother me about the depth in the other divisions as wwe could fix them easily by putting PTP back together for Raw's tag division or inserting Swagger (a former 2* world champ) into the IC title picture. The main event scene(s) on the other hand need much more help. Raw has a new title that they are trying to create prestige for, but the way the main event scene has been booked, prestige is far from it. At first I disagreed with the (rumored) reports of Goldberg beating Owens for the Universal championship, but now I believe an actual championship title reign from Goldberg or Lesnar could help bring importance to the championship.

 

[BestSportsEntertainer]

The brand split has definitely helped WWE. I would say the pros far outweigh the cons.

1 - More wrestlers get a chance - This has already been mentioned.

2 - SD is actually relevant - People have a reason to watch it now.

3 - Longer Feuds - Some people have complained about this, but I'm a big fan of these.

4 - Unpredictability Factor - Few people correctly predicted the Rumble. This wasn't true before the split.

It's also important to note that repetitiveness was an issue before the split. I remember myself and other posters complaining all the time about repetitive matches in the live discussions well before the Brand Split. Besides, Raw could easily be less repetitive. They don't have to book Reigns/Rollins/Owens/Jericho every week. This is another example of Smackdown being the superior product. During the buildup to Styles vs. Cena, they fought zero times on TV. Sure this only lasted for maybe 3-4 episodes, but I guarantee you Raw would've booked Styles vs. Cena at least twice. Anyways, I'm enjoying the split, and it was certainly the right decision.

 

[Navi]

The biggest "Con" could be that SD Live shows just how really bad RAW can be. We had nothing to judge it by before now we do, and it comes up wanting each week.

SD has managed to do something that RAW should have been doing a long time ago, be interesting. Instead we still have the same old feuds each week. SD tries to vary them a little and give more people a chance to either go for a title or just even get some TV time.

The best storylines are coming out of SD live right now as well. While Samoa Joe is a refreshing change, the Wyatt/Orton/Harper/Cena thing have me going. Talking Smack is another good thing to come out of the brand split. I didn't like Baron Corbin before, but seeing him on Talking Smack has turned me into a fan.

I watch both shows, but find the roster and just the overall show better and not as Authority top heavy on SD Live.

Oh and another "Con" would be the amount of wrestler's they had to take from NXT to actually make the brand split work. NXT is still recovering from it almost a year later. They will do just fine, but it hurt them at the beginning.

 

[Dagger Dias]

The pro's of the return of the brand split FAR outweigh any of the cons.

Smackdown went from being pointless Raw recaps and even more pointless matches among guys you already saw on Raw, to being the show with the most quality. Smackdown has not been this good since the 2008-2009 schoolyear. It was the "A Show" then and while it may still be looked on as the "B Show" right now, it has the most quality at the moment. It's unreal how much Smackdown improved, all from something as simple as trying out the brand split again.

The return of the brand split has provided opportunities to those who otherwise might never have gotten a chance. Look at AJ Styles, Becky Lynch, Alexa Bliss, and more. If there were not a second set of championships then wrestlers who now get to be showcased would likely have been stuck in stupid feuds or being jobbed out to wrestlers who are far less interesting. Some may say there are too many titles. I respectfully disagree. Raw and Smackdown need to be presented as separate entities. Each needs a World Champion, a midcard Champion, a female Champion, and tag team Champions. If any title should go away it's the Cruiserweight Championship. All of the others serve a purpose and are needed.

As far as anyone who sees repetitive matches as a major con of the brand split's return, you might want to re-think that one. Repetitive matches was even more of an issue before the brand split and I'd argue it's more or less always been an issue. You constantly saw similar matches over and over again in the past, and with today's overexposure you will still see it. At least now we have a reason to watch the red show on Monday and the blue show on Tuesday. Different people will appear on different nights.

Some may argue there are too many PPV events. I'm fine with it. This is the era of the WWE Network and that is what it is all about now. The matches on the events every two or three weeks on sundays are the ones that matter. If you feel like it is overexposure then simply record Raw and Smackdown, skip the stupid stuff, and save yourself some time. You'll enjoy your time watching more and gain more time to do other things. The wrestlers themselves get more exposure, the fans who attend the events have more chances to attend major shows, more merchandise can be bought, and ultimately WWE makes more money.

The couple of miniscule con's that may exist due to the return of the brand split are irrelevant in comparison to the major pro's regarding the current structure of the WWE. It's awesome and it can only get better from here.

 

[d_henderson1810]

I think that the one thing that would help RAW during the brand extension, is to go back to being two hours.

I think the repetitiveness is an issue, even before the split, because they need more to fill in an extra hour. Reducing it to one hour will make it tighter, like "Smackdown" is.

Also, don't use the argument that reducing RAW to two hours will mean some people don't get on screen, as much of RAW's time is used on LONG promos, repeat matches, week after week, and the same people being used 4-5 times during the night.

 

[Jeff Deliverer of Mail]

Pros:

SmackDown re-branded SD Live feels like a legitimate separate show from RAW. A better timed show with better writing and superior commentating. (I adore Mauro.).

Commentary shake up. It was needed for a long time. JBL and Cole had to get the hell away from each other. Their act was bone dry. Now it's fresh and commentary is good on both shows.

Wrestlers who never got a real chance are getting opportunities on SmackDown to step up. Mostly SD.

Braun Strowman.

Splitting up The Shield trio.

Cons

RAW has been exposed as a horribly long program with wrestlers on repeat for the main event since the split.

Universal Championship title is a silly name for a championship. They should've just brought back BIG GOLD and call it the World Championship like before.

Woman's division split down the middle hurt a division on a great comeback. Now there's two woman's titles on two shows instead of the entire division on one show. Just dumb IMO.

Tag Team Division. Same problem. WWE is currently enjoying a time where they have a pile of tag teams. So instead of making them SD exclusive or Raw exclusive, they split them up too and create two separate tag titles. Bad move, RAW tag division is terrible because of it.

Cruiserweights on RAW. Buried. Nobody in the crowd makes a noise when they come on, and there's usually two matches an episode. The Cruisers on Raw have become the Diva matches of the past. Snack break time. I don't know if having them on SD would make any difference. Keep them away from the main shows and put them on 205 only. WWE doesn't know what to do with them on RAW.

PPV schedule is ridiculously packed with a PPV show every 2-3 weeks for either RAW or SD or both. Overexposure to the max. Royal Rumble for example. If you bothered to tune in to the pre-show ...by Tuesday they've had 12 hours of wrestling in consecutive days. 12 hours. I know both brands need a payoff show for stories but they could skip a month for one brand at the very least.

Mick Foley and Stephanie McMahon on the screen. Way back when Foley was general manager in the past, I found he was pretty funny and entertaining. This version of GM Mick Foley is a shell of the funny and entertaining one that I was hoping to see again. Both are talented individuals but are not good together in segments IMO. Like they just don't gel at all, and it's kind of awkward and cringe worthy to watch them try.

Daniel Bryan on the other hand is surprisingly good in his role on SD and is at least interesting in his segments.....but not Shane McMahon. Not even sure why WWE brought him back to be honest. Do a few stunts I guess. He hasn't done much when given opportunities on camera on SD.


So I have more Cons than Pros for the brand split. It's working for SmackDown , but definitely not Raw and the PPV schedule.

 

[OYDK]

It's been said already, but from my perspective as a fan, the brand split has been a success if for no other reason than because of the revitalization of Smackdown. Smackdown has become a very enjoyable program and is a much needed breath of fresh air for WWE, especially considering how monotonous and dry Raw had been more weeks than not pre-split. Besides, people seemed to think Raw was just as bad back then than they seem to think it is today.

The repetition issue is nothing new. While that's not an excuse, you kind of had to expect it after splitting the roster in half, especially because it was a problem even when Raw had a full deck. As for the championships, I think you might be overthinking it a bit. So far, at least in my opinion, there hasn't really been a champion that can be considered undeserving. Owens has held the Universal strap basically since the split, and the WWE champions have been Ambrose, Styles, and Cena. Even if Bray does win at EC, that's been long overdue. Alexa's been really good and she's probably in store for a pretty decent run with the Women's title. I don't think anyone can complain about Charlotte. IC champs have all had prior reigns before and the US title has been held by legit main eventers in Reigns and Jericho. And the tag teams, well yeah you might have a point there.

All in all, I think the brand split has definitely been a good thing for the WWE. I've enjoyed the product much more since the draft.

 

[BigBombB]

The brand split is easily an overall success even though Raw has turned out to be the much weaker brand so far. The top two stars in WWE right now are John Cena and AJ Styles with there being a noticeable gap between them and the top Raw guys. Bray Wyatt is getting the push of a lifetime right now being put over by those two on the same night and walking into a WrestleMania match with the only other Smackdown member with that level of credibility. For as much as we crap on the WWE booking teams the ending of the Elimination Chamber was an absolutely perfectly crafted moment. They subtly built to it for months and made it seem like it would never happen because Cena had just won his 16th reign.

While Smackdown has what feels like a natural progression of events, Raw is busy trying to throw in every bell and whistle to distract from how disjointed the show is. It's sad to say but they need Goldberg right now because with Lesnar being part-time and with Reigns continuing to not connect with the audience there isn't much to Raw outside of Owens/Jericho and the Women's division. Honestly, without Charlotte Raw's undercard would be sorely lacking.

That said, here is what I like and dislike so far...

RAW

~ The Good ~

Charlotte - While she has few credible opponents and a lot of her feuds quickly become over-saturated there is no question that Charlotte is one of the only members of the roster who comes off as a true heel. The Women's division on Raw would be completely lost without her.

Sheamus and Cesaro - In one of the strangest twists in recent memory these two ended up becoming one of the best teams in the WWE. Two guys who have walked fairly similar paths, both being impressive in the ring but not being allowed to be themselves before now. These two should be bigger stars than they are and hopefully this angle will help them catch fire.

Kevin Owens and Chris Jericho - Any time Jericho is allowed to have fun with his character it means good things for the show. Unfortunately Jericho's surge has overshadowed Owens a bit but it could be argued that Owens NEEDS that crutch to distract from the weak pool of opponents he currently has. Owens is great but is feeling the effects of a roster plagued by injuries.

Rusev - It isn't an matter of "if" but "when" Rusev will become one of the biggest stars on the show. Rusev broke out of the stereotypical big man role, he has made gold out of garbage, and he continues to be one of the greatest parts of the product day in and day out. As long as he stays healthy it is unfathomable to imagine he won't be handed the ball one day and become the biggest heel in the company.

~ The Alright ~

Braun Strowman - He is coming into his own but he isn't quite there yet. There is a lot of intrigue behind his character now that he is randomly inserting himself into main event match-ups but he isn't consistent enough yet to be on the good end of things.

The New Day - They held the entire company together for a while when they surged to stardom when WWE was desperately in need of stars. Both Big E and Kingston may be more over than they have ever been and Xavier Woods turned himself from a forgotten jobber into one of the most important members of the company. While all acts eventually lose momentum, they still act as a strong anchor in the middle of Raw.

Samoa Joe - He just debuted and there is no doubt that he will be a major force on Raw but the lack of "over" faces on Raw for him to face will make it a difficult uphill climb.

Enzo and Cass - It is clear already that Cass will eventually become a singles star with Enzo as his manager. While they are over, Enzo's in-ring work is still very weak and Cass may have a hard time standing out on his own with bigger monsters like Strowman on the same show.

~ The Bad ~

The Injuries - Balor, Rollins, and others have been consistently inactive since the brand split which has badly weakened the depth of the roster. Sami Zayn is working his butt off to fill the face void but he doesn't have the necessary momentum to be a big star right now. Raw is full of strong heel characters with no one to oppose them.

The Undercard - It is hard to get excited for a 3 hour show when the undercard is so weak. There are a lot of professional jobbers from the past and present that simply can't be taken seriously because it is hard to forget their pasts. Even previously strong characters like Sasha Banks and Bailey have been cooled off because of a lack of good opponents to face in their division that aren't named Charolette.

205 Division - I will give the WWE more credit than most, it is hard to bring in completely fresh talents, put them in their own division, and expect them to get over. Kendrick and Neville have been doing brilliant things but the failure of TJ Perkins and Rich Swann as face champions killed a lot of the momentum of the division. Cedric Alexander has potential to be a big star but we still have many months of tedium before that can realistically come to fruition.

Roman Reigns - Great in-ring work and looks like a legit star...but no one wants him there. WWE has gotten good at utlizing the apathy toward Reigns to get other people over but the idea of him facing the Undertaker feels like such a waste especially when compared to the possibility of Cena vs. Taker.

SMACKDOWN

~ The Good ~

The Wyatt Family - Orton joining the group was a huge shock but considering how over the Wyatts were when they first came to the main roster it was long past due that they were put into a main event angle. Harper has been incredibly underrated for too long, he has the potential to be one of the biggest heels in the company. Wyatt getting the huge victory at the Elimination Chamber setting up for an inner-family match as WrestleMania has boosted this angle into the stratosphere.

AJ Styles - He has been the hottest act in every company he has ever been in and he has proven to be so in the WWE as well. Styles is the big draw that the WWE has desperately needed to give Cena a break and we can thank Styles for a significant amount of the success of Smackdown.

John Cena - He has been used perfectly on Smackdown so far, putting over Styles and being used for big match moments. His nickname is no joke, now that Styles is sitting at the top of the popularity mountain, Cena can be more dynamic and that means good things for the future of Smackdown.

The Miz and Maryse - For a while it seemed the Miz had lost his motivation and his confidence but both seem to be back in spades. Miz may be the best he has ever been right now and the Smackdown midcard is much stronger for it.

~ The Alright ~

The Women's Division - While I think the Smackdown division is far more competitive than the Raw division at the moment, it is hard to overlook that there isn't a standout star like there is on Raw. While Becky may well be the #1 face across all of the brands at this point, there isn't a big enough heel on Smackdown currently to get her any higher than where she is already at. Alexa Bliss has been a great surprise and has benefited from working with Becky but she has reached the same ceiling already. Oh and Naomi is champion now for some reason, that's nice I guess.

The Tag Division - American Alpha is clearly who the WWE machine is behind but they are still fairly green. Slater and Rhino were unexpected stars in the division that have helped add a lot of diversity even if they don't add a ton of star power. The Usos are doing their best work ever and may be the best heel tag team in the world right now. Even with all of this, the division is missing that one big tag team to help the others get even more over.

Baron Corbin - I initially expected him to be a complete flop but the WWE learned their lesson after Reigns and hasn't pushed him to the moon yet. He is slowly building a name for himself against some of the top names in wrestling while still being treated like a proper newcomer who makes mistakes. He is on a slow build and that could mean big things in the future.

Dolph Ziggler - This is the most personality Ziggler has been able to show since he worked with Big E and AJ Lee. While he is being cheered for beating up faces, maybe that is the point. Ziggler is getting over by taking out the bottom level faces and will eventually move his way up into an angle that will have a bigger impact. I'm personally intrigued to see where this goes.

The Undercard - There are jobbers on every roster but at least some of the Smackdown jobbers are entertaining. From the Fashion Police to the massively overhyped Curt Hawkins to the ultimate underdog James Ellsworth, there are a lot of people with a lot of losses but most of them are still popular in spite of their place on the card.

~ The Bad ~

Apollo Crews and Kalisto - They have potential but have been painted so heavily with that generic babyface brush that it is nearly impossible to see any humanity in them anymore. Maybe this is leading to a tag team push for them or maybe they will go back into undercard obscurity but their careers are definitely teetering on the edge of failure right now.

The Ascension - Has there ever been a bigger fall from grace than the Ascension? From the hottest act in NXT with the coolest entrance to the most generic, uninteresting main roster team.

David Otunga - Yeah, we get it, he wrestled for a cup of coffee and is married to someone who was a megastar at one time. Great. He has admittedly been slowly getting slighty, kind of, a little better but wow, when you start out this bad it would be hard to go anywhere other than up.

 

[ShinChan]

Overall it's a success.

A single example is what it made interesting is Smackdown of all things. Raw used to interesting once in a while but Smackdown? I never used to watch it. Would always read the spoilers of Smackdown and that's all.

But now, Smackdown >> Raw. That's a big improvement. Raw had always been the A brand but now, it's Smackdown for me. It being live was/is an icing on the cake.

 

[Spencesc11]

Brand splits makes sense to add more on air time to talents. Just need to do a draft every year to move talent around and create new feuds and storylines. This year in particular I mentioned this on news feed post.

Raw gets Cena, Ambrose, Nakamura, Kalisto, Uso's, & Asuka
Smackdown gets Cesaro, Rusev, F. Balor, S. Banks, The Club, & The Revival

Raw can get a Shield vs. everyone feud going
Smackdown can start an epic Club vs. Wyatt Family Feud with Styles, Balor, Wyatt, & Orton being front and center.

Asuka can be Charlotte's newest challenger
S. Banks can become the face of the women's division on Smackdown.

Raw will always be the flagship which is why they should use Smackdown to build their next big stars. Like baseball kinda where NXT is double A, Smackdown is AAA, and Raw is the big leagues!!!