Thought the brand split would bring a lighter schedule, obviously not.

[Navi]

On the main page Daniel Bryan had this to say.

“Some of [the WWE stars] don’t like [the brand split] because everyday that you’re on the road and not working, you don’t get paid. So you’re spending money and not getting paid. So it just becomes like, ‘okay, so now I’m making less money, but spending the same amount of being on the road and that sort of thing’. But pretty soon, we’re going to start doing Smackdown live events on Monday nights, the same night as Raw, so then that’s going to even out a bit. And I think that extra day on the road at home makes a huge difference. I mean, there’s a huge difference between leaving on Friday and coming home on Wednesday and leaving on Saturday and coming home on Wednesday or leaving on Friday and coming home on Tuesday. So I think it’s going to be better for the health of everybody.”

So maybe because it's late on a Friday night and my brain has shut down, or maybe I"m just stupid, but I thought the reason for the brand split was to give the wrestlers a lighter schedule. You know sort of let them rest up. Now if you believe Bryan and I do, they are upset that they won't be making as much money as they did before.

Won't even begin to pretend that I know how the WWE salary situation works, but assume like everywhere else you sign a contract for a specified amount of money. And like other sports there are bonuses, in this case for merchandise sales and PPV appearances. So what Bryan says doesn't really much sense to me. Whether a wrestler works 5 days a weeks or 6 days a week, wouldn't they be getting the same pay. All that's really happening here is they have an extra day a week off, unless the contracts are changed they are still making the same money.

We have all heard wrestlers on podcasts saying how many days a year they work, and with the rash of injuries that have taken place over the last year, the brand split was a good idea. They have a reduced work schedule, time to heal nagging injuries and spend some more time with their families. Seems that's not the case. And why would they run a Smackdown Live show on the same night as a RAW broadcast? And does that mean that RAW will run a house show on the same night as a Smackdown Live broadcast? Sort of defeats the whole purpose of even having the brands split.

Or might be me just not understanding this properly. Thoughts?

 

[Azane]

Less events, but same amount of time on the road.

the schedule will have them working less matches, which is where most injuries will happen.

They won't be home that much more, if any more at all.


I'm confused on their decisions to cross their own brand's events with house shows, I still think there's execs that are 50 years in the past and think that the house shows are gold. Competing with your own brands is good in theory, but cannibalizing your own audience seems silly.

 

[TheMainEvent]

Its actually one less day on the road for each superstar. Raw guys get Tues, Wed, Thurs off and Smackdown guys get Wed, Thurs, Friday off... The guys that have been advertised for shows that they aren't part of any longer (ie: Cena & Ambrose doing Raw dark matches) are still doing those for the next few weeks until September when they revert to the new normal schedue with 3 days off during the week.

 

[BaconBits]

I'm confused on their decisions to cross their own brand's events with house shows, I still think there's execs that are 50 years in the past and think that the house shows are gold. Competing with your own brands is good in theory, but cannibalizing your own audience seems silly.

The 7,500 or whatever people going to a house show isn't "cannibalizing" your audience. 7,500 is barely a blip in ratings.

Also, you do know that WWE has been running house shows concurrent to Raw for years, right?

 

[therockiswwf]

Paige said the opposite and claimed they do get one extra day off which she likes.

They have a downside guarantee (the amount they make no matter what). They get a portion of merch and other royalties. They also get a portion of the gate. The gate and live event merch is what they are missing. They might also be missing some sort of appearance bonus but I'm not sure.

3 million people watch Raw. Even if WWE sold out a house show, that is max 20,000 people not watching Raw. Also remember that Nielsen Ratings mean that they might not actually miss any viewers if none of the people at the house show have a Nielsen box (or whatever).

The idea of the brand split is NOT for lighter schedules. It is to limit overexposure and to get more viewers for each show. The original brand split idea came from Vince asking if someone would watch Raw because it had Austin and SD because it had Rock. Not exactly how he asked it but close enough off the top of my head. Would it make them more special to be one only one show. The answer he got was yes so he went ahead with it.