WWE confirms Live Smackdown and Brand Split ****Keep it in here!****

[Vanilla Midget]

I wouldn't say that the original brand extension failed. It just had the misfortune of coinciding with a decline in quality of writing and storylines as well as the exit of multiple industry legends. The fact that they didn't have a big ending angle to it also lent credence to the perception that it was a failure.

I have no love for the brand extension. I think it created a situation where we had a lot of B-level world champions by virtue of having two world titles. Does this mean the big gold belt is coming back? Or will a new secondary world title be created?

My preferred situation sees the World, women's, and tag titles appearing on both shows. This creates an awkward situation where say the World Champ (Reigns) is feuding with the number one contender (Rollins). Let's say Rollins is a Raw roster member. What does Reigns do on Smackdown? Do the champions have secondary feuds at all times?

The other option is only having tag teams on one show and women on the other. That means one show is missing a very significant division.

The other other option is having a secondary women's title and secondary tag titles. It's happened before, bet we only just got rid of the Diva's title. What would the second women's title be? The world women's title?

I think the best scenario for creative and the fans would be two world titles and two women's titles. It'll streamline feuds and not require people in a one champion scenario to find something else to do.

Sadly, this will make a lot of guys world champion who never should be world champion. This is a major plus to them. Somewhere Zack Ryder is hoping this will be his chance.

Why not reactivate the original tag team titles and the big gold belt? They probably won't considering they just activated a new Women's title instead of just renaming the Diva's title or reactivating the original women's title.

I guess this means we'll also see a return of two MITB briefcases yearly if the goal is to go with two world titles.

Colour me negative but I'm just not excited about this at all. The draft likely means that there will be many people leaving NXT. Bayley, Joe, Balor, and Austin Aries are all ready to go. Nakamura and Asuka might need more work on their English, but from what I understand and based on their quality of work it might not be a thing.

I really hope NXT doesn't get overly pillaged. The Revival, American Alpha, Nia, and others could all use more time to develop in NXT. Alpha are ready to go based on in ring work, but could use some more time to flesh out Jordan's character.

 

[kadroan]

We knew it was coming, they have way too much talent to put on one show really. Here is the announcement link from WWE.com with Shane and Stephanie actually announcing it.

http://www.wwe.com/shows/smackdown/article/smackdown-live-usa-network-july-19

The only thing I don't like is the fact that Smackdown will move to Tuesdays. That means two nights of wrestling back to back. Like it better when it was split somewhat, but I can always DVR it. Depending on how they do it might be quite exciting and obviously it won't be a repeat of RAW like it's been for the past few years now. Looks to be happening quickly as well, so this must have been planned for awhile.

Maybe with Smackdown being on Tuesday, it'll bring the best out of it now since it's live. Writers of RAW could compete with Smackdown to see who can put on the better show.

 

[timmy872]

I think this is a great idea. But I just sincerely hope that they stick to it. The company is stronger than it was when the original draft took place. WWE is a global brand. I have a few questions to pose though;

-Will our General Managers be Shane and Stephanie? Current storyline tells us so, but I feel like the obvious game Stephanie is playing was a long game and would culminate with Shane vs HHH at Summerslam perhaps with Vince as referee for control. But now that has been dumped do will there be a rushed storyline with Stephanie Vs Shane for the premium 3 hour Raw brand?

-Making SD live is definitely the right move. But it could of been made 3 hours too? I am sure ticket prices will be the same for both shows, the roster sizes will be roughly the same. Even cancel Superstars or Main Event to balance the scales. For this to work Smackdown needs to not be the B show anymore.

-What happens with our Brock Lesnar, Jericho, and other part timers, do they get drafted too? Or do they get to choose what show they appear on when they have a run?

- I agree that the WWE World Heavyweight Titlte should stay as is and it should not be cheapened by being split (again)!

I would have ...

World Champion appear on both shows, Women's and Tag Champions on both shows.
Raw would exclusively have US Championship, European Championship
Smackdown exclusively have Intercontinental Championship, Hardcore/ Championship

I would have put Cruiserweight title in but that would limit those performer to one show, why not have 4 championships where weight doesn't matter? (God knows it doesn't matter for the WWEWHC!)

-Depending how much female talent is brought from NXT maybe a Women's Tag Team title? Perhaps some hot female free agents will be hired?

- Two PPVs a month? Or one PPV per show every 2 months? Both brands at Big 4? I don't know. If it's 2 PPVs a month should the WWE, Women's and Tag be defended at each? Which leads to on going storylines for the three titles on both shows? Or alternate the show that challenges for the title?

Any thoughts?

 

[adam]

It would be interesting to speculate the makeup of the roster for I could see Stephanie on RAW with the guys like Cena, Reigns, Rollins while Shane would have the workers Ambrose, Owens, Styles working a ROH style with the women on RAW and cruisers on SD. Presumably the WWE champion would appear on both shows at times but mostly be on RAW as with the tag champions mostly on SD. Hopefully they will scale RAW back to 2 hours with perhaps an occasional third hour on the WWE network.

 

[Navi]

-What happens with our Brock Lesnar, Jericho, and other part timers, do they get drafted too? Or do they get to choose what show they appear on when they have a run?

- I agree that the WWE World Heavyweight Titlte should stay as is and it should not be cheapened by being split (again)!

I would have ...

World Champion appear on both shows, Women's and Tag Champions on both shows.
Raw would exclusively have US Championship, European Championship
Smackdown exclusively have Intercontinental Championship, Hardcore/ Championship

I would have put Cruiserweight title in but that would limit those performer to one show, why not have 4 championships where weight doesn't matter? (God knows it doesn't matter for the WWEWHC!)

-Depending how much female talent is brought from NXT maybe a Women's Tag Team title? Perhaps some hot female free agents will be hired?

Any thoughts?

I would assume that Lesnar, Jericho or any other part timer would go to whatever show the person is they are feuding with, it wouldn't really be a choice for them. Let's say for example Lesnar comes back to feud with Wyatt and they've drafted Wyatt to Smackdown, then he would be appearing on SD not RAW.

You say you don't want the WWE title devalued, and I can understand that, but in the same vein isn't proposing to introduce or reintroduce 4 new titles devaluing all of them.

I thought the reason for this brand split was to let others in on the action, not to bring back belts that have been retired so that they can be fought over again. Creative can't even write for the ones they have never mind bringing back a crapload of others.

The Hardcore Title was taken away because they don't do hardcore matches anymore. Ambrose is the only one and they aren't really hardcore are they. Since the PG era things have changed and some not for the better.

I also believe that the European and Television titles shouldn't come back. Let the roster fight over the titles there are now. Not everyone on the roster has to win a title or even be feuding over one. Isn't there such a thing as filler matches. Some of them can be quite entertaining. Let the guys who are meant to hold these titles go after them.

 

[Sean Valjean]

I'm not a fan of this. I wasn't too high on it the first time around and WWE has become even more creatively questionable since then for me to have much faith in them pulling off Brand Split 2.0, despite having the previous, decade-long attempt to learn from. Unfortunately, learning from mistakes is not WWE's strong suit.

What worries me most is that this seems rushed and on a whim. It doesn't feel like they took a good, hard look at the star-power of their current roster before making a decision. Remember how STACKED the roster was in 2002 for the first brand split? It made sense then. That is far from the case in 2016. The current roster largely consists of a (mostly) damaged midcard courtesy of 50/50 booking, and two Olympus-level names in Roman and Cena – the latter of whom is on the downtrend of his career. Realistically, WWE should have planned ahead and spent a full year minimum rebuilding the roster in preparation. Create so many legit stars that WWE can convincingly say "Hey! We have so much MUST-SEE talent, we have to split them up!"

Another reason this feel ill-planned is why would they release so many people recently knowing they'd soon need all the talent they can get? Primo and Epico can be repackaged for the umpteenth time, but Wade Barrett, Ryback, or Cody Rhodes can't be enticed to stick around with the promise of a bigger role due to an impending brand split? That's probably because they didn't have that promise ready because the idea was probably realized yesterday or something. Even though this is set to happen in less than two months. They could bolster the shows by raiding NXT again, but NXT is still recovering from the post-Wrestlemania exodus and can't take another one for a while. If they still care enough about NXT being its own viable promotion, that is.

This feels like sudden, ill-conceived attempt to fix sagging ratings as opposed to putting serious effort into the system they have now. All they have to do is book Raw smarter and make Smackdown actually matter. Those things can easily be accomplished without a brand split. I just hate how this is so soon and so sudden. There's little time to really prepare for something this big, but they're doing it anyway. Maybe they really have thought it all out, but the last several months of TV suggest otherwise.

So that's where I'm at right now. Everything else, the status of titles, pay-per-views, etc. I'll wait for confirmation of before commenting on them in depth. I will say that I DO NOT want two world titles again. Nor do I was two sets of Women's and Tag belts again. There was a time when WWE had NINE championships in existence. No thank you, please.

 

[LascoX]

I am going to take a wait and see how they handle it attitude and see how this plays out. I am not excited about seeing them split the brand again but it might not be a bad thing if done properly. Like many , I hope they don't bring all the double versions of the belts back as I think it waters them down. The only belt I think they should bring back is the cruiser weight belt, they have the new show based around it and it gives the smaller wrestlers a platform to shine on. The best thing I see coming out of this is Smackdown will be airing live and I enjoy that dynamic.

 

[dsotm5150]

I'm also on the fence about it, I feel like the main event tier of the roster is far to slim to split at this time, by they have a huge undercard that given the opportunity to shine could fill the holes. I'm in the minority here from what I can see, in that I would like to see a legitimate split of the two brands, which would require each brand to have their own belts. When I say legitimate split though, I mean Smackdown does their own thing and RAW does theirs. None of this talent swapping, or talent poaching they each focus on and build their own unique products. For example give RAW have the women's division and give Smackdown a cruiserweight division

Split the PPVs up RAW gets 5 Smackdown gets 5 leaving Wrestlemania and The Royal Rumble as co-branded but again RAW vs RAW and Smackdown vs Smackdown matches only. The only exception to this would be who ever wins the Rumble, let them choose which title they want to fight for at Wrestlemania. This gives you more time to build storylines before the big PPV payoff as you'll have 8 weeks between PPVs instead of 4 and also allows you to showcase more talent on the PPVs or allow for longer matches if the PPVs are brand specific.

To keep the rosters from getting stale, you can hold a draft every year, be a partial or full draft, title holders exempt of course.

This idea most likely won't be a popular one, but I feel that if you're going to split the brands you might as well isolate them all together from one another and build each one up as unique and different from the other.

 

[Khalifa]

Basically what Sean Valjean said. He put it exactly how I was thinking. I feel it's a bit rushed. I mean is the roster really that stacked? I know you got people that should be higher than where they are that could easily fill some spots, but will it be another Dolph Ziggler/Jack Swagger type deal in which people are pushed further than they should because they potential but haven't proved anything and are being pushed because of the limited roster? I could see it happening quite easily and to be honest I have actually loved the WWE since WM and it would be sad to ruin it so quick. The midcard scene is just looking awesome. The tag team division hasn't looked this decent since the early 2000s and the Women's division is the best it's ever been and can finally have feuds with divas without the title being involved that could still beat some of the male competitors feuds/matches. Now you want to pull it all apart when you haven't even fully used the thing for more than 2 months. Of course if the titles aren't doubled then this doesn't become as bad as it could be. In saying that though I would think the tag team division and women's division would have to be exclusive to a brand because those divisions could get stale very quickly with them being split in half. Unless you have the champion alternate shows to the number one contender, I'm not sure how that will pan out and doesn't really make the brands exclusive or the wrestlers.

Until the full details are said about this in regards to titles and what happens after that, I can't knock it because there is some good things that are guaranteed to happen as a result of the split. The first one being is Smackdown is actually going to be cool again. It's been too long since there wasn't a six man tag main event rematch from that weeks Raws episode. Having it go live is going to do wonders for the WWE as a whole. The second thing is that despite what I said earlier about people being rushed for their main event runs, people that could easily be in that ME scene or people that are due for ME runs are actually going to get them. I'm looking at you specifically Bray Wyatt.

 

[No Count Pup]

Ratings are in the toilet. Record lows. The trend has been gradual for years. It reached critical mass when WWE 86'd the WHC. So many talents, so few carrots to chase. Some guys outgrow the workhorse belts, yet we see Cesaro risking life and limb for a title that saddles him to the midcard.

There's so much content to consume. Five hours of TV a week without a compelling reason for 95% of the roster to fight. It's too much to ask of a cable audience. Time to freshen things up. Today Raw and Smackdown feel the same. Give the shows a distinct character, give the talent shinier brass rings to reach for, and we'll see a better TV product.

 

[Olan]

I am interested in how the titles will be handled. I like the 1 World Champion idea for a couple of reasons: it enhances the the IC/US belts and make then more important; it brings back the feel of the territory days when the WHC came to town it was an event.
But then what to do with the Tag/Women titles. I can't see 2 titles there but exclusitivity seems odd to me

 

[L@RISANO]

I think the most important thing for this Brand Split to work well for a longer period is the Core Group of WWE Superstars being as strong as possible.

Right now, there are:

John Cena, Randy Orton, Brock Lesnar, Roman Reigns, Seth Rollins as the regular established Main Event talent.


Then, the likes of Dean Ambrose, AJ Styles, Bray Wyatt, Kevin Owens, Cesaro and Sami Zayn seem to be on the cusp of breaking through but need a proper push to get to the required level.
The likes of Big Show, Kane,Chris Jericho and Sheamus are the definite high-end enhancement talent, tho one has to question how much value they have given the amounts of jobs they continue to do in so many random matches.


Finn Balor and Samoa Joe of NXT are the other 2 who I feel can be brought up and immediately legitimized through a brand split.


Thus, the brand split if done properly can result in lots of top talent(those mentioned above alongwith others on the Main Roster already and from NXT) breaking through due to better exposure. The main concern I have is that with two live shows back to back, WWE would do well to ensure they go about it smartly and logically instead of allowing it to end up as a clusterfuck by pushing the same couple of people they normally do whilst inhibiting the growth of those who are clearly on the cusp of the Main Event.

 

[L@RISANO]

Basically what Sean Valjean said. He put it exactly how I was thinking. I feel it's a bit rushed. I mean is the roster really that stacked? I know you got people that should be higher than where they are that could easily fill some spots, but will it be another Dolph Ziggler/Jack Swagger type deal in which people are pushed further than they should because they potential but haven't proved anything and are being pushed because of the limited roster? I could see it happening quite easily and to be honest I have actually loved the WWE since WM and it would be sad to ruin it so quick.

The second thing is that despite what I said earlier about people being rushed for their main event runs, people that could easily be in that ME scene or people that are due for ME runs are actually going to get them. I'm looking at you specifically Bray Wyatt.

I do share your concerns in this matter, and it is the one I feel will "Make or Break" this Brand Split, in terms of it being a success or failure in the long term.


Yes, RAW has 3 hrs to fill, and Smackdown has 2 hours(Taped), which is alot of time, but WWE tends to push a handful of main guys at a time, and usually stop-start guys outside of said group.


At present: I count Only John Cena, Randy Orton, Brock Lesnar(Part Timer) and Roman Reigns as legit established Main Event talent. Seth Rollins(due to injury) is right on the door step, and his current feud with Reigns on his return should push him through to make 5 Legit Main Event Superstars heading into the Brand Split.


However, the next group is the one that will "Make or Break" this Brand Split for me. Namely: Dean Ambrose, AJ Styles, Bray Wyatt, Kevin Owens, Sami Zayn, Cesaro, and also, Finn Balor and Samoa Joe from NXT.


If these guys are given proper pushes to the Main Event scene in whichever brand they end up, then this Brand Split will be a huge success. If these guys get the same tired 50-50 booking as they do currently, then ratings will plummet even more as the Main Event scene will be even more repetitive and boring than it is now. Hopefully, they will not disappoint us and we are truly in a "NEW ERA" of WWE, where Vince takes a belated step back in operations.

 

[Navi]

I am interested in how the titles will be handled. I like the 1 World Champion idea for a couple of reasons: it enhances the the IC/US belts and make then more important; it brings back the feel of the territory days when the WHC came to town it was an event.
But then what to do with the Tag/Women titles. I can't see 2 titles there but exclusitivity seems odd to me

I think you're going to see two titles. If the reports are correct and quite often they aren't, then Reigns will head Raw and Cena will be the top guy on SD. I've seen lot's of people say that the WWE Champ should be on both shows, but I'm struggling to come up with a reason why.

If Reigns is in a feud with Rollins let's say and Rollins is on RAW, then what reason would Reigns have to appear on SD? There is no reason as he wouldn't be feuding with anyone there. So I think you'll see the other title come back and give the guys on SD a title to shoot for.

The jury is still out on how this is going to work, and why Cena the face of the company is on the B show for now, unless it's to kickstart it and bring the viewers in.

 

[rge2010]

A shame that Rhodes and Barrett have gone because those two would have benefited from a Brand Split more than most. Even Ryback could get his jive back from 2013 if booked correctly.

If they do the Brand Split correctly I would make things exclsuive to that brand so certain viewers are forced to tune in.

Raw
FACES: John Cena - Randy Orton - Finn Balor
HEELS - Sheamus - Rusev - Bray Wyatt
GM: Shane McMahon
TITLE: Intercontinental Title
TITLE: Womens Title

Smackdown
FACES: Roman Reigns - Dean Ambrose - AJ Styles
HEELS: Seth Rollins - Samoa Joe - Kevin Owens
GM: Stephanie McMahon
TITLE: United States Title
TITLE: Tag Team Titles

 

[justinept]

Smackdown being live was perhaps the biggest hurdle that needed to be cleared in order to make a brand split truly viable. I always struggled with the original brand split because the pre-taped nature of Smackdown! made me feel like it was a lesser product than Raw - as if the WWE cared less about it because it wasn't aired live. This perception carried over for me - and, based on the ratings, to many other people as well - despite the fact that Smackdown was consistently more entertaining than Raw during this time period. By making both shows live - as well as having them on the same network - the perception is that both brands are equally important to the WWE.

But there are still more hurdles to be cleared. It's not enough to simply have wrestlers be exclusive to one brand, to have mildly different sets or to even have brand-specific pay-per-views. The WWE needs to go the extra length and really make it seem as if Raw and Smackdown are two completely different brands. In order to do that, there are a few things they must do:

Two unique executive producers.
Kevin Dunn has been the executive producer for the WWE forever. But what has he really brought to the table in the past decade? The set doesn't change. The camera angles don't change. The pyro doesn't change. The arena set-up with the seating chart looks identical regardless where they are. Literally, everything the WWE does - with exception to Wrestlemania - looks the exact same on a weekly basis. This can't be the case if the WWE is going to push the concept of Raw and Smackdown being different. Both shows need unique sets, unique seating configurations, and most importantly - unique camera angles. I want to feel like I'm watching two completely different products when watching the two shows

Exclusive Divisions
The women's division has never been stronger. The tag-team division hasn't been this strong in at least a decade. My fear here is that by splitting the division's in half, the WWE will take these strengths and turn them back into weaknesses. They can't let this happen. The way to prevent this is to make each division exclusive to opposite brands.

There are currently eight women on the roster that can really wrestle, in my opinion: Charlotte, Sasha Banks, Becky Lynch, Natalya, Paige, Alicia Fox, Naomi, and Emma. I'm guessing Bayley will debut prior to the brand split, giving the division nine legitimate contenders for that belt. Is it possible that having nine women fight for one title is too many? Sure, but I like that problem more than I like the problems that would exist if the WWE chose to put five women on one brand and four women on the other...

In that scenario, the WWE would need to use filler to make the division seem more viable. That means potential programs for Eva Marie, Summer Rae and Dana Brooke - three women with minimal ability inside the ring. And God forbid one or two women get hurt, the division would really suffer.

I get the fear that having so many talented women could leave a few out in the cold. However, that problem would be alleviated if the WWE simply ran multiple women's programs at once. This is why it's important to have the women's division on one show and the tag-team division on the other show. Right now, you're getting two tag-team segments every show. If you eliminated both those segments on one show, the the women could conceivably fill those spots - giving the women three segments. That's more than enough time to let all these women shine.

As for the tag-team division - Right now, there are five legitimate tag-teams on the main WWE roster: The The New Days, Enzo and Cass, The Vaudvillains, The Usos and The Club. Yes, The Dudleys can still work, and they could be a transitional tag-team champion if necessary, but their true value is in working with the younger teams, teaching them the ropes and giving them a rub. A championship run is really unnecessary for those guys. Additionally, the Wyatts (Harper and Rowan) can go back to the tag-team division, and American Alpha will eventually find their way to the main roster. But even under the best-case scenario, there are, at most, eight viable tag-teams on the roster. If you split that up, and you add a second tag-team championship, then you're weakening the division to the point that thrown-together tag-teams will be necessary once again. Instead, the WWE should keep the division strong by keeping it exclusive to one brand. The tag-team division is already getting two segments every show, and if the division is exclusive to a brand opposite the women's division, you can even add a third in place of the lost women's segment. That's three segments every show, and it would ensure that these teams don't get lost in the shuffle.

Only hold one draft
I enjoyed the yearly draft as much as anyone. It shook up the rosters, and it provided for an entertaining Raw. But I really like the idea of talent 'jumping' from one brand to the next similar to how talent used to jump from WWE to WCW or vice versa. My guess is that brand split storyline is going to be centered around how upset Vince is that his kids are working well together. So now, instead of working together, he's going to make them compete against each other. And if they're competing, then it makes more sense for them to steal the other's top talent as opposed to putting everything up to "chance" like the draft implies. Also - the idea of 'stealing talent' is something that can be approached at any time of the year, with any wrestler on the roster. It provides more unpredictability and also allows the writer's to shift things around if they think a mid-card guy is being buried too much on his current roster.

Keep the mid-card strong
This is the toughest, but perhaps the most important, facet of the brand-split. The last brand split became a disaster, in my opinion, because it ignored the mid-card. We went the better part of 10 years with the IC and US Titles meaning absolutely nothing. Why did that happen?

The biggest reason was because the WWE needed four wrestlers to work WWE/WHC Title programs every month, and there wasn't enough main event talent to keep the two title scenes fresh. So the WWE continually hot-shot green rookies into main event programs. Think of all the guys that worked main event programs before getting over with the crowd, and how it negatively impacted the fans view of them after their main event programs were over: Ryback, Del Rio, Sheamus, Swagger, and Kozlov come to mind as performers who were thrown into World Title programs entirely too early in their WWE tenure, and who suffered from mostly being fed to the legitimate main event crowd of Cena, Orton, Edge, etc.

The second reason was because the WWE was using one of the two World Titles as a mid-card belt. Whereas guys used to get their initial push by working for the IC or US Title, back in the brand-split days - the guys were getting their initial push by working for either the WWE or WHC Title. The problem with that philosophy is that whichever brand had the "water-testing" champion always seemed to be the lesser brand for those months. That can't be the case if this brand-split is going to work.

I get that this is a tough mandate because it's typically the main events that sell the pay-per-view (or The Network, nowadays), but for the long-term viability of the product, the WWE needs to establish guys in the mid-card before having them ascend to the main event. When guys are pushed to the main event before establishing themselves in the mid-card, one of two things happen: 1) The fans shit all over them because they don't think the guy earned his spot or 2) The guy becomes irrelevant after being fed to the champion because he wasn't over - or established - enough with the fans to handle the loss. Either way, it seems to be a death sentence for guys that could have had a bigger impact on the product down the line had the company just been patient with them.

I get that there's no scientific way of knowing that a guy is ready to ascend to the main event, but the crowd reaction over a 6-12 month period of time really can answer all your questions. From that crowd reaction, it seems like Owens, Cesaro and Ambrose are ready to make that leap. Could they fail? Sure. Hell, The Miz was getting a great reaction in 2010 before winning the title, and then he fell flat as a main event talent. However, The Miz was over enough with the crowd and had enough sense of his character that he was able to bounce back from the demotion back to the mid-card. So it really seems that the worst case scenario of being wrong when pushing established talent to the main event is that the guy can always go back to the mid-card... However, when you look at guys like Ryback or even R-Truth, one guy who was nowhere near ready to be working that high on the card and another who was nowhere near over enough to work that high on the card, you'll see that pushing guys who aren't established - or over - can completely derail the guy's future potential.

For this brand-split to be successful 5 years from now, the WWE has to be continually establishing new main event talent. And in order to do that, they can't let the existence of two World Titles cause them to ignore establishing this talent in the mid-card before pushing them to the main event.

 

[Gallops77]

So, with the Brand Split returning to the WWE and Smackdown going live on Tuesdays, what do you want to see happen?

1. Keep one WWE World Champion. Make it THE prize for everyone to strive for. If there's two World Titles again, it diminishes everything that was built up in the past two years. Make the World Champion be the premier person in WWE. Make it an honor for them to wrestle on your show. With that said...

2. Feature the Intercontinental Title on one show and the United States Championship on the other. Make these titles the premier titles for their respective shows. Build heavily on these titles and the matches they will present. If Miz is IC Champ and Rusev is US Champ, make them essential main eventers on Raw and Smackdown.

3. Tag Team Championships need to be featured on BOTH shows. There's not enough tag teams to go around so make the tag titles travel. Build feuds on both shows to eventual number one contenders and make tag team wrestling strive again.

4. Feature Women on Raw and add the Women's Tag Team titles. Raw is 3 hours, you can incorporate 45 minutes to an hour throughout the show to build on the Women's storylines. There's enough talent to make it happen. Use Main Event for lower level women's matches. It's a good way to make Women's wrestling a focal point in WWE again and give them the time they need to really get over.

5. Only feature crossover matches for matches with WWE World Title or Tag Team Title consequences. Matches like Money in the Bank and Royal Rumble are givens. But if say Randy Orton is on Raw and Seth Rollins is on Smackdown, they should only face each other if it's for a shot at the WWE World Heavyweight Championship. Keep the two as separate brands like they are meant to be until it's involving one of the two crossover titles. Occasional crossover matches for Wrestlemania or Summerslam with PROPER build (like Angle/HBK during the first split) are ok, but not something that takes place on Battleground or Fastlane. Make it mean more.

If anyone can add to this, go for it.

 

[BringThePain834]

Here are some more details coming. And to say the least, these are the things I was expecting to be reported.

Thursday's episode of Wrestling Observer Live, shared some new information about the upcoming WWE brand split, according to sources and backstage talk. Plans are of course changing all the time and nothing is set in stone, but at the moment it looks like RAW and SmackDown will be standalone television shows except for two exceptions every year.

According to Wrestling Observer Live, WWE is planning on having two massive episode of RAW every year that will be dual-branded. One of the episodes will be the day after WrestleMania and the other will come the day after SummerSlam. One imagines that one of those two annual episodes will feature the annual draft -- if they're planning on having a draft every year.

Every pay-per-view is planned to be dual-branded, with both announce teams present and alternating matches, just as they did with dual-branded RAW and SmackDown PPVs during the initial brand split.

Bryan Alvarez also asked how a more-hands-on production by Vince McMahon on SmackDown would affect Mauro Ranallo. Dave Meltzer said it depended on what Vince's mentality toward Ranallo is. Meltzer's understanding is that Vince's opinion of Mauro is not for the best, but time will tell exactly how badly McMahon will micromanage his announcing.

Though the announcement is still fresh and most plans haven't been finalized, details are starting to emerge regarding just what WWE's decision-makers have in mind.

According to The Wrestling Observer Newsletter, the current plan is for Roman Reigns to be the top babyface on Raw, while John Cena anchors SmackDown. Beyond that, there are no solid plans, as even Brock Lesnar is currently not considered a lock for the Raw roster.

The championship situation is still very much in flux, with the only definite being that one brand will get the Intercontinental Title and the other will get the United States Title. There has been talk of both the WWE World Heavyweight and Women's Champions working both shows, but in the case of the WWE Title, at least, that's a temporary measure - currently, the plan is for each show to have its own world champ. There hasn't been a decision regarding whether a new set of Tag Team Titles will be introduced.

Backstage, the power structure is expected to remain the same, though there will be shifts in individual clout. Vince McMahon and Triple H will still have final say, but Ed Koskey and Ryan Ward (who are in charge of Raw and Smackdown, respectively) are rumored to have more control over their individual brands.

Finally, there are reports that the idea of a "hard" split versus a "soft" split (with wrestlers occasionally making guest appearances on the rival brand) is still being debated.

Internal competition is good. It keeps people being productive. Most individual stores within a franchise are measured against each other even though they are part of the same company. You want your people to always strive to be the best. For a long time, WWE had no competition, internal or external. Doing this, and creating your own competition, should push each brand to outdo the other.
If Vince really wants to create an internal war, he should add incentives to each brand. Rating increases, merch sales, other measurables for each brand to push these guys to try and outperform each other. Competition is healthy. It makes people be more creative and work harder.
The Monday night ears were real and gave us some of the best wrestling in history. That's gone. The original brand split was a good idea, but ultimately they screwed it up by having too much integration and SmackDown still being a taped show.
Now things are totally different. 2 live shows so you aren't just reading spoilers is a huge difference and I think people are overshadowing just how important that is to this. If WWE has learned just a little bit from the past on this idea(and they are investing a lot into it) this could be an amazing step forward. Those who are against the idea of manufactured competition really make me wonder if they want the product to get better, or just really want to have something to complain about. For years I've read that 'things are stale', and 'WWE has gotten lazy'. They're taking a chance. A pretty good risk financially. They're mixing things up. Making a bold change like this is great for the fans, hell, even if it only works for a year. That's a year of better product. Enjoy it. Or...at least allow yourself to try to.

 

[Why Always Me]

These are the things I would want to happen.

1) Keep one World title
Doing one de-unification was horrible in 2002. Doing another would be even worse. One company does not need two world titles, which leads me onto point 2......

2) Have ALL champions appear on both shows
Its simple. No more titles (expect MAYBE a Womens Tag) are needed. No extra World title, European, Hardcore, Television, Cruiserweight etc. Too many titles dilutes the product. Would I like Dean Ambrose, Dolph Ziggler, AJ Styles, Bray Wyatt etc to be a World Champion (again in Zigglers case), yes I would. But I don't want this to happen by bringing in a second world title as then that says this is the ONLY way said wrestler will be a champion. Having champions appear on both shows would INSTANTLY add prestige to being a champion and it could be played up how important it is financially etc to be on both shows, really make a big deal out of it.

3) Allow PPV title challengers to appear on both shows
People say if there is a floating WWE World champion that there will be a show every week where he won't have owt to do. For example, if Roman Reigns is champion and Seth Rollins is on Raw, what on earth will Reigns do on Smackdown? Well I say when a match is booked for a PPV the challenger/challengers can also appear on both Smackdown and Raw. Whilst this would apply to all champions and challengers it would mostly be evident with the WWE World Heavyweight title, with the other belts it would not be as important if the rule wasn't followed all the time. With 5 hours of live TV a week this could easily be achieved. Could even expand it to Royal Rumble and MITB winners. Which leads me to.....

4) Raw should not be 3 hours
Instead, have Raw and Smackdown as 2 and a half hours each. Simple to impliment, whoever is running Smackdown will raise the point that Raw is 3 hours, USA network replies saying it wants 5 hours of live WWE content a week and Vince makes the decision that each show is two and a half hours. That means half an hour or so for the interpromotional stuff between champions and challengers on the brand the challengers are not assigned to and then the rest is brand specific stuff like back in the day.

5) Some brand specific PPV's
But not as many as back in the day. I would split it so there are 6 dual branded, 3 Raw and 3 Smackdown's a year. Some people have also said on the month a brand does not have a brand specific PPV then have a network special, could work.

6) Don't treat Raw and Smackdown as separate companies
Treat it more like the NFL/NBA/NHL/MLB, where there are two conferences who come together for the championship. I would treat it more like Shane v Stephanie purely from the viewpoint of Vince wanting to see who does a better job to take over in the future. This also allows for an easy way to end the brand split again if needed in the fututre as for example, Vince could say something like Shane you are the person to lead the WWE, Smackdown has the better ratings, live attendance etc, you are now in charge of the whole WWE with one roster.

7) New sets etc
Different entrance sets, red ropes Raw, blue Smackdown etc. Make them feel different. Put some effort into the visual aspect of it.

8) Use Main Event and Superstars more
Like Raw had Heat and Smackdown had Velocity, do the same now. Give Raw Superstars and Smackdown Main Event and have an hour for each with matches, not stupid re-caps from Raw and Smackdown.

 

[Trill Co$by]

These are the things I would want to happen.

1) Keep one World title
Doing one de-unification was horrible in 2002. Doing another would be even worse. One company does not need two world titles, which leads me onto point 2......

2) Have ALL champions appear on both shows
Its simple. No more titles (expect MAYBE a Womens Tag) are needed. No extra World title, European, Hardcore, Television, Cruiserweight etc. Too many titles dilutes the product. Would I like Dean Ambrose, Dolph Ziggler, AJ Styles, Bray Wyatt etc to be a World Champion (again in Zigglers case), yes I would. But I don't want this to happen by bringing in a second world title as then that says this is the ONLY way said wrestler will be a champion. Having champions appear on both shows would INSTANTLY add prestige to being a champion and it could be played up how important it is financially etc to be on both shows, really make a big deal out of it.

3) Allow PPV title challengers to appear on both shows
People say if there is a floating WWE World champion that there will be a show every week where he won't have owt to do. For example, if Roman Reigns is champion and Seth Rollins is on Raw, what on earth will Reigns do on Smackdown? Well I say when a match is booked for a PPV the challenger/challengers can also appear on both Smackdown and Raw. Whilst this would apply to all champions and challengers it would mostly be evident with the WWE World Heavyweight title, with the other belts it would not be as important if the rule wasn't followed all the time. With 5 hours of live TV a week this could easily be achieved. Could even expand it to Royal Rumble and MITB winners. Which leads me to.....

4) Raw should not be 3 hours
Instead, have Raw and Smackdown as 2 and a half hours each. Simple to impliment, whoever is running Smackdown will raise the point that Raw is 3 hours, USA network replies saying it wants 5 hours of live WWE content a week and Vince makes the decision that each show is two and a half hours. That means half an hour or so for the interpromotional stuff between champions and challengers on the brand the challengers are not assigned to and then the rest is brand specific stuff like back in the day.

5) Some brand specific PPV's
But not as many as back in the day. I would split it so there are 6 dual branded, 3 Raw and 3 Smackdown's a year. Some people have also said on the month a brand does not have a brand specific PPV then have a network special, could work.

6) Don't treat Raw and Smackdown as separate companies
Treat it more like the NFL/NBA/NHL/MLB, where there are two conferences who come together for the championship. I would treat it more like Shane v Stephanie purely from the viewpoint of Vince wanting to see who does a better job to take over in the future. This also allows for an easy way to end the brand split again if needed in the fututre as for example, Vince could say something like Shane you are the person to lead the WWE, Smackdown has the better ratings, live attendance etc, you are now in charge of the whole WWE with one roster.

7) New sets etc
Different entrance sets, red ropes Raw, blue Smackdown etc. Make them feel different. Put some effort into the visual aspect of it.

8) Use Main Event and Superstars more
Like Raw had Heat and Smackdown had Velocity, do the same now. Give Raw Superstars and Smackdown Main Event and have an hour for each with matches, not stupid re-caps from Raw and Smackdown.

What in the world were you smoking? I need some, like yesterday. Nothing in that list would be beneficial for a brand split in anyway shape or form. If they were going to do that, then they shouldn't have done the brand split in the first place. The shows need a reason to have people tune in on Tuesdays, otherwise ratings will stay the same and Smackdown would be cancelled leaving only Raw. Like seriously, did logic even cross your brain here?

The only thing that remotely made sense was the last two points, and even then that all feels kind of obvious. Each brand needs its own World Champion, Mid-Card Champion, Tag Titles, and Fourth title. In fact, if I was the WWE I'd use this Cruiserweight tournament to crown the returning Cruiserweight Championship holder and then put the title on Smackdown where the high fliers will shine. Why do they need separate titles? Because, then it would make Raw and Smackdown seem more like separate promotions rather than them being simply two different shows. In all honesty, I'd love for them to do 6 Cross Branded PPVs and then divide the remaining six between Raw and Smackdown. I would have of course the Big Four and then Money in the Bank and Night of Champions as the six cross brand. I would give TLC, Payback, and Hell in a Cell to Raw and then Fastlane, Battle Ground, and Extreme Rules to Smackdown... probably would even have them mix up the rotation of the 6 exclusive PPVs. Also, utilize the network to have some brand exclusive specials. Raw can bring back the In Your House forename (similar to NXT's Takeover) and Smackdown can reclaim WCW's old Clash of Champions forename.

 

[thestud77]

I think they should bring back some jobber matches to get new people over. Of course the whole show wouldn't be jobber matches but at least a few to help get other people over. I think the jobbers should be able to switch brands so guys like Heath Slater, Zack Ryder and Sammi Zayne could be on both shows.

 

[sMark]

I don't know about you, but my top ten for each brand will be the following:

RAW: Roman Reigns (top face), Randy Orton (top heel, he never feuded with Reigns, never with Styles), AJ Styles, Bray Wyatt (as a single competitor, another heel), Cesaro (it's time for him to be near main event scene), Miz (IC champ), Bullet Club (Luke Gallows, Karl Anderson, Finn Balor), Sheamus (another heel near the main event scene)
GM - Stephanie Mcmahon

Smackdown: John Cena (it's a must to draft him on SD, so the fans will be sure, SD is important again), Seth Rollins, Dean Ambrose, Kevin Owens, Sami Zayn, Rusev (US champ), Kane & Big Show (as a unit, Brothers of Destruction incarnation if you will), Baron Corbin (so the guy can get a push), Austin Aries (RAW have it's own NXT debutant, so is SD. I think it's too early to debut Nakamura yet)
GM -Shane Mcmahon

Part timers - Chris Jericho, Brock Lesnar & Undertaker can appear on both shows whenever needed

 

[Why Always Me]

What in the world were you smoking? I need some, like yesterday.

LOVE IT!!

Nothing in that list would be beneficial for a brand split in anyway shape or form. If they were going to do that, then they shouldn't have done the brand split in the first place. The shows need a reason to have people tune in on Tuesdays, otherwise ratings will stay the same and Smackdown would be cancelled leaving only Raw. Like seriously, did logic even cross your brain here?

Why - explain yourself good sir . I believe logic lives in my brain, never mind just crosses it.

The only thing that remotely made sense was the last two points, and even then that all feels kind of obvious.

Ouch baby, very ouch.

Each brand needs its own World Champion, Mid-Card Champion, Tag Titles, and Fourth title. In fact, if I was the WWE I'd use this Cruiserweight tournament to crown the returning Cruiserweight Championship holder and then put the title on Smackdown where the high fliers will shine. Why do they need separate titles? Because, then it would make Raw and Smackdown seem more like separate promotions rather than them being simply two different shows. In all honesty, I'd love for them to do 6 Cross Branded PPVs and then divide the remaining six between Raw and Smackdown. I would have of course the Big Four and then Money in the Bank and Night of Champions as the six cross brand. I would give TLC, Payback, and Hell in a Cell to Raw and then Fastlane, Battle Ground, and Extreme Rules to Smackdown... probably would even have them mix up the rotation of the 6 exclusive PPVs. Also, utilize the network to have some brand exclusive specials. Raw can bring back the In Your House forename (similar to NXT's Takeover) and Smackdown can reclaim WCW's old Clash of Champions forename.

Okay this is where I get mad. We don't need to make Raw and Smackdown seem like separate promotions because they aren't. Raw and Smackdown are WWE shows. If you want them to act as separate promotions then why would you want 6 cross brand PPV's? Surely there should be none and instead have two Royal Rumbles, two Wrestlemania's, 2 Summerslams etc. My points are based on how I would do the brand split, and how I would do it is to not treat them like separate promotions (because they aren't) and instead treat them like Conferences like the NFL etc, kept separate but for championships. Plenty of people seem to think the titles should not be split judging by what I have read on T'internet. If you think they should be treated as separate that's fine, that's your opinion but i disagree, hence the MULTI quotes back at ya.

What in the world were you smoking? I need some, like yesterday.

Btw, love this line SO much, had to quote it again

 

[TWJC: The Beginning]

To address the title dilemma, I have an idea.

The problem with 2 titles is it devalues them. There is no real "champion".

The problem with 1 title is, what does the other brand do when you're feuding with the top guy.

My solution is to have a top 10. Make it it's own thing. Like being voted an All Star. Top 10 guys can work either show for a period and are the top contenders. I don't know how to go about this (power rankings, W/L, etc) or how often (monthly, quarterly, etc), but to me, it solves the dilemma and adds a layer of prestige without getting too gaudy.

 

[HBKperfect23]

I'm against the brand split. To me the product became unwatchable a few months into the previous brand split. Raw became awful immediately. After the third brand was added and there were 3 world champions and 87 total titles I stopped watching completely.

My biggest issue is there is going to be two world titles. I hate that. Two Super Bowl champions? How does that sound. Even if there was one champion traveling between shows, I'd be happier with the brand split.

My 2nd biggest problem was the amount of shows they had. The big 4 or 5 ppvs were both brands competed and then each brand had there own in your house type of pay per views each month: totaling 20 some ppvs each year. It's overexposure and way too much to keep up with.

What I did like:
Originally I liked both brands competing in the rumble and then inter-promotional matches at mania.

I liked the smackdown 6 featuring some guys in the semi-main events that weren't previously there. I really enjoyed smackdown the first few months of the brand split.


Overall, I wish the E had 1 live show a week/1 studio show (recap/hype up events/show matches from house shows) and 5 pay per views a year with a few special events (clash/SNME) used when needed. I think the brand extension is going to add to the overexposure there already is.