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View Poll Results: Should WWE bring back the brand split? | |||
Yes | 12 | 50.00% | |
No | 13 | 54.17% | |
do u even lift | 4 | 16.67% | |
bro | 3 | 12.50% | |
Multiple Choice Poll. Voters: 24. You must log in or register to vote on this poll. |
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Thread Tools | Display Modes |
04-26-2016, 09:01 AM | #1 |
Trickster Demon
Posts: 59,751
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Should WWE bring back the brand split?
Yay/Nay
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04-26-2016, 09:14 AM | #2 |
President of Freedonia
Posts: 58,173
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Yes but only if they actually commit to it. In the first 3-4 years of the brand split you almost never saw people from different shows interact. Only backstage stuff at PPVs or during the Rumble. When they'd do a draft lottery it actually felt like a big deal because people didn't just jump shows willy nilly.
From the writer's standpoint, it can allow them to actually write proper angles for midcarders instead of just stop-starting everything constantly. More of the roster will be utilized. Bonus points if they have two separate creative teams again. From the wrestlers' standpoint they might not only have a better chance of thriving/doing something important, but it keeps them from having to wrestle 20+ minute TV matches that nobody will remember on back to back nights. |
04-26-2016, 09:20 AM | #3 |
President of Freedonia
Posts: 58,173
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Oh and the other thing (and the thing I have less faith in WWE doing than anything above) - they really need to portray the brands as equals. Part of the reason the brand split shat the bed the first time is because around 2007/08 or so the draft just became an excuse to load up Raw with everybody who had done anything interesting on SmackDown over the past year and then shunting off everyone who had lost their way on Raw. It was clearly portrayed as "Going to Raw = Promotion" and really with the exception of The Undertaker every big name on SmackDown got to Raw eventually.
If a guy is killing it on SmackDown, they should stay there and continue to have the whole show built around them. It would be nice for each brand to have some maintstays. Raw might need a bigger roster because they have an extra hour to fill but there are ways around that. I might have to do a mock draft soon. |
04-26-2016, 09:28 AM | #4 |
It's a blood match!
Posts: 27,374
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Absolutely not, that would just complicated things, keep it simple stupid.
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04-26-2016, 10:11 AM | #5 |
Let me talk to ya
Posts: 11,749
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No, Raw is always superior no matter what. The only way I could get behind it is if they started a new brand. Something like a promotion between NXT and WWE. Could bring back the WCW brand or something. Move Smackdown to the Network and have a new show in its place with a roster full of guys that never get used.
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04-26-2016, 11:14 AM | #6 |
Stickman
Posts: 15,119
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I haven't watched smackdown in years. Wrestling is monday nights plain and simple. I can't stomack watching anything taped, got tired of the piped in fake cheers and fake boos.
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04-26-2016, 11:30 AM | #7 |
N.W.A. Champion Not I
Posts: 424
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No.
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04-26-2016, 11:56 AM | #8 |
I am the cheese
Posts: 51,050
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no, god no.
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04-26-2016, 12:23 PM | #9 |
( ._.)
Posts: 13,896
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No, cancel smackdown.
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04-26-2016, 12:24 PM | #10 |
EATER OF HOT POCKETS
Posts: 14,340
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LOOSE FUCKING CANNON
No respect for tradition up in this bitch. |
04-26-2016, 03:53 PM | #11 |
Former TPWW Royalty
Posts: 66,588
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No mainly because they'd probably ignore Smackdown once again after the initial luster ends or RAW begins to struggle even more in popularity.
Could do a soft split with certain wrestlers and/or titles showing up more for a particular show but not be fully restricted to just that show for appearances. For example, have the IC belt be more RAW focused and US belt more Smackdown focused with swaps happening every so often. |
04-26-2016, 04:54 PM | #12 |
Feeling Oof-y
Posts: 17,136
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I'm a "Brand Split Guy" so in principle yes. I just wouldn't do it right now as the roster doesn't have enough depth.
Some of that is due to injuries, and maybe the roster would feel more fleshed out when Cena, Orton, Rollins, Wyatt, etc are back, and if Taker/Brock/HHH were to have short runs, but right now the roster feels really flimsy. The original Brand Split came at a time when the roster was quite "top heavy" and there was enough Main Event talent to carry two brands, it just doesn't feel that way right now. |
04-26-2016, 07:58 PM | #13 |
Quark is Less Impressed.
Posts: 38,371
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I vote yes if they would allow SmackDown to actually compete and not just play second fiddle to Raw.
Also they would have to stop post-producing Smackdown to hell with fake crowd noise. |
04-27-2016, 04:01 AM | #14 |
Posts: 60,940
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I would like to see it because I am a masochist.
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04-27-2016, 04:29 AM | #15 | |
Posts: 60,940
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Quote:
Sorry for the large block of words, but having separate writing teams with separate shows with separate focuses could really change some things up. I'm against the idea if one show is just a feeder for another, but even so it would have its merits. Bring Bayley up to SmackDown and let her make some waves there before she is ready to join the RAW brand, with Becky Lynch or someone jumping over for a prolonged run on SmackDown a year later or something. I'd be completely for the idea if they handed creative to someone like Paul Heyman or Zeb Colter -- or at least gave them some sort of input in the decision-making process. I'm not sure how interested either would be, but the idea of competition would help propel things forward. I also think they need to do something other than "RAW vs. SmackDown." The time for that has come and gone. I'd give the Thursday show a complete reboot with new packaging and maybe even a new name. Give the show a completely different aesthetic feel. |
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04-27-2016, 07:28 AM | #16 |
MVP Mark
Posts: 16,448
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Hell no. Smackdown is just a second tier show and will be no matter what
They barely have enough stars to film the 3 hours of Raw unless you want to see Reigns 4 times a night then hell no. WWE needs to focus on Raw to improve those ratings with every star they have beforr trying something like this. That does not mean you can't have people feuding specifically on Smackdown but means no one is restricted to that wasteland. |
04-27-2016, 07:37 AM | #17 |
Posts: 60,940
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I've got a feeling that Vince's announcement at Payback will be one of two things:
1. Triple H and Shane McMahon will fight at Extreme Rules to see who gets control of Monday Night RAW. 2. One is given RAW to run, and as the other party looks dejected, Vince tells them that they will be getting SmackDown. I don't think they'll do a brand split, per se, but I can see them giving each show different control. Nothing will change aesthetically or creatively, because that would require effort, but we'll get different relationships with talent on different shows, actually making the writing team's job harder. |
04-27-2016, 07:56 AM | #18 |
Posts: 44
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I'd bring it back. Have Shane McMahon run Smackdown and The Authority run Raw.
Here are the projected rosters: Raw: Cena, Lesnar, Reigns, Ambrose, Samoa Joe, Crews, Corbin, Del Rio, Enzo, Cass, New Day, Charlotte, Paige, Becky, Big Show, Kane, Rusev SD: Rollins, Styles, Orton, Balor, Owens, Cesaro, Sheamus, Wyatt, Anderson, Gallows, Dudleys, Sasha, Bayley, Miz, Swagger, Zayn, Ziggler Center Raw around Reigns still sticking it to the Authority, who brings back Lesnar to take him out, setting up Reigns vs. Lesnar 2(Finally) at Summerslam. Have Smackdown get its own world title which would be vacant and won by Rollins in a MITB ladder match. Have Orton return as a heel and challenge him for the belt at Summerslam. Also, at MITB Samoa Joe debuts on the main roster as The Authority's new "Machine" and his first assignment is to take out Cena at Summerslam. Over on SD, The Bullet Club continues to assist AJ Styles until he's had enough tells them off. This brings up Balor to the main roster to reclaim his stable and begin an immediate feud with AJ. |
04-27-2016, 08:02 AM | #19 |
Posts: 60,940
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Nice thoughts, The Scotness.
You could have Seth Rollins become the default heel champion on The Authority's show by having him return and claim to be the undefeated WWE World Heavyweight Champion, thus holding the true lineage. Charlotte could lose the Women's Title to one of the face ladies then claim she was never defeated for the Divas Title, which she brings back as an inspiration to little girls everywhere. |
04-27-2016, 09:57 AM | #20 |
President of Freedonia
Posts: 58,173
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Here's how I would break things down:
First off, Shane remains in charge of Raw. It is a complete slap in the face of a major WrestleMania stipulation but since WWE doesn't seem to care about that, neither will I. I just think a heel authority figure in charge of Raw has been done to death. A face in charge of the flagship is a change of pace from the normal tropes we are used to. That leaves The Authority to take control of SmackDown. The World Heavyweight Champion, Women’s Champion, and Tag Team Champions are exempt from the draft and free to appear on both shows. This just makes sense because it doesn’t limit divisions to one show and also doesn’t require creating a second set of all of those titles, which would just devalue everything. I’m also imagining that with Raw being an extra hour, even if they wanted to portray the brands as “equals” it’s nice that they could toss in, say, a New Day segment/match to help fill time even if New Day are primarily feuding with a team on SmackDown at that particular moment. I’d also assume that Brock Lesnar and The Undertaker are considered to be exempt from the draft for “contractual reasons”, because honestly they aren’t going to be there for most of the year anyway. This means when they iron out their next plans for those guys they can bring them back on whatever show they need to. An official draft would be held and it would be similar to the first draft that happened in 2002: each brand gets 10 selections on the main show and the rest of the brands are decided afterwards via lottery. The picks would be announced at different points throughout the show but I’d presume the first 10 picks per brand (in alphabetical order) end up as: Raw: AJ Styles, Apollo Crews, Bray Wyatt, Cesaro, Chris Jericho, John Cena, Kevin Owens, Intercontinental champion The Miz, Sami Zayn, Sasha Banks SmackDown: Alberto Del Rio, Baron Corbin, Becky Lynch, Dean Ambrose, Dolph Ziggler, United States champion Kalisto, Randy Orton, Ryback, Seth Rollins, Sheamus Other than Cena and Rollins being the first picks for their respective brands, the order in which everyone else is taken is probably irrelevant but in a back and forth draft it would make sense to see the rosters wind up in a way that looks like they’re trying to one-up each other. Each brand gets a champion, each brand takes one of the fast rising women’s wrestlers, each brand takes an impressive rookie, etc. On Raw I definitely wanted Cena and Styles to be on the same show as that I think can be a money match for the red brand within the year. I’ve also kept guys that have current tension with each other (Zayn/Owens, Miz/Cesaro, etc.) on that show so they can continue feuding over the next several months. I think Jericho will eventually leave again in the fall when it’s time to start a new Fozzy tour but at this stage you can pair him with anybody, maybe even somebody who is a part of the lottery draft. Rollins needs to be on the same show as Triple H because let’s be real, Rollins will be over as fuck when he comes back and there’s no way Hunter isn’t going to want to eventually have a match with him. If they need to go back to the “Triple H gets a bunch of heel cronies to help The Authority” at some point there are plenty of options for that with Sheamus, Ryback, and Corbin all being guys I could see being paired with Hunter at some point. I also would heavily push Kalisto and make the US Title actually seem worth a shit, he’s got everything they could want to be the next Mysterio. As for the draft lottery – I can’t be bothered to do a full breakdown but I’d imagine you’d wind up with a fairly even split of tag teams and women on both shows rather than making it one-sided. Off the top of my head I’d definitely make sure Gallows and Anderson go to Raw to be able to keep interacting with Styles (especially if/when Balor comes up). I’d also make sure Strowman and Rowan end up on Raw to stay with Bray. If you want to make it seem like an actual lottery you’d probably need to break up a few teams to put across the randomness but that’s not a big deal. Harper is out until September but could be drafted to SmackDown as he’s good enough to return and thrive without Wyatt. I’d toss Sin Cara on Raw to break up the Lucha Dragons because I think their presence only impedes Kalisto’s ability to grow. I think it’s implied that Konnor and Adam Rose are already split from their respective groups with Viktor joining The Social Outcasts but you could make that official by just putting them on a different roster before they get released. If I’m honest I’d also consider splitting The Dudley Boyz via the draft agian so that Bubba can start doing his Bully Ray schtick, but that means D-Von has absolutely nothing to do. Oh and one last thing – most NXT call ups would probably start on Raw because, again, they have an extra hour to fill so debuting guys there just makes things more convenient. It also gives Shane a reason to brag as he's raiding Triple H's baby in NXT. Balor and Joe would be the next guys in line to come up most likely. |
04-27-2016, 12:42 PM | #21 |
It's a blood match!
Posts: 27,374
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Damn Vito that is smart and all but holy fuck do I 100% hope they don't do another brand split, that seems like such a step backwards... I just hope the come up with a fresh conclusion to the Vince angle at Payback. Please don't be a brand split, please please.
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04-27-2016, 01:09 PM | #22 | |
Posts: 3,033
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Quote:
In addition, there's no reason to assume that more of the roster will be utilized (booked or written) in an improved/positive way creatively simply because each show may have a need to use more talent each week. They'll still book and push the talent (based on talent type, politics, belief in success, i.e., pushing Reigns & Cena vs Ambrose, Wyatt or Ziggler) in the same way they've been doing because the writing staffs and ultimately the man in charge is going to be the same. |
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04-27-2016, 01:26 PM | #23 | |
( ._.)
Posts: 13,896
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Quote:
Shane: Awww |
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04-27-2016, 01:33 PM | #24 |
Inno Knows.
Posts: 43,710
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No. Fuck No. They can't handle a 3 hour RAW with the talent they have already.
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04-27-2016, 01:38 PM | #25 | |
President of Freedonia
Posts: 58,173
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Quote:
For simplicity, let's say WWE has five feuds going on at once, all singles feuds. Under the current format, all five feuds are featured across both shows every week and little room is left for people not involved in those feuds to do anything. The feuds also get stretched incredibly thin because they keep trying to find ways to have the 10 characters in said feuds interact on two weekly TV shows a week. And to boot, they want most of those feuds to last more than one month. So there's a few months right there seeing more or less the same cast of 10 characters. Everyone else on the roster is irrelevant at this point. Now take that same approach and apply it to the brand split. Now suddenly each brand has five singles feuds going on, and now 20 different characters are heavily involved on TV every week. And the interactions in each feud seem automatically more important because you only see it once a week. Each show now has more variety and you're increasing the number of relevant characters in the company. The biggest knock I see people have of SmackDown (from myself included) is that nothing important ever happens there. Feuds that are promoted on Raw will get a throwaway match/segment on SmackDown to artificially continue it, and you're lucky if what happened on SmackDown is even relevant enough to be brought on Raw the next week. OK then - so why even watch SmackDown? I just think unless you give SmackDown it's own identity and properly differentiate it from Raw, nobody will ever care. I haven't even watched SmackDown since the brand split ended because they've given me no reason to think I can see anything that I can't already see in the 3 hours I watched Raw. |
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04-27-2016, 01:43 PM | #26 |
President of Freedonia
Posts: 58,173
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Feel like a lot of the animosity towards the brand split (even back from the years when it was in full swing before creative went to shit) is that some people just flat out don't want to watch two different shows to see all of their favorites and would rather not have to spend an extra two hours a week watching wrestling.
But if I'm WWE, that's precisely the reason I do it. You want to see Wrestler X, Y, and Z? Then tune in on Thursday nights. I'd go as far as to argue that the SmackDown roster should get extra beef in terms of star power because a fuckload of people are going to watch Raw no matter who is on it but that's for another time. |
04-27-2016, 01:49 PM | #27 |
Posts: 3,033
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The real problem is two fold and it's an issue with the writing and booking not the size of the roster:
1. The idea that all feuds must be continued on Raw and Smackdown, EVERY week, culminating in a match at THAT months PPV. 2. The idea that one talent can only have one feud going with one other talent at a time. I.e., instead of X only feuding with Y and Z only feuding with A, you can have X feuding with Y and feuding with Z, Y can be feuding with Z and X and A, A can be feuding with Z and Y and B, and so on. You don't necessarily have to address each feud every week or monthly PPV either. Not only does this increase the amount of talent getting exposure but it also increases the potential length of all the feuds as well as the matches and match combinations you can have over a longer period of time. |
04-27-2016, 02:48 PM | #28 |
Feeling Oof-y
Posts: 17,136
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Some great points being made. Though I can't help but think they can achieve most of the aims without a brand split.
One of the problems with Raw (at least as far as I'm concerned) is that they haven't filled the extra hour by utilising more talent with more storylines, they've just dedicated more time to the same set of guys in longer segments and longer matches. Personally I'm not bothered about seeing 4 or 5 twenty minute matches on Raw, that's what I watch the monthly specials for. Again, you don't have to feature every feud every week on Raw and SmackDown, you can give the feuds some breathing space. |
04-27-2016, 02:58 PM | #29 |
It's a blood match!
Posts: 27,374
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This just needs to lead to Triple H vs Shane McMahon at Summerslam... I don't think we have to go this far guys!
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04-27-2016, 03:26 PM | #30 |
quesque fuck?
Posts: 23,500
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A brand split would only be relevant if
1. RAW and Smackdown were equal which will never happen. Smackdown would HAVE to be live in order to even be somewhat close. 2. They have seperate booking teams which will never happen. Vince rules it all. |
04-27-2016, 05:31 PM | #31 |
Rigged from the start
Posts: 35,417
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Like some have already said in here, only if it's done properly.
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