Brand Extension

[V]

So, I'm on wwe.com and realizing there's no superstar page for Raw and/or Smackdown stars

after some google searching, I realize the brand extension has been over since August 2011?

Are Raw and Smackdown fully integrated now? If so, I have a few questions

-why did this happen? (i mean insider details, did vince finally realize the brand extension was a horrible idea?)
-has WWE been better since?
-do a lot of wrestelrs still only appear once a week, or is it pretty consistent they're on both?
-why are there still two titles? is one considered "better"? has there been any attempts to unify or have a title vs title match?

this actually may get me back into wrestling again.. it's one of the reasons I lost interest

[Bad News Gertner]

There are two titles mainly so the WWE can run more House Shows. Having two World Champs allowing them to split the rosters and run two cities in the same day while still having a World Champ wrestler.

[Ultra Mantis]

It's usually the same guys working both shows every week with sporadic appearances from jobbers. Cena and Punk rarely work Smackdown.

[SNLfunnyguy]

You have a bunch of top line stars who are rarely on Smackdown, yet anybody from Smackdown can be seen on Raw. It's a bit of a weird mis match becasue those who headline Smackdown are often in upper Mid Card spots on Raw.

[Emperor Smeat]

Its still in effect but its been almost meaningless since they started to promote the idea of "supershows" especially for Smackdown. They stopped actively promoting the shows as supershows but still have wrestlers showing up on both.

In terms of WWE.com itself, they started to gradually merge the roster pages around the time of the redesign.

[whiteyford]

Think I'm one of the few people that thought the brand split was a good idea.

[Cool King]

I liked it, but I didn't know how much I would miss it until it was gone.

I spoke about my thoughts on post brand split WWE a few weeks ago. In a nutshell, I said I preferred the WWE when it was split, as it felt like I was actually watching different shows and not just one big one like it feels like these days. :-\

[Cool King]

If anyone cares to read my original post about it....

I kind of miss the brand split.

I miss the days when Raw and SmackDown were in competition with each other and you actually felt like you were watching a different show when you watched Raw and SmackDown.

These days, when I watch SmackDown, I feel like I'm watching some kind of "spiritual successor" of that past Monday's Raw. Also, maybe it's just me but it feels like recently SmackDown has shown less matches and more Raw Recaps and SmackDown Recaps of the previous week. The same can be said for Superstars but I think I've already mentioned my thoughts on Superstars recently. Maybe that's one of the reasons why I like JBL on commentary on SmackDown. To me, he makes it feel like those days again when he says stuff like "This is what we do on Friday nights!" and his referencing to SmackDown as the "A Show" and all that.

Also, it doesn't help that sometimes you have the same guy wrestling on Raw and SmackDown. For example, you might see a Rey Mysterio match on Raw, then another one just four days later on SmackDown and then you sometimes get a recap of what Mysterio did just four days ago on Raw and you're left thinking something along the lines of "I've seen this stuff before this week". Sort of a repeat of a repeat of a repeat.

During the brand split, you would tune in to either show knowing who to expect and that would probably be why you would tune in. To see the guys you liked, and I don't know how to explain it but it would feel like that was "their turf" so to speak. It made it even more entertaining when they would appear on the other show unannounced. It would feel "weird" seeing them on the opposing show's stage for example. Then the Draft Lottery would happen and you would hope that the guys you liked being on a certain show, wouldn't be drafted or vice versa. Also the reaction you would give of a pick that you would think would be weird coming true, come true. For example, when J.R was drafted to SmackDown or when Carlito was drafted to Raw in 2005. You would think "What?" and it would be a "weird thought" thinking of them as being part of that brand and appearing on the show.

Now, it's a lot "calmer" these days. You tune in to a show and expect to see pretty much the same as what you saw on the other show.

I don't know, It's somewhat hard to put into words and maybe I'm not making much sense because of it, but it was a thought that came into my head just now and I felt like sharing it.

[whiteyford]

It just seems kinda daft, they've got PPVs designed for factions (Survivor series/Bragging Rights/KOTR) and even the rumble match, yet they blow it off on TV. Just seems like they could book 3 or 4 months of tv around the inter brand thing leading up to the Rumble and the RTWM, and if you're not getting the Raw vs Smackdown matches for free it might boost the buyrates.

[V]

I think you two just got too used to the extension over the 8 years it was going.

In my opinion it's a lot better to have them mixed. This means less payperviews (meaning more MEANINGFUL payperviews), more possible feuds between superstars (I remember during the split, if you wanted to see, say, Cena vs Triple H, you had to wait for the June 2005 draft), more time to build up story lines and feuds for each month's pyperview. When the split first started, there was only one champion who worked both shows, and the title meant so much more. I really think they should unify.

It sounds like they are still a little split because the big name wrestlers got used to only having to work the one show, which sucks

[Kane Knight]

It's usually the same guys working both shows every week with sporadic appearances from jobbers. Cena and Punk rarely work Smackdown.

Tuesdays are their rehab days.

[Ultra Mantis]

What do you think Daniel Bryan would say if they tried to make him go to rehab?

[whiteyford]

No, no, no...

[whiteyford]

I'm ashamed of us both.

[Corporate CockSnogger]

Oh god. You two make me want to throw up.

[whiteyford]

I said I was ashamed, feel like this could make James Steele reconsider his award now...

[Ultra Mantis]

I feel no remorse

[SlickyTrickyDamon]

NO SYMPY! NO SYMPY AT ALL!

[Evil Vito]

<font color=goldenrod>Yeah, the split is for house shows only now. A Raw house show ticket will get you Cena, Ryback, Punk, etc. and a SmackDown ticket will get you Orton, Sheamus, Big Show, etc. That's the only purpose it serves. They did away with the draft because it was no longer necessary, and they just switch people between rosters (WWE.com does actually keep an updated roster list - you need to select Raw or SmackDown in the drop down menu) as needed.

I miss the days when the split really mattered. Sure it limited potential feuds throughout the year, but that was kinda the point. You had two unique rosters that seldom intermingled...and I found the separation intriguing. When somebody actually did "invade" another show, it actually felt like a big deal. Also I loved the drafts during those years because they'd only move like 6 people per show, so you got some fresh feuds without doing a wholesale roster change.</font>

[DAMN iNATOR]

Kinda hope that maybe one day soon we’ll see the WWE and WHC titles re-unified back into the Undisputed Championship and bring back the Undisputed Championship belt, and have it be like the original brand split where only the Undisputed Champion can show up on both brands.

Probably a pipe dream, but still...

[DAMN iNATOR]

<font color=goldenrod>Yeah, the split is for house shows only now. A Raw house show ticket will get you Cena, Ryback, Punk, etc. and a SmackDown ticket will get you Orton, Sheamus, Big Show, etc. That's the only purpose it serves. They did away with the draft because it was no longer necessary, and they just switch people between rosters (WWE.com does actually keep an updated roster list - you need to select Raw or SmackDown in the drop down menu) as needed.

I miss the days when the split really mattered. Sure it limited potential feuds throughout the year, but that was kinda the point. You had two unique rosters that seldom intermingled...and I found the separation intriguing. When somebody actually did "invade" another show, it actually felt like a big deal. Also I loved the drafts during those years because they'd only move like 6 people per show, so you got some fresh feuds without doing a wholesale roster change.</font>

I too remember when things like that actually mattered...remember how The Rock reacted to being the very first guy ever drafted by Vince’s SmackDown!?

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