View Full Version : What's Your Brand
Simple Fan
07-19-2016, 11:44 PM
With the roster set what show do you think you'll follow going forward? Will you watch both? Neither? I'll do a poll if I can figure out how to do one.
Raw
Seth Rollins
Charlotte
Finn Balor
Roman Reigns
Brock Lesnar
The New Day
Sami Zayn
Sasha Banks
Chris Jericho
Rusev
Kevin Owens
Enzo & Cass
Gallows & Anderson
Big Show
Nia Jax
Neville
Cesaro
Sheamus
Golden Truth
Titus O’Neil
Paige
Darren Young
Sin Cara
Jack Swagger
Dudley Boyz
Summer Rae
Mark Henry
Braun Strowman
Bo Dallas
Shining Stars
Alicia Fox
Dana Brooke
Curtis Axel
SmackDown
Dean Ambrose
A.J. Styles
John Cena
Randy Orton
Bray Wyatt
Becky Lynch
The Miz
Baron Corbin
American Alpha
Dolph Ziggler
Natalya
Alberto Del Rio
The Usos
Kane
Kalisto
Naomi
The Ascension
Zack Ryder
Apollo Crews
Alexa Bliss
Breezango
Eva Marie
The Vaudevillains
Erick Rowan
Mojo Rawley
Carmella
Wishbone
07-19-2016, 11:57 PM
Where's the "neither, but I'll probably still watch both in the background while doing other shit" option? Honestly neither sounds particularly great, but RAW definitely got the better end of the stick. Smackdown's roster fucking sucks outside of Ambrose, Cena, and American Alpha.
Simple Fan
07-20-2016, 12:02 AM
I'll probably watch both to start but Smackdown seems a lot better to me. Their roster just interest me more than Raws and most likely will miss Raw now in football season with Reigns being the focal point. Only thing about Raw I would want to see is Kevin Owens. Smackdown has Cena, Orton, Ambrose, Styles, and Wyatt. That right there wins the draft for them and I actually hope SD beats Raw in ratings.
Lock Jaw
07-20-2016, 12:54 AM
I'll probably watch both to start but Raw seems a lot better to me.
DAMN iNATOR
07-20-2016, 01:49 AM
Not "done" with WWE, but why the FUCK did neither brand select Bayley from NXT? This was the perfect night for her to be called up. :'(
Unless, just maybe she's the "mystery partner" of Sasha...would be awesome...but keep thinking the silhouette looks just like NXT's Asuka maybe...:-\
Lock Jaw
07-20-2016, 02:10 AM
The silhouette is never of the actual person.....
I thought this thread was about underwear brands
:(
DAMN iNATOR
07-20-2016, 03:52 AM
The silhouette is never of the actual person.....
I meant the shape of it or whatever.
Ruien
07-20-2016, 08:21 AM
Smackdown is 2 hours which is way better for me. Rollins being on Raw sucks.
No idea why people say the rosters suck. Or either roster sucks. It's not like they were going to fire Corbin because there is a brand split. If you think the rosters suck then you thought that before the draft which means you should probably stop watching the product.
Rammsteinmad
07-20-2016, 08:27 AM
I'll follow both until we eventually slip back into the status quo and Smackdown is seen as the B show again.
I'm looking forward to the split rosters meaning a lot of guys getting more TV time and hopefully elevating up the card a little.
Mr. Nerfect
07-20-2016, 08:38 AM
I meant the shape of it or whatever.
That's what Lock Jaw is saying.
Mr. Nerfect
07-20-2016, 08:39 AM
Smackdown is 2 hours which is way better for me. Rollins being on Raw sucks.
No idea why people say the rosters suck. Or either roster sucks. It's not like they were going to fire Corbin because there is a brand split. If you think the rosters suck then you thought that before the draft which means you should probably stop watching the product.
A lot of people have.
Evil Vito
07-20-2016, 08:39 AM
Raw will need to elevate some new talent to the main event. Rollins/Reigns will continue for another month or two and I guess they could try to squeeze in a Jericho/Reigns feud if they wanted to before Jericho leaves again. But who will they turn to after that? Their singles midcard scene looks loaded right now with Owens, Zayn, Cesaro, and Balor but some of those guys are actually going to need to be moved up in due time.
SmackDown on the other hand is the opposite. They have no shortage of ways to mix around the top of the card even if some of the potential feuds have been done already. It's the midcard scene that is worrisome there with Ziggler and Del Rio both being great workers but such stale acts. I'm still thinking they'll create their own Tag and Women's belts even if those divisions look a lot weaker on SmackDown. If those divisions don't have belts to fight over, then the only end game the wrestlers in those divisions have is to hope they get drafted to Raw and that just makes them look like the B-show like in the last brand split. This is kinda why I wanted the Tag and Women's titles to float.
Still, SmackDown looks like it will be easier for me to digest.
Rammsteinmad
07-20-2016, 08:42 AM
With the rosters now split again, and Ziggler on the B show (even if WWE won't acknowledge it as such), I really, really hope we get at least one decent main event/title run for Dolph. Guy deserves it so much.
#BROKEN Hasney
07-20-2016, 08:43 AM
Where did broken Matt Hardy end up?
Mr. Nerfect
07-20-2016, 08:50 AM
Dolph Ziggler can continue his feud with Baron Corbin on SmackDown.
Mr. Nerfect
07-20-2016, 08:53 AM
Daniel Bryan could easily recreate the SmackDown Six on SmackDown in order to enhance the tag team scene there, since The Vaudevillains, The Ascension and The Hype Bros suck. Dolph Ziggler is paired with Kalisto and they are called "Edge & Rey Mysterio." American Alpha are the Kurt Angle/Chris Benoit tag team. The final team is...fuck, who cares? Randy Orton & Alberto Del Rio. Fuck it.
Evil Vito
07-20-2016, 08:55 AM
I still like The Vaudevillians :( would like to see a proper feud between them and American Alpha.
Mr. Nerfect
07-20-2016, 08:58 AM
With Simon Gotch being trained by Daniel Bryan, I hope they do something with that.
Mr. Nerfect
07-20-2016, 08:59 AM
Actually, I am being unfair. I can see American Alpha wrestling a squash match in their debut and The Vaudevillains watching and twirling their mustaches.
Mr. Nerfect
07-20-2016, 09:00 AM
There is a good chance they will make some sort of tag team match at SummerSlam, so good for them. American Alpha & The Usos vs. The Vaudevillains & Breezango or something like that.
Evil Vito
07-20-2016, 09:07 AM
Looking at the SmackDown women's division I kinda see wanting to have Alexa and Carmella get acclimated to the main roster with Nattie. Still don't think they have enough to salvage a proper division with that group even if they add a title.
Nikki Bella will probably join SmackDown to be with Cena but that doesn't really help much.
Mr. Nerfect
07-20-2016, 09:08 AM
SmackDown's women scene is basically developmental to get those girls warmed up to the main roster. It wouldn't surprise me if Alexa Bliss is on RAW within six months. The same with Carmella.
Mr. Nerfect
07-20-2016, 09:09 AM
It's the same with their tag scene actually too.
Simple Fan
07-20-2016, 09:16 AM
SmackDown's women scene is basically developmental to get those girls warmed up to the main roster. It wouldn't surprise me if Alexa Bliss is on RAW within six months. The same with Carmella.
It's the same with their tag scene actually too.
Agree when your first tag team pick is an NXT team you degrade your division from the start. The women are the same, I'm not big on Becky so far. I want to see her heel. The Bliss pick is great though. Have felt like she has been ready for the main roster for a while. I'm more optimistic about the women's division that. I am the tag division.
ClockShot
07-20-2016, 09:18 AM
Raw has been tough staying around for the full 3 hours. Jericho & Lesnar will only be around for a little while longer then disappear again.
Smackdown seems really good. Although they let a lot of mid-carders get away in the form of Owens, Cesaro, Sheamus, Zayn, Neville. But backed that up with grabbing Tag Teams like The Wyatts, Vaudevillians, Ascension, American Alpha, and The Usos.
Don't know about what's going on with the ladies. Good picks, I guess.
Wish Cena was on Raw. But Smackdown needs "The Franchise" it seems.
Rammsteinmad
07-20-2016, 09:52 AM
Jericho has actually been going straight since the Royal Rumble if I recall. It's pretty amazing really, seeing as how when he returned this time around I figured it'd only be for a month or two and he'd do nothing of note. He has slotted in with the Indy darling roster of today perfectly though, and his chemistry with Owens is so much fun to see.
Evil Vito
07-20-2016, 10:14 AM
Jericho's said he'll finish up this year and then sometime in early 2017 he'll be back to Fozzy. That's why I expect they'll have him feud with Reigns at some point this fall to buy them some more time before they need to build up Owens, Zayn, Cesaro, or Balor for the red brand.
Evil Vito
07-20-2016, 10:19 AM
SmackDown's women scene is basically developmental to get those girls warmed up to the main roster. It wouldn't surprise me if Alexa Bliss is on RAW within six months. The same with Carmella.
It's the same with their tag scene actually too.
It does feel that way, but I hope it doesn't actually play out like that. Even if SmackDown gets their own belts I don't want them to fall back into the trap of shifting everyone important over to Raw during the yearly draft. With SmackDown being live now and therefore way more expensive to produce I think they need to put the effort in to keep the divisions compelling on both brands.
Evil Vito
07-20-2016, 10:20 AM
Of course it's also possible they just decided that putting Cena, Orton, Ambrose, and Styles on SmackDown will be enough to get people to tune in so the rest of the undercard can be glorified development. I hope not.
Innovator
07-20-2016, 10:28 AM
RAW definitely has a better roster, but Smackdown has Becky and Alexa Bliss
Evil Vito
07-20-2016, 10:34 AM
If I had my druthers I'd have probably made a few swaps in how the draft shook out:
-Ziggler and Cesaro. My stance on this could change if they end up doing something with Ziggler but I'd have liked to have seen Ziggler and Corbin nowhere near each other and Cesaro I feel would have stood out more on SmackDown.
-Gallows/Anderson for Breezango. SmackDown got the top three tag teams. Giving Gallows/Anderson to the blue brand keeps The Club together and gives the blue brand a solid top three teams in The Club, Alpha, and the Usos. Breezango on Raw if nothing else gives Breeze to the cruiserweight division if/when they split. Again I could flip on this if the Balor Club becomes a thing on Raw.
-Paige and Carmella. I like Carmella well enough but I'd have liked to put her back with Enzo and Cass. Paige to SmackDown again gives that division a solid top three in Becky, Natalya, and Paige rather than it just being packed with unknowns.
I'm still choosing to remain optimistic about this though. Going to try to at least watch every show until SummerSlam before passing judgment on if one show sucks.
Simple Fan
07-20-2016, 12:23 PM
Kind of like the way they had the titles set up before with one brand having the WWE branded titles and the other just having World titles. I expect Raw to come out of Battleground with the WWE title leaving Smackdown to create a Heavyweight, Womens, and Tag titles. Bringing back the Big Good Belt is probably the best thing to do. I'd like to see a World Women's Championship that is similar to the WHC. With New Day becoming the longest reigning Tag champs I'm hoping the receive new titles that look similar to the WWE title.
Big Vic
07-20-2016, 12:55 PM
Wish they would trade Cena for Rollins and Owens.
Simple Fan
07-20-2016, 01:13 PM
Feel like there will be some trades. Think SD might end up with both the IC and US titles somehow after Battleground and they will have to trade one to Raw.
Schlomey
07-20-2016, 01:16 PM
If RAW ever goes back to 2 hours I'll watch it but for now I am loving the SD roster and 2 hour format...plus their announce team is great.
Simple Fan
07-20-2016, 02:45 PM
I'm hoping SD goes to 3 hours eventually. No way Raw drops the 3rd hour and SD being 3hours will make them equal brands. I know a lot of people hate the 3 hours but as a wrestling fan I like it.
Big Vic
07-20-2016, 03:34 PM
Fuck 3 hours
Evil Vito
07-20-2016, 03:49 PM
Yeah, I have no desire to have SmackDown go to three hours. I'd prefer Raw go down to two hours again even though it'll never happen.
Ryan Ward being the SmackDown writer also makes me a lot more optimistic about its future. He's capable of putting together a more compelling show even if the midcard features less heralded talent.
Schlomey
07-20-2016, 04:16 PM
Back in my day, RAW was a 1 hour show with jobber squash matches & you liked every fucking second of it. We are spoiled assed fucks.
Emperor Smeat
07-20-2016, 05:07 PM
Both but might lean a bit more towards RAW depending on how the cruiserweight division is handled.
Smackdown being 2 hours is a huge benifit on their side but RAW having a bit stronger of a roster and likely even more people once the cruiser division starts to fill up might make it a bit more appealing.
Biggest worry is the WWE just brings back too many belts for the brands and quality of champions takes a big hit like last time.
They managed to make me much less optimistic than pre-Draft. I guess I'm hoping for a big overhaul with the brands looking and feeling different but I'm probably not going to get it. Some of the picks still have me going "huh!?".
I'm a typical underdog supporter so I'm leaning towards SmackDown but I have a massive man-crush on Balor so I'll still watch Raw if only for him, plus I'm not too enthralled with SmackDown's Main Event scene.
SlickyTrickyDamon
07-20-2016, 05:40 PM
The silhouette is never of the actual person.....
No because I don't think Tyson Kidd is coming back.
Mr. Nerfect
07-20-2016, 06:02 PM
I see Roman Reigns turning heel at Battleground, securing the WWE Title for RAW, then Dean Ambrose, John Cena, Dolph Ziggler, Alberto Del Rio, Kane, Bray Wyatt, Kalisto and Baron Corbin or someone compete in a tournament to crown a new World Heavyweight Champion. I could actually imagine Cena and Styles costing each other respective semi-final matches and two other guys fighting over the championship.
Cool King
07-20-2016, 09:50 PM
If I'm honest, I'm not a fan of a three hour Raw but I'm still going to watch.
When it comes to the rosters, I'm split. I was actually planning on doing what Vito is doing and watching the shows up until SummerSlam before passing judgment.
There were however a few questions that arose as I watched SmackDown.
The decision to draft certain people to certain shows made no sense. If the Cruiserweight Division is going to be on Raw, then why not draft more cruiserweights to the show? Right now on the roster, Raw has a good amount of cruiserweights, but I doubt most of them will compete in the division as they're either in the main event scene or Tag Team Division.
If the new Cruiserweight Division is like the previous, then the weight limit will be 225 lbs. On Raw, the guys who qualifiy to compete for the Cruiserweight Championship are:
Seth Rollins (217 lbs)
Finn Bálor (190 lbs)
Kofi Kingston (212 lbs)
Xavier Woods (205 lbs)
Sami Zayn (212 lbs)
Chris Jericho (224 lbs)
Enzo Amore (200 lbs)
Neville (194 lbs)
R-Truth (220 lbs)
Sin Cara (205 lbs)
Primo (215 lbs)
It's a pretty decent list, but if we were to not count main-eventers (Rollins) or members of teams (Kingston, Woods, Amore, Truth & Primo), Raw only has five cruiserweights, with those being Bálor, Zayn, Jericho, Neville and Sin Cara.
However, if the rules for the new Cruiserweight Division are the same as they are for the Cruiserweight Classic, then the weight limit is 205 lbs, which would only leave Bálor, Woods, Amore, Neville & Sin Cara from the above list, and even then, we don't know what's going to happen with Bálor as he could be in the main event scene and Woods and Amore are in the Tag Team Divison, which would only leave two cruiserweights under the Cruiserweight Classic rules, whereas under the original rules, we would have three cruiserweights after Jericho leaves to focus on Fozzy.
I would like to think that the winner of the Cruiserweight Classic would be on Raw, but that still isn't a good amount of cruiserweights in the division. I can only think of three ways to add more competitors to the division.
1. Disband a team or two
2. Add more competitors from the Cruiserweight Classic to Raw
3. All of the above
The problem here is that if more competitors from the Cruiserweight Classic were added to Raw, wouldn't that render the competition pretty much pointless?
But, if a team were to disband, I can see it most likely being New Day.
Another thing I didn't quite "get" was that The Women's Championship is exclusive to Raw, but now Raw only has seven women (eight if you count Lana). I can't help but think that the division is going to be dominated by Charlotte and Sasha Banks, with the title going back and forth between them for a good while until Mia Jax gets into the title scene.
If I'm honest, I really can't see Summer Rae or Alicia Fox getting anywhere near the championship, and instead, their role will be the jobbers of the division, while Paige's role will be both title challenger and occasional jobber, with her maybe winning the championship one more time before never holding it again.
As for SmackDown, instantly, the first thing that's noticeable is the small roster. What I don't get is why SmackDown appears to have been screwed when it comes to the Tag Team and Women's Divisions. The roster consists of five Tag Teams (Seven if you count Bray & Rowan and Ryder & Rawley) but yet, they don't have a championship to chase. The same can be said for the women on the roster.
Finally, the new NXT call-ups are interesting.
If you read my posts (and thanks if you do), you'd know that I don't watch NXT. So the NXT guys are all new to me. Not completely new to me though, as we do live in the time of the internet, but I am quite interested in Nia Jax. I'm kinda putting my trust in her to make me interested in the Women's Division again.
The first thing I thought of when I saw American Alpha was "The World's Greatest Tag Team 2K16". I have some interest in them but not a lot. Finally, Mojo Rawley. I've heard a lot about him but that's about it. I am interested in the character to see what it's all about but I just hope they don't pair him up with Ryder again.
I really want to see Ryder have a good singles run and hopefully win the Intercontinental Championship. I think sending Ryder back to teaming with Rawley will be a big step back for him. However, if that did happen, I would like to see Curt Hawkins return and be involved in some way. Maybe have Hawkins and Rawley vie for the attention of Ryder to be their tag team partner.
Finally (for real this time), speaking of Hawkins. I feel that with SmackDown having the smaller roster, that any returning superstars will be on SmackDown to beef up the roster.
Cool King
07-20-2016, 10:25 PM
I forgot to mention that I can't see Foley being Raw GM for long.
Foley being selected as GM by Stephanie doesn't really make sense. I get the feeling this will be a storyline where Foley and Stephanie are constantly at loggerheads with each other, with Foley being the good guy and and Stephanie being the bad guy.
Eventually, either Foley will quit/be fired by Stephanie/be attacked and the new GM will be announced as Triple H.
It's a long shot, but if Foley is attacked, it will be revealed later down the line that it was either Triple H that attacked him or Triple H who planned the attack.
Ruien
07-20-2016, 10:27 PM
Naw, they need a face general manager. Someone for Steph to feed off of.
Mr. Nerfect
07-20-2016, 10:52 PM
The new cruiserweight division will probably keep the weight limit at 205lbs.
You could have the 4 Semi-Finalists from the CWC promoted to RAW immediately, with the winner getting an instant shot at the Cruiserweight Championship. That'd be how you set the winner apart, or you make the winner the champ straight away and they arrive on Raw with the belt. Problem is the CWC still has a load of weeks left so you'd have to hold off launching the division (could do showcase matches in the meantime I guess?).
Ruien
07-21-2016, 08:11 AM
I assume they will showcase some of the matches on Raw with guys who the crowd will recognize.
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