View Full Version : WWE Announces All PPVs will be dual-branded starting w/ Backlash + PPV Schedule for 2018
WrestlingInc and a few twitter insiders are saying this, I haven't seen the Meltz post it yet, but seems like it's happening. Here's one such account that broke Neville quitting and a few other things:
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Starting with the Backlash PPV May 6th, all PPVs going forward will be dual branded. No more RAW or Smackdown exclusive shows. Source states repetitive matchups to fill the card along with so-so ticket sales lead to the decision. <br><br>The weekly TV shows will not be effected.</p>— WrestleVotes (@WrestleVotes) <a href="https://twitter.com/WrestleVotes/status/963216045187260416?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 13, 2018</a></blockquote>
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">To clarify last tweet: the brand split is not ending. RAW & Smackdown will continue to have different rosters. Two separate brands will remain on TV. House shows will remain the same. The only change is for PPVs. Both brands will have matches on each PPV show.</p>— WrestleVotes (@WrestleVotes) <a href="https://twitter.com/WrestleVotes/status/963221784014270467?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 13, 2018</a></blockquote>
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">The WWE Backlash PPV in May, which was supposed to be a RAW PPV, is now a double branded PPV. Wrestling Inc. reader Tony Lopez sent this email from Ticketmaster announcing the change <a href="https://t.co/LMqLyMsIhz">pic.twitter.com/LMqLyMsIhz</a></p>— WrestlingINC.com (@WrestlingInc) <a href="https://twitter.com/WrestlingInc/status/963231703656366080?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 13, 2018</a></blockquote>
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Evil Vito
02-13-2018, 11:25 AM
During the first split, they ran brand-exclusive PPVs from 2003-2006 and for the most part they were consistent about keeping the shows separated, they only ever interacted during the big 4 PPVs and the draft.
Then they took away brand-exclusive PPVs in early 2007 and pretty much as soon as they did that the whole split started to get disregarded. Everyone showed up everywhere during Mania season, ECW wrestlers started appearing on every show, the tag titles and women's titles got merged, etc. By the time the split officially ended in late 2011/early 2012, it was pretty much just a mercy killing.
Now that they're dumping brand-exclusive PPVs after only 18 months, I'd guess the split will be effectively gone by WM35.
Triple A
02-13-2018, 11:29 AM
They could just be doing it for Backlash because they plan on doing another "superstar shake-up" after WrestleMania, so wrestlers who are on the Raw roster now will be moved to SmackDown, but WWE still wants to book them on the PPV, maybe
Hopefully that's true. Seperate PPVs are dumb.
Shisen Kopf
02-13-2018, 12:13 PM
RasslinSource should have broke this news but the heavy handed moderation strikes again
SlickyTrickyDamon
02-13-2018, 12:32 PM
It gave them more time to set up rivalries. Too bad they did not use that time well enough. Month long feud's for all or no ppv match at all.
ClockShot
02-13-2018, 03:50 PM
It's the best move they could do. More matches on the card will put more butts in the seats no doubt. If the ticket sales for Elimination Chamber are any indicator, something's gotta be done.
Meltzer now said it's happening on Wrestling Observer Radio and it's only a matter of time before they make it official.
I hope this doesn't lead to the R.I.P. of the brand split eventually again though.
It's the best move they could do. More matches on the card will put more butts in the seats no doubt. If the ticket sales for Elimination Chamber are any indicator, something's gotta be done.
Yeah I read they were currently at 8k.
That seems really low for Vegas and a proven gimmick ppv.
Emperor Smeat
02-13-2018, 04:21 PM
On one hand, the brand split did weaken the drawing power of the brands a lot with Smackdown hurt the worst when it came to selling tickets. Making it dual brand improves the star power by a lot for these events.
On the other hand, the undercard not involved in title feuds are going to be the biggest losers of this new change. A lot less time and opportunities for them on PPVs and maybe even less of a focus on tv now that WWE doesn't have to spend time building up smaller feuds for PPVs.
Destor
02-13-2018, 04:25 PM
On one hand, the brand split did weaken the drawing power of the brands a lot with Smackdown hurt the worst when it came to selling tickets. Making it dual brand improves the star power by a lot for these events.
On the other hand, the undercard not involved in title feuds are going to be the biggest losers of this new change. A lot less time and opportunities for them on PPVs and maybe even less of a focus on tv now that WWE doesn't have to spend time building up smaller feuds for PPVs.
Historically though while the PPV draws go up duel brand ppv lower the draw on the SDL house shows...so like before the next move will be to end the split to save those numbers as well.
Jordan
02-13-2018, 05:06 PM
It's because Roman and Cena are on Raw. They need both guys to get the ratings and attendance the want. Nakamura is really good but not a huge star, AJ is a huge star but below the level of Roman or Cena... classic WWE fucking Smackdown over. They just can't ever put the big angle on Smackdown.
Like Taker and Cena should be a Smackdown story now, but we know its on Raw.
How about this.
.
.
.
.
.
........
Smackdown Live (sometime soon). We get the show on the air and it is mentioned that Shane McMahon isn't here tonight but D Bryan is. That's it.
Next week, we start the show talking about the disappearance of Shane McMahon. It's sold real as fuck, like maybe he just got fed up with his Dad and Triple H and maybe even "left the country".
Sometime during the week we get Tweets that tell us it's possible Shane McMahon's disappearance involves foul play. On Raw the announcers take a time out shot to talk about the developing disappearance. As Cole does his serious face, the screen cracks and flickers with some dark shit. I mean dark satanic fucking shit, torture chamber, blood, screams, three huge dark silhouetted men with weapons standing looking over something, someone? The only words spoken are a deadly scary quiet... "You will ... rest.... in.... peace"....
Holy shit? Daniel Bryan is backstage at Raw with Kurt Angle, they looks scared as fuck. Daniel says he doesn't know what he's going to do. Kurt looks lost and confused.
Smackdown, the next night.
Daniel Bryan looks like he hasn't slept, he comes out open the show, absent of his cheer and Yes chants. He starts a promo about the crazy stuff that has happened in WWE, but to take a man away from his wife and kids... it's just too far. The lights go out. The bells chime. The smoke rises, blue lights everywhere. Bryan is alone in the ring, scared, ready to take on whatever comes at him. As we focus on Bryan's fearful bravery, three huge shadows appear on the ring apron Wyatt family style. As the slowly enclose upon Bryan, The Dead Man appears to be gliding down the aisle like a true phenom. We get the special dark lighting for the scene about to take place.
Taker made a deal, he beats Shane, Shane was supposed to go away. But that didn't happen, and he has to live with the fact that yet again a McMahon used his name to make their own. We see the flashes of The Ministries abduction and crucifixion of Stephanie McMahon.
The Undertaker claims that he will keep Shane McMahon's soul forever, now that his Ministry is back, they will take whatever they want, Championships, careers ... and Souls. As he speaks the lights appear to show the shrouded figures as. HARPER, ROWAN, and finally CORBIN. The announcers ponder what this all means? Does The Undertaker control Smackdown Live! if he controls Shane McMahon?
Over the next few shows we see how the Ministry of Darkness is stronger than ever, that Corbin is obviously the young gun and the Bludgeon Brothers the muscle. We see clips of Shane McMahon begging for help. Being tortured, being converted into a pawn for The Ministry.
WM is around the corner and something has to be done. Who can help save Shane McMahon and Smackdown?
JOHN FUCKING CENA BITCH. Daniel cuts a promo on Taker saying that he'd love to be the one to make him tap out at Wrestlemania but since he can't do it, he knows someone who would love to. Cena comes out and there we go, two to three weeks of build. Cena wins, takes back Shane, Taker has no emo ceremony like last year, more of a death like he did against Yoko at the Rumble in 94. After WM The Ministry continues now with Baron Corbin as the lead and perhaps recruiting some of those freaks from NXT, and they feud with Cena, AJ, Nakamaura etc... all summer. Building to a big showdown with Baron and Cena or Baron Cena AJ triple at Summerslam.
#1-norm-fan
02-13-2018, 05:09 PM
lol It has begun!
How long do we give this version of the roster split now before this scatterbrained mess of a company changes their mind again?
It's because Roman and Cena are on Raw. They need both guys to get the ratings and attendance the want. Nakamura is really good but not a huge star, AJ is a huge star but below the level of Roman or Cena... classic WWE fucking Smackdown over. They just can't ever put the big angle on Smackdown.
Like Taker and Cena should be a Smackdown story now, but we know its on Raw.
How about this.
.
.
.
.
.
........
Smackdown Live (sometime soon). We get the show on the air and it is mentioned that Shane McMahon isn't here tonight but D Bryan is. That's it.
Next week, we start the show talking about the disappearance of Shane McMahon. It's sold real as fuck, like maybe he just got fed up with his Dad and Triple H and maybe even "left the country".
Sometime during the week we get Tweets that tell us it's possible Shane McMahon's disappearance involves foul play. On Raw the announcers take a time out shot to talk about the developing disappearance. As Cole does his serious face, the screen cracks and flickers with some dark shit. I mean dark satanic fucking shit, torture chamber, blood, screams, three huge dark silhouetted men with weapons standing looking over something, someone? The only words spoken are a deadly scary quiet... "You will ... rest.... in.... peace"....
Holy shit? Daniel Bryan is backstage at Raw with Kurt Angle, they looks scared as fuck. Daniel says he doesn't know what he's going to do. Kurt looks lost and confused.
Smackdown, the next night.
Daniel Bryan looks like he hasn't slept, he comes out open the show, absent of his cheer and Yes chants. He starts a promo about the crazy stuff that has happened in WWE, but to take a man away from his wife and kids... it's just too far. The lights go out. The bells chime. The smoke rises, blue lights everywhere. Bryan is alone in the ring, scared, ready to take on whatever comes at him. As we focus on Bryan's fearful bravery, three huge shadows appear on the ring apron Wyatt family style. As the slowly enclose upon Bryan, The Dead Man appears to be gliding down the aisle like a true phenom. We get the special dark lighting for the scene about to take place.
Taker made a deal, he beats Shane, Shane was supposed to go away. But that didn't happen, and he has to live with the fact that yet again a McMahon used his name to make their own. We see the flashes of The Ministries abduction and crucifixion of Stephanie McMahon.
The Undertaker claims that he will keep Shane McMahon's soul forever, now that his Ministry is back, they will take whatever they want, Championships, careers ... and Souls. As he speaks the lights appear to show the shrouded figures as. HARPER, ROWAN, and finally CORBIN. The announcers ponder what this all means? Does The Undertaker control Smackdown Live! if he controls Shane McMahon?
Over the next few shows we see how the Ministry of Darkness is stronger than ever, that Corbin is obviously the young gun and the Bludgeon Brothers the muscle. We see clips of Shane McMahon begging for help. Being tortured, being converted into a pawn for The Ministry.
WM is around the corner and something has to be done. Who can help save Shane McMahon and Smackdown?
JOHN FUCKING CENA BITCH. Daniel cuts a promo on Taker saying that he'd love to be the one to make him tap out at Wrestlemania but since he can't do it, he knows someone who would love to. Cena comes out and there we go, two to three weeks of build. Cena wins, takes back Shane, Taker has no emo ceremony like last year, more of a death like he did against Yoko at the Rumble in 94. After WM The Ministry continues now with Baron Corbin as the lead and perhaps recruiting some of those freaks from NXT, and they feud with Cena, AJ, Nakamaura etc... all summer. Building to a big showdown with Baron and Cena or Baron Cena AJ triple at Summerslam.
Holy shit at this post. Write a book, why don't you?
Emperor Smeat
02-13-2018, 05:12 PM
Historically though while the PPV draws go up duel brand ppv lower the draw on the SDL house shows...so like before the next move will be to end the split to save those numbers as well.
Yeah them ending the brand split is going to be the next logical step. I'd wager it happening once the new tv contract takes effect especially if they go to a new home.
#1-norm-fan
02-13-2018, 05:14 PM
Then the next logical step after that is "shaking things up" with another brand split a few years later.
#1-norm-fan
02-13-2018, 05:17 PM
Hopefully that's true. Seperate PPVs are dumb.
The brand split is dumb. BUT if they're gonna have a brand split, they should at least keep them as separated as possible.
Mr. Nerfect
02-13-2018, 06:14 PM
Haha, well, the split-roster PPVs weren't working. Even when I had the Network I wasn't watching them. The very same things that happened with the last split are happening again now, only quicker. I imagine that we'll have a unified roster again soon. Everything will be better off that way.
#1-norm-fan
02-13-2018, 06:48 PM
And the title lineage/prestige will be a bit more of a clusterfuck after it all.
Mr. Nerfect
02-13-2018, 06:52 PM
Haha, WWE created two Women's Titles within a year of each other.
If they stopped doing multi-man Main Events the undercards wouldn’t be so lacklustre. Of course, that would mean writing angles for, well anyone.
What is the Fastlane undercard going to look like with AJ, Sami, Owens, Corbin, and Ziggler in one match and Roode, Orton, and Mahal likely in another?
Evil Vito
02-14-2018, 03:15 PM
Haha, WWE created two Women's Titles within a year of each other.
To be fair, the first one was created so that they could retire the Divas Championship and the years of stink associated with the Divas "brand", so I understood it.
But yeah, having a women's title on each show when there are only like 6 people in the division per show is pretty dumb.
Big Vic
02-14-2018, 03:58 PM
Womens wrestling should replace 205 Live.
Mr. Nerfect
02-14-2018, 10:50 PM
Probably a wise decision, so then they can hide the low numbers from people.
Emperor Smeat
02-15-2018, 04:20 AM
According to the Observer, WWE is seriously considering the idea of expanding the amount of hours for all PPVs.
While again not official, within WWE the belief was that, because of having to fit the top stars of both brands, that the former B shows will be increased an hour with two match pre-shows and four hour PPV shows. They will have both shows specifically pushing the same PPV every month and all the top stars would be on it. The negative is a lot of the middle and lower card acts won’t be on PPV as much, if at all. And if they’re not on the PPV, they’ll be focused on less on television ...
It also makes having separate champions in each brand feeling even sillier since the key title bouts will be on shows with the other brand’s title also defended. You’ll have two women’s title matches and two tag title matches on most shows, along with two world title and two secondary singles titles and a cruiserweight title (which is likely to almost never be on the main PPV shows). There will be title matches relegated to the pre-show, hurting their significance. There will be less place for non-championship matches, and to get the top stars on the show, likely more multiple-person matches. Also, there will likely be more matches on the shows meaning less time or more rushed matches. So there’s good with the bad. The biggest complaint on WWE PPV shows has been the length of the big shows, and now every show will be five hours long.
Evil Vito
02-15-2018, 07:18 AM
christ
Ruien
02-15-2018, 08:05 AM
They need too. Smackdown is terrible. Who is paying to see anything that is Smackdown exclusive?
According to the Observer, WWE is seriously considering the idea of expanding the amount of hours for all PPVs.
Please NO at every ppv being 5 hours...I don't even want WM 5 hours long.
The live crowd will be dead by the end of the show since I presume that doesn't include the pre-show.
Lock Jaw
02-15-2018, 11:41 AM
Keep the PPVs separate unless they unify the brands and the titles. Which I don't want them to do.
Big Vic
02-15-2018, 12:31 PM
They need too. Smackdown is terrible. Who is paying to see anything that is Smackdown exclusive?
There's only one thing I would pay to see on Raw and that is Lesnar.
Emperor Smeat
02-15-2018, 04:22 PM
Also according to the Observer, WWE is seriously considering the idea for non-title matches on future PPVs to be mostly multi-man matches in order to ensure all their big stars are always on PPVs. Going to be another big hit to the undercard if it does happen.
Mr. Nerfect
02-17-2018, 02:39 AM
If you don't want them to be that long, stop watching.
Based on the title of this thread I am going to need to know if Mania is a raw or smackdown show
Shisen Kopf
02-17-2018, 08:16 AM
It's a 205 Live show ONLY
Droford
02-17-2018, 01:07 PM
So if all of are now 4..is Mania 5
Lock Jaw
02-17-2018, 01:13 PM
5 hours plus a 4 hour pre-show and a 2 hour post-show
It's official, here's the PPV schedule thru 2018:
https://www.wwe.com/article/wwe-2018-pay-per-view-schedule
After WrestleMania, you’ll get the best of both brands – Raw and SmackDown LIVE – every month, on every pay-per-view. Catch every event streaming live on the award-winning WWE Network.
WWE Backlash - May 6, 2018
WWE Money in the Bank - June 17, 2018
WWE Extreme Rules - July 15, 2018
SummerSlam - Aug. 19, 2018
WWE Hell in a Cell - Sept. 16, 2018
WWE TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs - Oct. 21, 2018
Survivor Series - Nov. 18, 2018
WWE Clash of Champions - Dec. 16, 2018
HIAC in September, Clash moved to December and TLC now in October.
Lock Jaw
02-17-2018, 02:22 PM
That sucks.....
#1-norm-fan
02-17-2018, 05:26 PM
The first brand split happened almost 16 years ago. How the fuck are they still trying to figure shit out?
Lock Jaw
02-17-2018, 05:57 PM
They can't all be as intelligent as you
Droford
02-17-2018, 06:04 PM
TLC in October
Tables..ladders Chairs...and scares
Droford
02-17-2018, 06:05 PM
They should go overboard and have Takeovers every month too
Outsider
02-17-2018, 06:12 PM
RIP Great Balls of Fire :(
#1-norm-fan
02-17-2018, 07:50 PM
They can't all be as intelligent as you
Should I lower my standards? Is it unrealistic to expect a professional company not to have an idea, see it through for 16 years and then still have no idea what they're doing?
#1-norm-fan
02-17-2018, 07:57 PM
Even if they tweaked everything for the first year and then figured out "This is what we want a roster split to look like" and it still sucked, it would at least be respectable that they knew what they were doing and had some order to how they executed things. As it stands, this company is a fucking undeniable clusterfuck creatively.
Emperor Smeat
02-17-2018, 08:46 PM
On paper, the best part of this is getting rid of the situation where they'd hold PPVs within 2 weeks of each other because they crammed too many in a year.
The writers supposedly loved it because it reduced their workloads since they only had to write a week or two worth of stuff instead of 4+ weeks and less time for Vince to mess with plans.
Mr. Nerfect
02-19-2018, 01:27 AM
It's almost as if this company doesn't learn from its past mistakes. Still, I am confident the XFL will be successful this time around.
mike adamle
02-19-2018, 06:01 PM
It's already more successful than anything you've ever done with your life.
Mr. Nerfect
02-20-2018, 09:01 PM
mike always with the wit as sharp as a knife. A knife used by preschoolers to slice dough, since they won't trust him with anything higher grade, but it's a knife nonetheless. Don't let anyone tell you any different, mike. You may be a piece of shit to society, but I believe that you can make it.
Emperor Smeat
02-22-2018, 09:22 PM
Seems WWE's plan is going to be even worse for non-top stars than previously speculated. Besides losing out on PPV time and likely TV time, they are likely also going to take a huge cut in pay due to lack of appearances and more people on shows means a smaller percentage from the PPV pool of money.
From a money standpoint, for the top talent, the difference in cutting PPVs probably won’t be significant. It could be down, since in the network era, the pay is determined based on what the shows each month did in the pre-network era, and then allocated in a secret and non-existent formula among the talent on the shows. If there is more talent on the shows in the main event position, then the money in theory would decrease. It wouldn’t decrease from the top guys, as the company traditionally always takes care of its top talent. For non-top guys, if there are more people on the show, it would cut down on their money. For mid-level guys who would have been on PPVs eight to ten times a year, and now may not be on PPV at all, or if they are, on fewer shows, the difference will be more significant.
mike adamle
02-22-2018, 09:35 PM
They desperately need to trim some fat anyways, they have way too many people on their roster right now.
Mr. Nerfect
02-23-2018, 03:31 AM
That's the smartest thing adamle has ever said.
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