Re-forming ECW = Re-uniting WWE?

[Somebody's Gotta Die]

In my opinion, if ECW is reformed, I believe the WWE roster should be reunited... WWE can still film both RAW and SmackDown! with matches on HEAT and Velocity online for lower-tier talent... It will be slightly more difficult to showcase a lot of people at once in major angles, but ratings will surely pick up and new feud possibilities will be endless...

First of all, there's the ECW roster:

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

ECW Roster:

** I think Chris Benoit should join the new ECW if things don't pick up with his current WWE run...
** I also think Chris Jericho should join the new ECW and come out of inactivity because he could help carry the company...
** New talent such as Teddy Hart, Eric Perez, Sonny Siaki, Mikey Batts, Ray Gordy, Team Elite and High Impact could join either ECW or WWE...

Main Event Face:
Rob Van Dam
Sabu
Sandman
Tommy Dreamer
Masato Tanaka

Main Event Heel:
Edge
CM Punk
CW Anderson
Justin Credible
Lance Storm

Tag-Division:
Impact Players
Axl Rotten & Balls Mahoney
Roadkill & Danny Doring
Guido & Tony Mamaluke
Nova & Stevie Richards
Tajiri & Mikey Whipwreck
Super Crazy & Psicosis

Midcard Division:
Al Snow
Kid Kash
Johnny Swinger
Big Vito
Super Crazy (team with Psicosis)
Little Guido (team with Mamaluke)
Tajiri (team with Whipwreck)
Mikey Whipwreck (team with Tajiri)
Balls Mahoney (team with Rotten)
Nova (team with Richards)

Divas:
Jazz
Francine
Dawn Marie
Lita

Occasional Appearance:
Eliminators
Cactus Jack
Terry Funk
Mike Awesome
Bam Bam Bigelow
& others...

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

It's a solid roster that is sure to go over well... If they can get two 1-hour timeslots weekly, they would be set... Even if one of them is online-only...

Keep the announcing team Joey Styles & Taz or perhaps even something involving Paul Heyman, Joel Gertner or Cyrus... I personally enjoyed many of the ECW commentators...

All former referees and the ring announcer have all been contacted by WWE for a return...

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

As for the new WWE roster,

WWE Roster:

** I anticipate a return for Test, Mark Jindrak and Chuck Palumbo, as well as debuts for the likes of Harry Smith

Main Event Face:
Triple H
Shawn Michaels
The UnderTaker
Kurt Angle
Batista
Rey Mysterio Jr.

Main Event Heel:
John Cena
Randy Orton
JBL
Kane
Shelton Benjamin
Chris Benoit - needs to turn heel or go to the new ECW

Midcard Face:
Lashley
Carlito
Gunner Scott
Paul Birchill
Charlie Haas
Chavo Guerrero
Matt Hardy
Val Venis

Midcard Heel:
Booker T
Mark Henry
Mr. Kennedy
Finlay
Chris Masters
William Regal
Umaga
Matt Striker

Tag-Division:
MNM
Spirit Squad
Gymini
Murdoch/Cade
Goldust/Snitsky
Kendrick/London
+ possibly Bashams or Lords of the Ring if WWE gets their head straight
+ new teams such as High Impact and Team Elite from DSW

Cruiserweight Division:
Gregory Helms
Jamie Noble
Jimmy Yang
Shannon Moore
Miz
Funaki
Brian Kendrick
Paul London
Daivari - manager/cruiserweight
Armando Alejandro Estrada - manager/cruiserweight

Women's Division:
Trish Stratus
Mickie James
Beth Phoenix
Victoria
Torrie Wilson
Candice
Jillian
Ashley
Melina
Sharmell (manager)
Kristal (interview)

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

It's a solid roster with lots of excellent talent... Emphasize some of the future talent, however, such as Bobby Lashley, Carlito, Shelton Benjamin, Mr. Kennedy, Randy Orton, John Cena, etc.

WWE should keep the RAW announce team: JR & King...
While the SmackDown! team becomes: Cole & Joey Matthews...
The Velocity and HEAT teams are not really relevant...

Although I'm almost certain they'll go with Cole & Coach if this type of scenario were to go down, I think Matthews deserves the position...

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

RELEASE:

Viscera
Sylvan
Orlando Jordan
Scotty 2 Hotty
Boogeyman
Great Khali (keep him around as a bodyguard novelty or something, nothing else)
Rene Dupree (I actually like him, but if they can't get anything for him, no point of keeping him under contract)
Tatanka (or keep occasional appearance only)
Animal (sign to a legend deal, keep occasional appearance only, new gimmick is awful)
Rob Conway (unless you reform the Lords of the Ring)
Eugene (see Conway)
Basham Brothers (if they are wasting away off screen, although they are talented, you might as well release them
Maria (big mistakes on live TV is not the way to go about things)
Stacy Kiebler (pretty sure she already got released anyways)

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

There you have it, a new and improved structure within WWE that is sure to change the direction of wrestling in the long run... I'm sure everyone would be excited to see some of these changes take place...

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

[McLegend]

I say if you gonna end Brand extension(which they won't) then just have Raw and end SD, because I don't feel like watching the same wrestlers wrester two in one week.

I would rather just have Raw and then ECW. No SD.

[Steve The Pirate]

Very well rounded rosters there.

[TerranRich]

VINCE WILL NEVER REUNITE THE ROSTERS!!!! For fuck's sake, we've been through this, people!

[Steve The Pirate]

VINCE WILL NEVER REUNITE THE ROSTERS!!!! For fuck's sake, we've been through this, people!
Yes and? Yer point bein? We don't know a that fer sure (shore) anyway. Also the thread is merely about an idea. By my readin it does ne say "Are t'rosters bein reformed?".

[The King of Marks]

Vince won't reunite the roster. I don't even know why internet fans want him to do it anyway. You guys bitch that 90% of the roster is being underutilized. If it's reunited, that just means that less people are going to be used. That means MORE Cena, MORE HHH, and less (insert beloved midcarder/cruiser).

Damn it, stop trying to make wrestling like it was 5-10 years ago. Those days are done, and quite frankly, they weren't as good as you remember.

[Lord-Of-Darkness]

Those days are done, and quite frankly, they weren't as good as you remember.

Yes, videos and DVDs do have a tendancy to lie

[crash99]

Vince won't reunite the roster. I don't even know why internet fans want him to do it anyway. You guys bitch that 90% of the roster is being underutilized. If it's reunited, that just means that less people are going to be used. That means MORE Cena, MORE HHH, and less (insert beloved midcarder/cruiser).




I agree with this statement. Although, Smackdown is often overlooked and treated as second fiddle to Raw, and the rosters seem unbalanced, I feel it is the best way to get the most out of all your talent. If their was one show it would be the same guys for four hours every week, which pretty much means all the main eventers from both shows now, would occupy most of the tv time, if the rosters were rejoined, which would result in a lot of the midcarders being left off tv, and possibly without jobs.

The brand extention, while not perfect, and never will be as generated some pushed for people who might never have been pushed as high as they were. For example, although, Mysterio is an unpopular champion he would never have gotton a shot with the title if it was one show. One could argue the same could be said for Benoit, JBL, and Guerrero.

[St. Jimmy]

There's a Typo in the first post, you Accidentally left Rey-Rey out of the MidcardHellFace Roster.

[Vermaat]

Reuniting the roster will NOT BE A SMART MOVE.

The roster is overloaded with talent, they won't be able to get on T.V. There's only so much time, it is limited. The roster split was brilliant.

[The King of Marks]

Yes, videos and DVDs do have a tendancy to lie

It's because you're looking at them with nostalgia (sp?). I watch old nickelodeon shows all the time and enjoy the shit out of them. But a lot of the enjoyment is simply remembering what it was like to come home from school and watch Salute Your Shorts while ignoring your homework. Same goes with wrestling DVD's. Not only am I enjoying Bret Hart versus Shawn Michaels, but I'm also enjoying the memory of me marking out the first time I saw it. If I didn't have the memory, I might still enjoy the match, but not at the same level that I do now.

[Jaton]

You guys say it's not a good idea, and perhaps to us smarks it's not. But then again, every single mark I've ever talked to about it _hates_ the brand split. It would probably be a better idea to bring in ratings. But hey, what do I know?

[crash99]

Keep the rosters separate, it'll be better in the long run.

[Xero]

Does anyone realize that there would still be two brands and thus two rosters?

[The Naitch]

very nice, Somebody is gonna die :y:

[Londoner]

If Vince is going to reunite them, this will be the time to do it.Notice how the draft is usually done with by now?And the fact that ECW is starting up again just makes me think this will happen even more.They can't keep switching the same wrestlers from roster to roster each year, eventually the draft will run out of wrestlers to draft.

[Londoner]

Keep the rosters separate, it'll be better in the long run.


Oh yeah because splitting the company in two is obviously good for long-term business....

[Kane Knight]

VINCE WILL NEVER REUNITE THE ROSTERS!!!! For fuck's sake, we've been through this, people!

Vince won't reunite the roster. I don't even know why internet fans want him to do it anyway. You guys bitch that 90% of the roster is being underutilized. If it's reunited, that just means that less people are going to be used. That means MORE Cena, MORE HHH, and less (insert beloved midcarder/cruiser).

Damn it, stop trying to make wrestling like it was 5-10 years ago. Those days are done, and quite frankly, they weren't as good as you remember.

Okay, now, children, sit down and shut the fuck up.

Vince is what we smarks like to call a businessman. That is to say, he runs a business, and has run it for many years. He may do things that we smarks find stupid (As opposed to the rest of the world, who think WWE films and the XFL were brilliant), but he always cuts his losses.

WWE itself has been cutting back for years, so as to ensure they stay in the black and nobody in the executive zone actually has to take a pay cut. This has meant firing people, cutting back on venues and touring, this means tapping into other markets (Hence touring overseas much more often), etc.

The cutbacks we are experiencing are much akin to tossing cargo out of a plane that's losing altitude. With established talent being stretched thinner and the WWE's philosophy of "paying dues," there may well be a time when they have to, regardless of what you think Vince wants, end the roster split.

So comments such as "VINCE WILL NEVER REUNITE THE ROSTERS!!!!" are borderline stupid, because it's basic thugan...Economics. Further, King, your statements that the beloved midcarders won't get used as much is moot, as they really aren't getting significantly more time now than they were before the split. There's a resurgence of the cruisers, but that'll be gone soon enough. The midcard titles are a joke, the tag team titles are a joke with no division behind them (Primarily Raw, but also Smackdown). And I think that's why the smarks want it to end, because it really did fail to establish a positive change.

Me, I don't want the roster split to end (Especially if it means more time for shite gimmicks like Boogeyman or the Spirit Squad on my TV), but to say it won't happen because Vince doesn't get it, or that it'll never happen period...

That's blind, bordering on stupid.

[Kane Knight]

Reuniting the roster will NOT BE A SMART MOVE.

The roster is overloaded with talent, they won't be able to get on T.V. There's only so much time, it is limited. The roster split was brilliant.

They're probably all lazy though.

[TerranRich]

How is it borderline stupid if, throughout the last 4 years, people have kept wishing for the rosters to be merged and have seen signs where none existed, and WWE proves them wrong time and time again? I really don't see how my comment was anywhere near stupid. Talk to me again in 4 more years and I'll tell you the same thing. Call it stupid then. :p

[Kane Knight]

That it hasn't happened in no way indicates it'll never happen.

That's like saying "the sun has never errupted in a firey expansion that engulfed the Earth before, so it never will."

That's not evidence, except that you have no real proof to justify your statement of "never."

[Destor]

The absence of evidence is not the evidence of absence.

[Kane Knight]

The absence of evidence is not the evidence of absence.

Duh?

Do you want a cookie now?

[Xero]

I do.

[Kane Knight]

I do.

I'll give you a cookie alright.

[Arnold HamNegger]

Well, if they do merge the brands again, why not just expand Raw to 3 hours? It's basically 2hrs. 10 minutes every Monday anyway. Just tighten up the writing and flow of the program and you should be able to get four solid matches per hour. Of course, it comes down to time management, (Which means, it'll never happen....but) that should be enough time for each of the divisions to flurish. I'd rather watch one solid 3 hour show a week than two trying to struggle to fill time. Would anyone really miss Smackdown if Raw was 3 hours? We're getting ECW back, so the amount of hours offered for wrestling programing per week would still be the same, but with a higher quality of product IMO.

[Kane Knight]

Besides contract obligations?

[Xero]

The WWE can hardly fill three hours of a PPV for three hours, what makes you think they can do it weekly and then up the PPVs' standard time as 4?

[Kane Knight]

Well, if they reunite the roster, the appearances of Triple H and the Undertaker will guarantee at least an hour of time.

Triple H getting through a promo: 20 minutes.
Triple H entering the Ring: 10 minutes.
30 seconds of wrestling: 30 seconds.
Undertaker getting through a promo: 10 minutes of watching the Titantron and a piped in promo.
Undertaker getting to the ring: 20 minutes.
30 seconds of wrestling: 30 Seconds.

See, that's a conservative estimate, but that's already 61 minutes. You give 3 minutes to the Cruisers (doubling their time), 3 minutes to the Tag teams (keeping about the same time), another 10 minutes to the rest of the undercard (10 times their current), 30 minutes to the mid-card, an hour to the Spirit Squad, another 30 minutes to the upper card...

See? I'm bleeding over 3 hours, and I barely had to change their format at all. :D

[Arnold HamNegger]

The WWE can hardly fill three hours of a PPV for three hours, what makes you think they can do it weekly and then up the PPVs' standard time as 4?

True, I see your point, but that's with a split roster and limited talent available for PPV's. With a full roster, why would it be so difficult to fill 45 additional minutes for Raw? I think they'd have an easier time doing that than filling two hours on 2 shows with the skeleton rosters they have now. With a full roster, I would think they'd have a hard time limiting it to only 3 hours. You'd have every single division on one show, seems to me 3 hours wouldn't be enough. It's actually kind of sad that this would be a question of credibility with WWE not being able to consistently provide 3 entertaining hours of wrestling..er..entertainment per week, but it's justified.

Besides contract obligations?

Yeah that would be a problem. My legal knowledge is...well, I don't have any so...I'm not even going to pretend I know what I'm talking about.

[Xero]

True, I see your point, but that's with a split roster and limited talent available for PPV's. With a full roster, why would it be so difficult to fill 45 additional minutes for Raw? I think they'd have an easier time doing that than filling two hours on 2 shows with the skeleton rosters they have now. With a full roster, I would think they'd have a hard time limiting it to only 3 hours. You'd have every single division on one show, seems to me 3 hours wouldn't be enough. It's actually kind of sad that this would be a question of credibility with WWE not being able to consistently provide 3 entertaining hours of wrestling..er..entertainment per week, but it's justified.
They can't fill their DUAL BRAND PPVs either. And when they DO have dual brand PPVs, RAW matches almost always overshadow the SmackDown! matches at least 1.5 to 1 (so for every two SmackDown! matches there is one extra RAW match) so it winds up being more of a RAW PPV anyway.

Another problem is the amount of main eventers. With ONE brand, you're going to have at least 4 main event caliber feuds going, taking 3+ wrestler feuds into account. That should take at least two hours worth of segments right there, counting jobber vs. main event matches, promos, backstage skits, etc.

That leaves less than an hour for the upper-mid cards. If their lucky they can get maybe three matches in plus a throw away match or two.

The way I see it is that the main event players that don't get canned or go to ECW would have to wind up filling up the upper-midcard, moving the wrestlers normally in that position to the less-than-give a shit talent.

My whole point is that unless Vince wants to stray away from Sports Entertainment, there's NO WAY he can book a proper three hour weekly wrestling show.

[Arnold HamNegger]

Another problem is the amount of main eventers. With ONE brand, you're going to have at least 4 main event caliber feuds going, taking 3+ wrestler feuds into account. That should take at least two hours worth of segments right there, counting jobber vs. main event matches, promos, backstage skits, etc.

That leaves less than an hour for the upper-mid cards. If their lucky they can get maybe three matches in plus a throw away match or two.

My whole point is that unless Vince wants to stray away from Sports Entertainment, there's NO WAY he can book a proper three hour weekly wrestling show.

Lucky for us I bought two crystal balls from Vermaat's mom. She promised me they would tell the future of every single WWE occurance in the next two years and that it would allow me to win every argument I ever encounter. The only other one in existence belongs to Vermaat..so I feel pretty fortunate.

I got a vision from Vermaat's Mom's balls that Vince will announce the rosters have been joined to one brand called "Smacked Raw." After that, all former division's will be terminated (daddy!). There will now only be one division in the WWE...a 5 man Tag division and the locker room will be split up into teams accordingly. Every match on Raw EVER will be the Spirit Squad vs. random team of 5.

The Diva's will be released due to political complications occuring in the lockerroom between wrestlers. In further developing WWE films, Vince will create his own production company with JBL in partnership with "Hineyboy Magazine." Their first film staring the Spirit Squad entitled "The Best of Backdoor Wrestling" will sweep the gay category at next year's AVN awards.

Not satisfied with his role as producer, Vince will then go on to play the starring role of his own gay film entitled, "The Product of My Semen." JBL will play the role of Shane McMahon and the film will bomb everywhere but Oklahoma. Not being one to quit, Vince releases a sequel entitled, "The Product of My Cena." Despite the support of fan-boys all over the world, this film also fails and bankrupts the company. Cena turns to a life of turning tricks in West Hollywood, JBL goes to TNA to initiate new talent and Vince becomes homeless & unemployed.

A motivated, upstart gentleman by the name of Eric Bischoff will then purchase WWE. Vince in a last ditch effort will beg and plead to Bischoff for a job as the GM, but he will inform Vince that he's already filled the position. In fact, Vince was exactly "3 Minutes" too late....




I think I'm gonna give Mrs. Vermaat her balls back and ask for a refund.:shifty:

[Arnold HamNegger]

If I can be serious for a minute....

One thing I forgot to ask, do you guys think Edge and Lita would be better in ECW as SGD's got them listed? I don't see WWE/Raw giving up (arguably) their best heel. Although, the thought of an RVD/Edge feud in ECW makes me :drool:

[Corkscrewed]

Vince won't reunited the rosters until he has to for economic reasons. That's what I firmly believe.

The roster split hasn't really created that many new stars, because rather than doubling the total airtime available, they've halved the amount of time side gets, effectively nullifying things.

Remember when RAW and SD used to have six or seven matches consistently? Now, it's often more like four. And don't get me started over the SD! a few months ago that had all of... TWO matches on a two hour show.

A roster split allows Vince to bury twice as many wrestlers as before. I mean, it's probably not completely intentional, but that's how it's worked out. The roster has increased, but you're still getting the same percentage of wrestlers stuck on the B-shows of each side as before.

A roster split done right IS a good thing because it DOES double exposure. The problem is that we have Nickelodeon writers on the staff as well as politicking Johnny Ace, so you can bet it will NOT be done right.

[the wwe champion]

In my opinion, if ECW is reformed, I believe the WWE roster should be reunited... WWE can still film both RAW and SmackDown! with matches on HEAT and Velocity online for lower-tier talent... It will be slightly more difficult to showcase a lot of people at once in major angles, but ratings will surely pick up and new feud possibilities will be endless...

First of all, there's the ECW roster:

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

ECW Roster:

** I think Chris Benoit should join the new ECW if things don't pick up with his current WWE run...
** I also think Chris Jericho should join the new ECW and come out of inactivity because he could help carry the company...
** New talent such as Teddy Hart, Eric Perez, Sonny Siaki, Mikey Batts, Ray Gordy, Team Elite and High Impact could join either ECW or WWE...

Main Event Face:
Rob Van Dam
Sabu
Sandman
Tommy Dreamer
Masato Tanaka

Main Event Heel:
Edge
CM Punk
CW Anderson
Justin Credible
Lance Storm

Tag-Division:
Impact Players
Axl Rotten & Balls Mahoney
Roadkill & Danny Doring
Guido & Tony Mamaluke
Nova & Stevie Richards
Tajiri & Mikey Whipwreck
Super Crazy & Psicosis

Midcard Division:
Al Snow
Kid Kash
Johnny Swinger
Big Vito
Super Crazy (team with Psicosis)
Little Guido (team with Mamaluke)
Tajiri (team with Whipwreck)
Mikey Whipwreck (team with Tajiri)
Balls Mahoney (team with Rotten)
Nova (team with Richards)

Divas:
Jazz
Francine
Dawn Marie
Lita

Occasional Appearance:
Eliminators
Cactus Jack
Terry Funk
Mike Awesome
Bam Bam Bigelow
& others...

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

It's a solid roster that is sure to go over well... If they can get two 1-hour timeslots weekly, they would be set... Even if one of them is online-only...

Keep the announcing team Joey Styles & Taz or perhaps even something involving Paul Heyman, Joel Gertner or Cyrus... I personally enjoyed many of the ECW commentators...

All former referees and the ring announcer have all been contacted by WWE for a return...

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

As for the new WWE roster,

WWE Roster:

** I anticipate a return for Test, Mark Jindrak and Chuck Palumbo, as well as debuts for the likes of Harry Smith

Main Event Face:
Triple H
Shawn Michaels
The UnderTaker
Kurt Angle
Batista
Rey Mysterio Jr.

Main Event Heel:
John Cena
Randy Orton
JBL
Kane
Shelton Benjamin
Chris Benoit - needs to turn heel or go to the new ECW

Midcard Face:
Lashley
Carlito
Gunner Scott
Paul Birchill
Charlie Haas
Chavo Guerrero
Matt Hardy
Val Venis

Midcard Heel:
Booker T
Mark Henry
Mr. Kennedy
Finlay
Chris Masters
William Regal
Umaga
Matt Striker

Tag-Division:
MNM
Spirit Squad
Gymini
Murdoch/Cade
Goldust/Snitsky
Kendrick/London
+ possibly Bashams or Lords of the Ring if WWE gets their head straight
+ new teams such as High Impact and Team Elite from DSW

Cruiserweight Division:
Gregory Helms
Jamie Noble
Jimmy Yang
Shannon Moore
Miz
Funaki
Brian Kendrick
Paul London
Daivari - manager/cruiserweight
Armando Alejandro Estrada - manager/cruiserweight

Women's Division:
Trish Stratus
Mickie James
Beth Phoenix
Victoria
Torrie Wilson
Candice
Jillian
Ashley
Melina
Sharmell (manager)
Kristal (interview)

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

It's a solid roster with lots of excellent talent... Emphasize some of the future talent, however, such as Bobby Lashley, Carlito, Shelton Benjamin, Mr. Kennedy, Randy Orton, John Cena, etc.

WWE should keep the RAW announce team: JR & King...
While the SmackDown! team becomes: Cole & Joey Matthews...
The Velocity and HEAT teams are not really relevant...

Although I'm almost certain they'll go with Cole & Coach if this type of scenario were to go down, I think Matthews deserves the position...

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

RELEASE:

Viscera
Sylvan
Orlando Jordan
Scotty 2 Hotty
Boogeyman
Great Khali (keep him around as a bodyguard novelty or something, nothing else)
Rene Dupree (I actually like him, but if they can't get anything for him, no point of keeping him under contract)
Tatanka (or keep occasional appearance only)
Animal (sign to a legend deal, keep occasional appearance only, new gimmick is awful)
Rob Conway (unless you reform the Lords of the Ring)
Eugene (see Conway)
Basham Brothers (if they are wasting away off screen, although they are talented, you might as well release them
Maria (big mistakes on live TV is not the way to go about things)
Stacy Kiebler (pretty sure she already got released anyways)

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

There you have it, a new and improved structure within WWE that is sure to change the direction of wrestling in the long run... I'm sure everyone would be excited to see some of these changes take place...

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

Can't resist appreciating your hard work and enthusiasm.
I wished Rhino could be back on the ECW roster after all he was the final ECW Heavyweight Champion. ( even the T.V.Champ)

[D Mac]

FINLAY

Remember the name...

[Skippord]

Maria (big mistakes on live TV is not the way to go about things)

Thats her gimmick broski

[St. Jimmy]

If I can be serious for a minute....

One thing I forgot to ask, do you guys think Edge and Lita would be better in ECW as SGD's got them listed? I don't see WWE/Raw giving up (arguably) their best heel. Although, the thought of an RVD/Edge feud in ECW makes me :drool:

Funny, you mentioned best Heel, and didn't use Triple H in your statement... that must be a typo.

Edge would be better used in ECW. He would be a legit contender in ECW.
Lita... Needs to be Nowhere near Edge.