What I'd Like It To Be (Raw/SmackDown!/ECW)

[Kalyx triaD]

I'm not gonna come on here and moan about how wrestling sux now, but there is something that's been bothering me since WWECW came about:

No individuality. At all.

An ECW Extreme Rulez Match is a No DQ Match. Big f'n deal. Raw and SmackDown! are virtually interchangeble aside from different faces and sets. When people say they should merge rosters like days of old, they're right. But here's some ideas on how having 'different' brands would make more since and promote... A sense of identity.

Raw:
-Stress more serious matches, with less gimmicky wrestlers overall. Basically a more serious show where stakes are high but not hyperbole.
-Create a sense of strict government where 'GMs' and 'Executive Assistants' primarily creat matches and stips and the wrestlers seem powerless against them.
-Add a second reff on the outside.
-Silly finishes like holding the tights, using the ropes to pin, and DQ endings should be abolished from Raw. When they do happen the reffs should review the 'Challenges' called by the loser and CONTINUE MATCHES if the desicion is overturned. This will give Raw a more sport feel, like Judgment Day 2000's Rock/HHH Ironman Match.

SmackDown!:
-Extended Count-Out, to like 20. This is something me and buds did with WCW/NWO Revenge when we played with the High Flyers to encourage... high flying.
-More emphasis on gimmick matches, with more emphasis on 'cartoon' wrestlers as well. This will give the show the fmaily programming feel Micheal Cole swears Smackdown is all about.
-Stipulations and matches must appear governed by the wrestlers (and fans) to give a more democratic feel to the show. Something like, but not as elaborate as, Taboo Tuesday.

ECW:
-Every match should be an 'Extreme Rulez' match. This doesn't mean every match will be a garbage match or a spot-fest, but knowing anything could happen and not just for some cheap finish (looking at Raw) is what I liked back with classic ECW.
-The ballroom, every week.
-ECW TV and Tag titles.
-30 more minutes, just 30 more.

[M-A-G]

It's still all WWE. That's why they're so damn similar.

[Blitz]

Good ideas.

[The One]

Die Blitz.

Oh and those seemed all reasonable, though I don't quite understand what good a differant feel would be in WWE. It's shit. Shit is shit. I don't think anyone ever stepped in dog shit and then said "You know if one of my feet was in this dog shit and the other was in horse shit I would enjoy this whole shitting experiance more."

[addy2hotty]

What I'd like to see in the WWE?

More than 3 credible heels across 3 shows please.

[Jeritron]

Great ideas, but things will stay consistent throughout just because of Vinces opinions on whats good. Supposedly they're trying to differentiate the brands by having Raw be edgy and attitude-ish, and Smackdown be like the old federation with cartoony characters. Personally I think they should just focus on making the shows work on their own and worry about identity later.
Instead of trying to return one show to attitude and the other to the golden age, they should focus on bringing it into a new era.

As for ECW, they should either make it ECW or nothing.

I like the GM thing but I think it'd be nice to see less interaction between brands wrestlers and more interaction between GMs. Instead of crossing over talent and cheapening the draw of an interpromotion fued, they should stick to references of GMs trying to one up eachother (ala Bischoff/Steph).

[Destor]

Save the count out rule I would switch RAW and SD! since RAW already focus on gimmicks and story and SD! already focuses on matches. But other than that :y:.

[Anybody Thrilla]

Have you heard of The Boogeyman, Destor?

[.44 Magdalene]

Kane and the Undertaker also are both on Smackdown now.

[Destor]

Have you heard of The Boogeyman, Destor?I never claimed they didn't have gimmick wrestlers. I said that they weren't the focus of the show.

SD!s current main angle: A time challenge for no.1 contendership.

RAWs current main angle: White boy rapper feuds with Samoan freak/ white boy rapper feuds with white boy douche bag.

[Anybody Thrilla]

White boy rappers are white boy douche bags are as real as it gets.

[.44 Magdalene]

I'd also like to throw King BOOKAAAH and his royal court into this one, since he WAS the main event up until very recently.

[Kalyx triaD]

Oh yeah, they do have to stop swapping wrestlers every two months. It really does kill the cross-promo thing.

[addy2hotty]

RAWs current main angle: White boy rapper feuds with Samoan freak/ white boy rapper feuds with white boy douche bag.

JR says he's not a white rapper anymore.

So that means one of two things.

1/ He's dropped the gimmick and is now a Kevin Federline's clone.

or 2/ He's now officially black.

Bonus no.3 choice/ They fired the guy that wrote his raps and replaced him with the guy who wrote Mr Crabs' lines.

[Mr. Nerfect]

I get what Destor's saying. Even if the wrestlers do take their gimmicks to the rim, they at least have a sense of reality about them. King Booker isn't a real King, Kane is actually working matches on SmackDown!, The Boogeyman used to be an actor who played a character, he's shit now, though. The Undertaker kind of pisses me off, but so does everyone on RAW, so I can accept it.

The wrestling is the true focus of SmackDown!.

I'd like to see the brands channel different styles. ECW should channel...*gasp* ECW. Take the limits OFF. Of course, you have less and less guys who can do that in ECW as the days pass, but I'm talking more about wrestlers writing their own promos, Joey Styles speaking as only he can, etc. It wouldn't be too hard to have ECW get the vibe going that it once had.

SmackDown! could model itself after Ring of Honor. The guys do what they can do, but rather than being "EXTREME!" like ECW, they are more "PURE!". In some ways, a character like CM Punk would fit better on SmackDown! than ECW. Get rid of politics on SmackDown!. What better way to kill its heat and make people remember it is the "B-show" than have cruiserweights actually get pushes, Matt Hardy actually do something, etc. Emphasis on wrestling.

RAW could be the classic WWE product. Sports entertainment. What better way to make it the premier brand of sports entertainment than have it become the only brand to advertise itself as such? Move The Boogeyman and The Undertaker over from RAW, maybe even Kane and Batista. It would give RAW constant star-power. Trade it off by sending Jeff Hardy, Johnny Nitro, Shelton Benjamin and Charlie Haas to SmackDown!, or ECW.

Hell, with ECW and SmackDown! traveling together, why not break down the brand restrictions? Have guys appear on ECW AND SmackDown!. Hell, give them different gimmicks. Let James Yun play Jimmy Wang Yang on SmackDown!, and Akio in ECW. Have Jamie Noble compete in ECW, but James Gibson compete on SmackDown!. Little Guido in ECW, James Maritato/Nunzio on SmackDown. Rob Conway as "The Iron Man" in ECW, French sympathizer on SmackDown!, etc. You get the picture.

I think the best way to give the brands identities, in the end, is highlight that wrestlers on them have different identites. With the brands being completely separated, they feel more like they're WWE. If wrestlers were allowed to overlap, and have different characters, kind of in a territory sense, I think it would create more differences.

[.44 Magdalene]

I can understand where you're saying Smackdown has better wrestling and more integral-to-the-plot matches, but to say that RAW is more gimmick heavy is ... I don't know. I don't want to say wrong, but...

Not all that many people on RAW even have definable gimmicks, and those that do have closer-to-realistic type gimmicks. Edge? Not much of a gimmick, just a nickname and an attitude. Cena? Not really much of a gimmick anymore, just likes to wear camo and steal military slogans (like alot of people I know). Kenny dropped his gimmick to get a push. Carlito almost has a gimmick, but not really much comes of it. About the only real gimmicks running around the main event/upper midcard are Umaga and I guess Johnny Nitro, though I could be missing something here. Unless you want to count the jobbers (the Highlanders, Cryme Time, etc)...but they're not really influencing the show, I don't think. Not anymore.

The Undertaker is a walking deadman. Yeah, he uses an MMA influenced striking style, but he still fucks with the lights and teleports around the arena. Kane's getting closer to being less gimmicky, but they seem to be getting back to his roots as some sort of pyromaniac, Jason Vorhees-esque psychopath. While the Boogeyman may be an actor who used to play a character, that's not how they act about him. They treat him like he's HOLY SHIT SCARY AND EATING WORMS NOW. It's a pretty blatant gimmick. Booker T's not really a king, but he's still wearing a robe and crown and forcing a British accent: not realistic. Fit Finlay is Irish and he loves to fight and drink and has a leprechaun. Gimmick based on stereotype. Jimmy Wang Yang? Gimmick.

I'm not saying every Smackdown guy has a gimmick--Shane Helms, Benoit, Batista and the rest are all pretty devoid of gimmicks. When it comes down to it, though, Smackdown has more, bigger and campier gimmicks than RAW, and is more devoted to wrestling pushing the storyline. You can act like it doesn't all you want, but RAW's goofiest shit is like--what--Umaga, who's easily canceled out by Kane or 'Taker, and Nitro, who's easily on par with MVP (as it's a celebrity-ish real life basis gimmick). Again, unless we roll down RAW's Jobber Team division, RAW's not really that gimmick-heavy.

So Smackdown has bigger, better gimmicks AND better wrestling. MY OPINION OF SHOWS BECOMES ALL THE MORE BLATAAAAANT

[tucsonspeed6]

Go back to their roots:

Smackdown was influenced by Nitro with better and more emphasis on the matches.

Raw remained very heavily influenced by the storyline.

Return ECW to its roots as well.

[Kalyx triaD]

Everyone agrees ECW should hit the old roots. Sad thing is, it's damn easy to do. Using the ballroom every week would save money like mad, as well as present the BEST crowd ECW has. Hell, I'm betting Vince could buy the damn place.