I haven't gone through the whole thread, but I am cautiously optimistic about this. A brand split has been ideal for a long time, but the problem is in how the WWE would handle it. If both shows feel identical, what is going to be the point? I hope they allow Triple H and a team led by Ryan Ward head SmackDown. I also hope RAW drops back down to two hours.

SmackDown going live is a big change in and of itself. This will increase the cost of the show, and while it probably increases what the show makes from USA Network, it's probably going to have a lot more worth in Vince's eyes. Enough worth to warrant him keeping his hands of it? Who knows?

This will help the ratings for SmackDown. I love Mauro Ranallo's commentary, but I've only listened to it twice since the start of the year, and once was because I wanted to hear it specifically. SmackDown has not felt important for a long time. Going live and being the exclusive home of some WWE talent you really want to see is going to drive up that percentage of the hardcore audience. Cesaro would be a good choice to send to SmackDown. And if they send Becky Lynch there, I must be done with RAW altogether.

This will also help talent. There are a lot of guys in similar situations. They're building Rusev up as a monster on a tear. Fans want to see Samoa Joe called up. What's he going to do with "monster on a tear" gone? Now he can be the monster on a tear on the other show. It's inevitable Bayley gets called up at some point. Where does that leave Becky Lynch -- the "other" plucky babyface in the Women's Division? She can be the plucky babyface on the other show.

Guys are overexposed these days -- you see them talk too much, work too much and lose too much. Now you can reduce that exposure by about 50%. You can also keep worn-out programs away from each other to rejuvenate. I don't ever need to see Orton vs. Sheamus again, but now you can make sure it doesn't happen by having them on separate shows.

There are a lot of talent "on the cusp." Kevin Owens is apparently ready for the main event, Sami Zayn is apparently ready for the main event, AJ Styles is apparently ready for the main event, Dean Ambrose is apparently ready for the main event, Bray Wyatt is apparently ready for the main event. "All the WWE needs to do is push them." Well, now, you can ideally push twice as many guys, as there will be parallel spots for guys on the roster.

That being said, they need to put effort into this, or else they will just feel like two watered down WWE shows.

If they do away with NXT, they are really dumb. Smackdown! initially will feel a bit TNA-ish with all the former TNA talent most likely to be featured on that show along with current top-tier NXT talent.

That is fine by me, but NXT needs to remain as it is and continue to establish new stars. NXT is also far and away the superior product this entire calendar year. Takeover Dallas was exponentially better than WM.

Love to see this succeed, hopefully it works as most of us hope it will.

Killing NXT would be incredibly dumb.

It has been the most interesting thing to happen in wrestling since the end of the Monday night wars. It's created stars and helped people get over before appearing on the main roster.

What I hope they do is create a Smackdown product which is more like NXT in feel.

The problem with the brand split when it existed was there were two products which catered for the exact same audience in the exact same ways. If they want to build Smackdown then they should look at making it a product that appeals to different fans rather than just being a slightly less interesting version of RAW.

But I can't help think that what we are seeing is the return of two mediocre shows rather than any move forward.

He's been in 1-1.5 segments and 1 match per Raw. I don't mind his taking up a segment and/or match on SD too. Champ should be on both shows. Plenty of time for the rest of SD to develop the other talent.


That's, of course, if they did things right.


I like the idea that WWE/WWE Womens Champion rotate. IC and US are each brand's champions.


I wouldn't even mind two tag titles, given how deep the tag division is currently.

NXT is about developing talent. Triple H's recent strategy has been to sign talent that have already gotten world and television experience and put them in great showings against each other to get the brand over. Sure, it helps Wesley Blake to wrestle Shinsuke Nakamura at an NXT house show, but ultimately there are a lot of guys in NXT that are ready to make money now. Calling them up to a unified roster is just going to get them lost in the shuffle. There's a lot more room for the likes of Joe, Balor, Nakamura, Roode and even Aries with a brand split in place. You can still do what NXT used to do and have main roster talent head down and work special spots on NXT television to keep it hot. Sheamus, Rob Van Dam, Dolph Ziggler and I think even Chris Jericho all made NXT appearances at different points. The talent only need to make one set of tapings and can possibly film a backstage segment, an in-ring promo and then work a match and you're done. Meanwhile guys like Tye Dillinger, Elias Samson, No Way Jose and whoever else you want to debut/use more strongly can get that exposure in front of crowds and hopefully develop into TV-ready talents.

This also helps the women and tag teams. I've already touched on the women, but with one division, you basically have a champion, a challenger and maybe one other side feud and a few girls appearing in corners. Natalya's been the current challenger, so girls like Sasha and Paige (except for that win over Charlotte) had little to do. Now you can have Charlotte working with Nattie on one show, a program between Becky and Emma going on the other, and two more sub-programs going.

The tag team division is weird. I've heard people calling it "strong." The only real teams worth a damn, as far as credibility goes, are The New Day, Gallows & Anderson and maybe The Usos. There's a wide gap between those teams and the guys beneath. Enzo & Cass are over, but they feel too much like they're still trying to find that footing. Having two shows mean you can build a team on SmackDown, build a team on RAW, have your title feud on one of the shows, and ultimately everyone gets more shine.

This is all in theory, mind you.

Some more stuff from the Observer recently includes Vince McMahon currently rumored to be getting more hands-on with Smackdown once it goes live which hasn't happened in years. Cena confirmed as the top star for Smackdown and Reigns for RAW. Also already confirmed the WWE has plans in set for the debut of a new World belt and several storylines/feuds already in waiting for the belt.

Similar to the first Draft Lottery, current plan is for the majority (if not all) of the wrestlers to not be told where they will be heading until their actual draft pick announcement during the upcoming RAW draft show.

I'm optimistic. They even talked about this on a local radio station, so WWE is getting more buzz. The original brand split worked wonderfully for the first 5-6 years. From 2002 through about 2007/2008, it was awesome and still meaningful. The random face-offs at the Rumble or SummerSlam and the "dream matches" you can now incubate for WrestleMania every year. Once they started bleeding over and they did that "RAW SuperShow" shit, it was pointless.

I'd have the 3 "World Titles" (WWE World Heavyweight Champ, Women's World Champ, and World Tag Champs) rotate among the brands. Build it up to where those 3 champions are a big fucking deal. Make the IC title RAW only and the US Title SD! only. The IC/US Champion is the de facto "top dog" on their brand when the WHC isn't there. Then, I'd bring back the Hardcore Championship and European Championship to give the lower card guys something meaningful to fight for and build feuds around. Dean Ambrose going on a long run as the "Hardcore Champion" or Cesaro as the European Champion and building it up to be meaningful. Those undercard titles were pretty good in the Attitude Era for giving those lower card guys something to do. Build up the prestige with an Ambrose or Cesaro and then have them drop them to an up-and-comer who will put on good matches and build storylines where every level of the card matters and has something to fight for.

Shane can say he wants to bring back the title he fought for at WrestleMania years ago. The same title held by the likes of Triple H, Shawn Michaels, Owen Hart, Chris Jericho, British Bulldog, William Regal, Kurt Angle, and Eddie Guerrero! With all the European wrestlers in WWE now, they could easily make it a huge point of pride like the U.S. Title and make a big deal out of it and have it main event a SD! in London.

The Hardcore Championship would be awesome for your more intense guys like Ambrose, Owens, and these other guys who could really go all-out with their acrobatics and innovative moves on the outside. Keep it serious and avoid the gimmicky stuff and overly choreographed brawls in the backstage area. It doesn't have to be a bloodbath every week, but a title that builds up guys who are badasses and get that aura around them.


You can't tell me you wouldn't have the biggest boner since HHH's entrance at WrestleMania this year to this card:

WWE SummerSlam 2016 (4 Hour Main Show, 1 Hour Pre-Show)
World Heavyweight Championship: Roman Reigns (c) vs Brock Lesnar
World Women's Championship: Charlotte (c) vs Sasha Banks
World Tag Team Championship: The New Day (c) vs Enzo & Big Cass
World Heavyweight Title #1 Contender's Match: Chris Jericho vs Sami Zayn
(RAW) Intercontinental Championship: The Miz (c) vs John Cena
(SD!) United States Championship: AJ Styles (c) vs Seth Rollins
Tag Title #1 Contender's Elimination Tornado Tables Match: The Dudley Boys vs The Club
(RAW) Hardcore Championship Tournament Finals: Dean Ambrose vs Kevin Owens
(SD!) European Championship Tournament Finals: Finn Balor vs Cesaro
Women's Title #1 Contender's Match: Bayley vs Paige vs Asuka
Pre-Show Hardcore Championship #1 Contender's Match: Sheamus vs Samoa Joe
Pre-Show European Championship #1 Contender's Match: Rusev vs Dolph Ziggler

That'd be better than WrestleMania and each match would matter.

EDIT: William Regal would make a good GM for SD! if they are going to overhaul NXT.

Dudley Boys vs. The Club just gave me wood.

Has a date been set for the draft show? (sry if this has already been mentioned)

Current plan is on July 11th according to Bryan Alvarez from F4W.

Gallows turns on Anderson and pulls out a cut.

Cena to SmackDown is a good move, actually. I'd put Cesaro there too, given that he has tremendous chemistry with Cena, and it gives smarks a reason to tune in to the show. If they call up Samoa Joe, and they should, then putting him on the same brand as Cena is desirable. This works, because I want Rusev and Joe on different shows, and I want Cena and Rusev on different shows. Given that you have Rusev as US Champion, this would mean the IC Champion to SmackDown -- so they get The Miz and Maryse. Orton and Cena should remain separate, as should Orton andd Sheamus, and Sheamus and Cena has not been done to death. Sheamus and Cesaro do great work together too.

I'd consider moving AJ Styles and Sasha Banks there too. Just to give them that added nudge of star power and to give people a reason to watch.

If you call up Joe to SmackDown and have Sheamus there too, it's probably best to call up Finn Balor to RAW. You can probably have him run wild with The Club over there. Becky and Finn are close, so why not let them keep hanging out, and it keeps the Irish presence strong on RAW? Sasha is also on SmackDown, so Becky would get a better chance on RAW. Call up Bayley for SmackDown, since her face character is so much different to Sasha's. Paige is then logical for RAW.

If you need another heel lady for SmackDown, why not call up Asuka? To give RAW a big Japanese name, bring up Shinsuke Nakamura to that brand. Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn would be a good fit to continue their feud on RAW, I feel. You don't want to have those four guys from the Fatal 4-Way on the same show anyway.

I'd like those shows. Obviously not complete, but you've got something looking like:

RAW:
Roman Reigns (WWE Champion)
Charlotte (Women's Champion)
The New Day (Tag Team Champions)
Rusev (US Champion)
Randy Orton
Kevin Owens
Sami Zayn
Shinsuke Nakamura
Finn Balor
Luke Gallows
Karl Anderson
Becky Lynch
Paige
Lana

SmackDown:
Roman Reigns (WWE Champion)
Charlotte (Women's Champion)
The New Day (Tag Team Champions
The Miz (IC Champion)
John Cena
AJ Styles
Cesaro
Sheamus
Samoa Joe
Sasha Banks
Bayley
Asuka

That's obviously with a lot of talent left to assign.

Kill SD and make NXT the second show~~~

So can we assume that Brock Lesnar will be a part of the actual draft?

but not The Rock

Could be a free agent like Austin was during the first brand split.

oh thats a possibru

Observer had a pretty good article about the new Brand Split and the likelihood this could end up failing like every other time the WWE has tried to boost Smackdown's image.

Third time within the past year and a half the WWE has tried to quickly boost Smackdown with the other two failing because the WWE eventually lost interest. Also the WWE running the risk of driving more viewers away if the top two stars (Cena and Reigns) are booked in a similar way.

Implied Cena likely is only going to bring a temporary boost in Smackdown's ratings if bigger changes are not done with the brand.

Also implied this is WWE's final chance to improve things before the next tv contract talks happen in a couple of years.

http://www.f4wonline.com/wwe-news/ho...d-split-213516

Given how great Cena was during the US Title invitational and how he started to grow on the smarks I think they could make Smackdown the "wrestling" brand like it was back in the day and still have Cena as "the man". Cena on the same roster as all the workrate guys is just five star match after five star match waiting to happen.

I might actually watch Smackdown instead of copying and pasting spoilers (not counting going to smackdown in a week and a half)

Haven't watched Smackdown since they moved to USA. Think the channel change messed with the DVR and it doesn't record any more.

Smackdown! just needs to feature Owen White and they will succeed.

exactly... live smackdown can only help it as a brand that isn't looked down upon as 2nd tier.

I read spoilers and then I don't need to watch.... well i don't really watch that often now... but yeah live is definitely a HUGE positive

RIP Owen White.

And yet none of that will matter when the biggest stars like Rock, Lesnar, Taker only show up and have feuds on Raw. Raw is treated as the flagship show now, it has been treated as the flagship show for the last 14+ years and it will continue to be treated as such because the same folks are still going to be in charge. Maybe not right away, but left with the same folks in charge now, it's only a matter of time.

i just mean it helps... doesn't turn it around overnight, but it does improve it immensely

The live aspect could help with that though. A Taker return on a Tuesday will be live and not spoiled on the net.

Wouldn't it make more sense to have both shows be dual branded before big PPVs. That's just going to make Raw feel like the superior show.

PWTorch had some new details regarding plans for the Brand Split with the biggest being Kevin Owens as a possible top heel for one of the brands.

https://www.reddit.com/r/SquaredCirc...om_the_latest/

John Cena & Cesaro as buddies that have no problem scrapping with one another is goodness waiting to happen.

If they have a World Title on each show, it doesn't really make sense to have the Tag Titles or Women's Title floating. I could see them bringing back the World Tag Team Titles and their history to SmackDown, and probably giving them to Enzo & Cass, giving them the big win over The Dudleys, and having The Vaudevillains there to feud with them. Cena has gone on the record saying that he sees big things for Enzo, Cass & The Vaudevillains, so making them a part of the "Cena Show" seems logical enough to me. You can also call up American Alpha and The Revival to that brand and have them have a series of matches to introduce them to people. They'd probably still work NXT at the same time while TM61 get built up and a new heel team is established to go against them, but I guess you could always send The Ascension back too.

As a retort to RAW getting Charlotte and the "WWE Women's Championship", I could see SmackDown responding by introducing a "Women's World Championship." I don't know if you'd do some sort of visual likeness to the World Heavyweight Title, or something along the lines of the classic Women's Title belt, but I could see that being the belt Bayley, Sasha and Asuka fight over.

I'd be fine with something like this for SmackDown:

http://vignette2.wikia.nocookie.net/...20140919212737

Replace the "Ladies" with "Women's." Or is the term "Ladies" fine? That would make it easier to distinguish between the two champs.

I actually originally wanted the WWE Women's Championship to be one without a traditional strap. It'd sort of be metal the whole way around and clip together. Not sure how doable that would be though.

Maybe they could base a new one on the IWGP Heavyweight Title? That would be pretty sick.

I think Ladies would be fine but feel like all the women should be on Raw due to the extra hour.

I see your reasoning, but I see matches being better protected if you spread the girls out. The WWE has never done depth well. I'd put Asuka, Sasha Banks, Bayley, Naomi, Tamina, Summer Rae and maybe Paige or Natalya on SmackDown. Charlotte, Dana, Becky, Paige or Nattie, Nikki Bella, Alicia Fox and Emma can have RAW.

Worst case scenario: You might have to call up Peyton Royce and her Poison Ivy gimmick quicker or hire a veteran or two. Sign Saraya and have her go against Paige on whatever show that is on, and bring Victoria and Molly Holly as a heel alliance to go against some younger girls on the other show, feeling that they don't get the credit they deserve for being revolutionary women.

Some may not say she's ready, but Carmella provides another face for the SmackDown side of things, cornering Enzo & Cass and providing an occasional partner for Bayley.

Oh, and I guess you could always put Maryse in the ring too. I'd have her on the SmackDown side as well.

I do like this idea though. Belt looks similar to the WHC and with a little bit of modernization it could look pretty cool. I'd redo the US title and have it look like the old WCW one to. Also hope the Tag Team titles get a redesign out of this.

I'd rather they not introduce new dual titles. I hated that back in the day and wouldn't care for it now. I'd prefer the champs either work both shows or one title is exclusive to one brand.

The World Title and the Women's Championship should be co-brand with a "traveling NWA champion" motif.

I agree along with the Tag titles. Should redesign them to look more like the WWE WHC and Women's titles so they all look like the WWE's most highly regarded titles.

http://t3.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:A...RPAhoVx8rlP28w

If they redesigned the US title to look similar tho this it would match the classic look of the IC title. I like the idea of the US and IC titles being the top titles restricted to one show and believe the US title is due for a redesign.

Don't think it would be doable because you might have had this in mind

<img style="-webkit-user-select: none" src="http://www.geocities.jp/shin1701/Images/worf.jpg">

This is what would be seen...

<img src="http://36.media.tumblr.com/190b6b56fdd4f556d87c6fbbb465dff4/tumblr_n8a9opUsCj1rg89a6o1_500.jpg" class="mainImage" data-bm="64">

That could work. Have Curtis Axel beat Rusev with the help of The Social Outcast. Rusev being humiliated tips the title in half like a phonebook. New title is given to Axel that looks like the old WCW US title that his dad won. Fathers day is next month so they could mimic what they did with his IC title win.

The Social Outcasts are all away filming a movie.

Changing a belt design doesn't mean they change how they book it either. It's usually just done to distract how they are booking it.

Miz is IC champ, might as well put the US title on Axel.

It should be booked better without being on the same show as the IC title seeing as they have the same contenders and it seemed if you list the IC title match you tried for the US title.

My ideal scenario

Titles on both shows
WWE World Heavyweight Champion
WWE Women's Champion
WWE World Tag Team Champions

I'd redesign the WWE World Tag Team title to look like the WWE and Women's titles.

Raw
WWE Intercontinental Champion
WWE European Champion

Smackdown!
WWE United States Champion
WWE Cruiserweight Champion

Redesign the US title like I mentioned before. Have the US and IC titles be the most coveted titles on each show. Put the Cruiserweight Title on Smackdown again and have the European Title on Raw as secondary titles.

I'd change the US and Tag Titles too, but I think they like the idea of each belt being so very different to the others for merchandising reasons, which I think is silly, but what are you going to do? I definitely think you could do some sort of re-design with the tag belts and it'll be fine though.

For some reason, I want to see Jack Swagger win the US Title from Rusev, then Darren Young challenges Swagger with Backlund in his corner, but Backlund turns on Young and reveals that he has been a Swagger man all along, and he's going to make Jack Swagger great again. Swagger can start doing the Crossface Chickenwing and and re-design the US Title to be "great again."

I like it, Swagger as the US champ just writes itself. Could also continue the We the People gimmick. Backlund with him would be so much better than Darren Young to.

How Swagger has not won the US Title yet is beyond me.

He was US champion for like a month in 2012. Beat Zach Ryder to win it and lost it the next month to Justin Gabriel.

He lost it to Santino Marella.

Oh, of course he did. My bad. I'm usually really good with title histories. I got it cross-wired with the IC Title.

We already did. It was called NXT. Guys who "had no business" getting over to the degree they did simply because they were allowed to breathe and do their own thing. They were supposed to be learning and adapting to the main roster WWE style, but managed to create an environment that was fucking awesome in and of itself.

Santina was awesome. Hope she gets re-signed and feuds for the new Women's title. :shifty:

With the amount of talent in NXT and the fact that they will have 2 tours I think they could split NXT in to two shows as well. Move Main Event to NXT and have all the experienced and "main event" talent on it with the NXT titles. The other show would just be NXT with younger talent that need more seasoning.

Always bugs me that Main Event is a B-show. NXT Main Event could continue to bring in top Indy talent and keep the work rate vibe that they have going now. NXT would be a lot more about character development and story telling like before they brought in top indy guys.

You don't feel like Main Event and Superstars should be used to showcase talent that would otherwise get no TV time each week? I'm just trying to understand here, because if that's not what you're saying that sure is how it comes off to me.

You can still have Superstars and another show as Raw and Smackdowns B-shows. Just feel like a B-show called Main Event is dumb.

RIP Smackdown Spoilers

I'd have Superstars be Raws B-show and bring back Thursday Night Titans to be Smackdowns B-show. Then you would have NXT Main Event and NXT.

The key thing here is SD! going live. This is a much larger investment into the brand so I think this will have a much more enjoyable SD! than the clear B show it has always been in the past

Thursday Night TItans. Jesus Satanic Christ, that sounds like some stupid loltna shit.

Let's rename Superstars to Monday Night Matches!

It was actually a WWE show back in the 80s except it was Tuesday Night Titans.

And it sounded just as stupid then.

Should be a god damn cartoon show.

I think it would be good for a B-show. A lot better than Velocity, Heat, Metal, Jakked, or any other shows they've had. Cartoon? Thursday Night Titans sounds like a wrestling show to me. Doesn't matter it won't happen, just a thought I had.

Thursday Night Tatanka

http://nativetatanka.com/wp-content/...-Early-90s.jpg

I kind of want them to get rid of Main Event. Some sort of re-branding would be good. Let Mauro and Jerry Lawler be the commentators for it. I do hope the Corey Graves move to the SmackDown announce desk happens. I do like heel King, but it's time to give the show a new aesthetic.

Sasha Banks has a WWE.com video where she says she wants to go to SmackDown. She would be a big asset for them right out of the gate. She's the most over female talent they have, and people might actually tune in to track her career. I think Becky and Bayley are too similar in the sense of their babyface characters to be on the same show, so I'd have Becky on RAW and Bayley on SmackDown with Sasha. Nikki Bella to SmackDown to be with John Cena. Naomi and Tamina to SmackDown as the heel team that forces Bayley & Sasha to team up occasionally? Alicia Fox to RAW. Paige can compliment Becky well and Nattie can round off the female side on SmackDown, although I am keen for a heel turn, so maybe RAW would be better? Dana Brooke can go to RAW and keep working with the veteran girls. Call up Carmella for the SmackDown brand. You can split the women quite effectively.

If the women are split I like your Ladies champion idea if the Women's Champion doesn't travel. Not a big fan of Bayley though. I think that she's ok in the ring I'm just not a big fan of the hugging stuff. Not sure how it will do on the main roster. Think her mic work needs some work as well.

I'm honestly not her biggest fan either, but she moves the merch and people seem to love her. I'd certainly give her a chance somewhere.

I keep going back and forth about the title scheme I'd have. I do like the idea of Roman Reigns, Charlotte and Anderson & Gallows traveling with the belts. I'd have Anderson & Gallows win them at Money in the Bank. You can have Finn Balor as a member of The Club on RAW and AJ Styles as a representative on SmackDown.

Thinking about the draft and RAW still being three long hours, I was thinking last night about the WWE possibly starting with RAW as the established brand, with SmackDown needling guys off. You know, instead of the RAW gets a guy, SmackDown gets a guy system. That might seem like semantics, but when you think about what SmackDown really needs and what they might want there, it makes sense to do it that way.

I've gone over this a few times, I'm sure, but you're basically building it around John Cena right? You should pick a team that helps him along. He's expressed interest in working with guys like Enzo & Cass and The Vaudevillains. That's as good a starting point as any. Cena can give the guys advice backstage and travel with Enzo & Cass and hopefully impart some knowledge.

Does Cena want Nikki Bella on the same show as him? Her future is still up in the air, but her face and body will probably look good on a SmackDown poster. You can move her there too, even if it ends up being a token one. Carmella can come up and join Enzo & Cass. Do they need her? No, but some people learn better when they are on the road in the mix. She can be out of the ring and even still make some NXT shows to keep her progressing in the ring.

I'd still call up Joe for SmackDown. The Cena/Joe stuff could be great. I'd bring over Big Show to be a PPV opponent for Show and to be a spectacle for their house shows. The New Day can come over once they lose the Tag Titles, especially if they are going to have two sets of belts. Enzo & Cass and The New Day jaw-jacking with each other could be great stuff. Eventually you can bring up American Alpha and The Revival to have a series of matches and freshen things up there. Every other team you have can stay on RAW. Well, maybe bring over The Ascension since Ryan Ward might have a more clear idea with what to do with them. They can at least be bodies to put The New Day and Enzo & Cass over.

Neville needs his "Adrian" back and could probably use Ward to rehab him. He's a logical choice to jump over. Tyler Breeze needs some help too. People seem high on the Fandango/Breeze team, but I don't like how they've gone about it. They're a unit I'd break up in the split. Golden Truth too. Goldust can go to SmackDown and also do some producer work, mainly working with Breeze and having an old vet versus cocky young kid feud that can be given some time and be a nice little undercard program over there that can show off what both men have to give.

I can see a case for moving over Owens and Zayn for the big mid-card feud, but I'd leave them on RAW too, especially with Vince being more of a believer in Owens than ever before. This is working under the assumption that he allows Triple H more room on SmackDown. I'd still go with Cesaro heading over, because he's a guy I want to see Ward get his hands on. I can't remember if I've said this, but the only guy I've ever enjoyed Titus O'Neil working with is Sheamus, and he seems like he'd be a good fit for SmackDown since he's so played out. A fresh start for him, and you'd know Triple H would love to get him. I can imagine he and Show having a loose heel alliance too.

Dolph Ziggler arguably needs some rehab. I'm not too moved about where he goes, but on SmackDown he's provide another "former World Champ" they can put on the posters and such along with Cena, The New Day and Nikki Bella. A heel turn to work with Cena at the top?

Kalisto is swimming deep on RAW, but I'd leave him there with Sin Cara to work with The Shining Stars, but a case could be made for him being another mid-card guy for SmackDown to work with Neville, Breeze and whoever they pluck from the Cruiserweight Classic.

I still think Sasha Banks has the fans' eyes enough to flip some people onto watching her if she goes to that brand. Paige has got so little going on over there that she could do with a move there too. Call up Bayley and Asuka and you've got four strong female personalities that can all clash and fight over a hypothetical belt. All the other girls stay on RAW. Maybe think about calling up Adrienne Reese too. There's no reason you cannot bring in some veteran girls and still have some of them work NXT anyway.

You're only going to have like 5 or 6 matches on SmackDown each week anyway. You realistically don't need that deep a roster. You'd probably move over a mid-card champion. Triple H would probably rather have Rusev and Lana, but I personally think The Miz and Maryse would be a better fit. But moving over Rusev and Lana you get a SmackDown that looks like this without taking too many guys off RAW:

John Cena
Dolph Ziggler
Cesaro
Sheamus
Samoa Joe
Big Show
Rusev
Titus O'Neil
Adrian Neville
Goldust
Tyler Breeze
Kalisto

The New Day
Enzo & Cass
The Vaudevillains
The Ascension

Sasha Banks
Paige
Bayley
Asuka
Adrienne Reese
Nikki Bella
Lana
Carmella

It would be interesting if they did Saturday Night Main Event maybe 3-4 times a year and have that be a crossover show.

Throw in Cena and SmackDown will likely have a better roster than RAW if this is true.

Well there goes my plan.

Would think Owens would be on Raw if Styles is going to be top heel. Although I guess Rollins will be top heel on Raw.

I want Owens on Raw.

If New Day and The Club are on SD I'd say Raw gets The Wyatts and Social Outcast. Could be big for the Social Outcast if they can get themselves over like New Day did.

USA Network and not the WWE ended up being responsible for the decision to make Smackdown a live show starting next month. Originally when they signed up to grab the show from SyFy, they were predicting at least a six month honeymoon before the ratings started to tank but instead it only took about a month or two for it to happen.

http://www.wrestlinginc.com/wi/news/...ackdown-equal/

Was rumored for a while USA Network likely was paying the extra money needed to transition the show into a weekly live show but recent sheet reports denied it being the case. Also implied USA Network is at the point they are starting to doubt the value of the current tv contract for their side.

Rumor that has started to float around the net regarding Smackdown is USA Network considering adding an extra hour to Smackdown as a possible option at some point during the new Brand Split era.

1 extra hour of Roman Reigns a week sounds good to this owen.

I figured USA would push to have Smackdown 3 hours. Should go ahead and do it when they go live.

I hated the first brand split and I have an even stronger feeling I will hate this one too, probably more.

It's just so fake.

Everyone knows that it is the same company, with the same writers and the same head honcho calling the shots.

It really makes no difference except the company will now spend a ton of money on making SmackDown live and run more house shows/tours (potentially, depending on fan reaction).

If history serves me correct the first brand split brought in significantly lower ratings within weeks of its inception. That was with the inclusion of WWF, WCW and ECW stars all intertwined. Now its just WWE guys with NXT guys, some TNA guys and some indy sauce.

Really the entire concept just limits the feuds and matches potential of the company. Fans miss out on seeing different matchups because of a fake imaginary line in the sand. Who knows what kind of chemistry and star building potential those missed matchups could produce for the company.

If they were smart they would have already developed a 1 and 1A house show team, yet still keep their main draws wholly available on both Raw and SmackDown.

Plus, I think going live on Tuesday is a terrible idea. Way too much wrestling for one fan to take in back to back... especially when you factor in a 3 hour PPV (or Network) on Sunday, 3 hour Raw on Monday and hopefully only a 2 hour SmackDown on Tuesday. 8 hours of wrestling in three days. Nobody has the time to keep up with that besides kids and teenagers. Even so, lets face it. The WWE really does not cater to teenagers anymore with the whole PG aspect.

I feel like this is a very accurate description. Evryone keeps saying there is so much talent that they need more tv time to shine. Well during the original brand split we had legit stars and it ended up not really keeping our interest, plus the two world titles was stupid. As the Macho Man said, the cream rises to the top, so we don't need more tv time for mid carders to get on tv, we need the talent to step up.

Having two shows is fine, but there is no reason for them to be inclusive. We need the writers to figure out long term booking and we need the wrestlers to to find ways to stand out. If you need Smackdown to get better ratings, how about an advertised world title match, how about a title change? Floodig the shows with Nxt and indy guys isn't going to help, writing is what makes it interesting - or wrestlers given green light to do their thing.

I promise this will be a failure. It may have short term gain, running two house shows may be profitable, going live should help but I really dont know how any buzz sustains itself. They need to build stars, not have a bunch of nobodies being nobodies wrestling nobodies.

I agree with everything but I will add that now they will only have to write 2 or 3 hours of storyline a week instead of 5.

This times 1,000! :yes:

Don't you know though Stickman? This is magically going to make everything better! :roll:

It did lower ratings, but they had a higher ledge to fall from, and the ratings actually did very well for 3 or 4 weeks (and were surprisingly above pre-Mania X8 levels) - but instead of the something new people wanted, it was Austin Vs. Taker and the nWo, with Flair going heel (always a ratings killer).

The idea of freshening the landscape to garner interest isn't a bad one, but the problem with ratings right now is more to do with company mindset than anything. Roman as the anchor babyface with even less support than usual? When ratings and house shows are going down with him on top already? Seth and AJ were both potential huge babyfaces, and they've been turned heel. They can bring in new guys and run some hot angles perhaps, but if it's all within a framework where the lead decision maker can't read an audience or a situation properly, you have to wonder if it's worth it.

Yeah, what baffles me is why they haven't pumped energy into SmackDown already. You'd think that even with this announcement they'd be trying to get people to watch the show. It's been filler each week since the brand split ended in the first place.

I think having a "unique roster" will help them out. If there's only one place to catch John Cena and The New Day, the hardcore audience will. But you're just diluting your product if Vince is still so heavily involved and sabotages the things that are working.

I mean, they could have done a King of the Ring tournament exclusively on SmackDown, or even done a couple of NXT feature weeks. One week have an NXT Title match, with Samoa Joe and Finn Balor fighting to some sort of no contest to sell their Cage Match, the other week could have been the American Alpha/Revival rematch, the next week Asuka can kill Carmella after Enzo & Cass wish her luck in the back or something. Really simple things that hardcore fans might go "Hey, maybe I should actually watch this week."

Didn't King of the Ring take place about this time last year? I'm pretty sure they only brought it back to give the King gimmick to Barrett.

That being said, if things are going the way they are going and the company is dead-set on completely different rosters -- how about making the other major title on SmackDown the WWE Global Heavyweight Championship? I'm not a big fan of bringing the Big Gold Belt back, just because they used it for so long, they slimmed it down, it got held by so many guys, it's been unified with the WWE Title twice now -- just let that remain unified with the WWE World Heavyweight Championship. Bring in a new belt, give it a really swank design and hell, it gives some of the older guys a new goal to work towards.

The WWE/World Heavyweight split worked somewhat the first time around. But "World" sounds bigger than just the company name. Still, the WWE Title carried the prestige. The World Heavyweight Title was the older belt though. They kind of had this balance. I think that is gone now. Swapping the "World" for "Global" is a pretty easy move to make, there has never been a "Global Champion" in WWE, and it allows the "World Championship" to keep its rank.

I know tournaments are the traditional and cool thing, but you're going to be beating a lot of guys that are going to need to help carry that brand going forward. And as Karl Jones from Squared Circle Gazette says, American companies don't do tournaments very well. Would it be obscene to have Shane and Stephanie announce the Global Championship on RAW, tell the fans it has a brand new lineage to coincide with the new era of WWE, and that when RAW and SmackDown split, the WWE Universe will be able to choose which Heavyweight Champion they want to back as the top guy in the industry. Then they announce that due to their recent history and ranking within the company, John Cena vs. AJ Styles at Money in the Bank will decide the first WWE Global Heavyweight Champion. The stakes have been raised, boys.

Give it a design somewhat like this, but with places you can put the logo plates (not my favorite thing they do these days, but still):

http://vignette2.wikia.nocookie.net/...20090928041937

I think AJ Styles needs to win now that he is a heel to justify the turn, but they'd probably give it to Cena. Maybe Shane and Stephanie ban Anderson & Gallows from ringside so as to determine the rightful champion out the gate in order to get around that? Or maybe Gallows & Anderson are attacked backstage by their new rival tag team once they beat The New Day (or have The New Day themselves do it) and Cena goes on to win that way?

You could then theoretically spin the Tag Team Titles off into World Tag Titles on RAW (new belts for Anderson & Gallows) and Global Tag Team Titles on SmackDown. I would have wanted at least some of these guys on RAW, but a SmackDown Six-esque Global Tag Title feud between Cesaro & Sami Zayn, Kevin Owens & Chris Jericho and Alberto Del Rio & Sheamus would be hot shit. Ideally you could get Miz & Morrison in there, but I'm not sure how locked down Morrison is.

You could also bring in a Global Women's Championship, which could be won by Sasha Banks and you build that division around her. Or you move Becky, Nattie, Paige and Asuka to SmackDown and really give it an international vibe. Maybe bring up Adrienne Reese before you embed her in NXT lore?

Just some ideas instead of bringing old belts back. It's supposed to be a "new era" right?

About this time. I'm not really for it coming back because they don't really know how to do it, but it was mainly an example of things they could do it help bolster SmackDown.