wow

smart idea - good way to get people to turn in!

They should allow all the champions to pick their own show at the end of the draft. If they decide to have 2 world heavyweight titles that means the other show has to create their own and find a champion while the other show gets and extra superstar. If they go with only 1 title then after the champion loses he is defaulted to the show he picked. Same goes for the tag and women's titles.

US and IC would pick opposite from each other.

http://i.imgur.com/qxxcnH7h.jpg

Not sold on single brand PPVs still, but love the idea of the old PPV names coming back if that's legit.

Wish they would drop the gimmick ppv like Hell in a Cell and TLC. Looks like the just changed Night of Champions to Clash of Champions, thought for sure they would be rival PPVs for the two brands.

Also Roadblock at the end of the year seems weird, would make sense to just have it as Raw show for February while Smackdown has Fast lane.

Yeah, if that's legit then that gets renamed I figure. Backlash after Summerslam at least makes sense.

Backlash on 15th anniversary of 9/11

Real sensirive

Backlash coming back is a good thing, but it feels odd at that point in the year. I'd rather see it in April. Roadblock and No Way Out should be the February PPVs. No Mercy coming back is a good thing. Wish they'd get rid of Hell in a Cell, TLC, Night of Champions and Extreme Rules. Armageddon and Starrcade can be the December PPVs. Vengeance can return to be opposite Backlash in April/May. Payback can be stay in there. You can bring back Over the Limit or something. July can have The Great American Bash or Bash at the Beach and Battleground.

January: Royal Rumble
February: Roadblock, No Way Out
March/April: WrestleMania
April: Backlash, Payback
May: Vengeance, Over the Limit
June: Money in the Bank
July: Bash at the Beach, Battleground
August: SummerSlam
September: Unforgiven, Fall Brawl
October: No Mercy, Halloween Havoc (if they can get the license)
November: Survivor Series
December: Starrcade, Armageddon

According to current ticket advertising for early Smackdown shows after the Draft, WWE might be considering Cena for RAW and Reigns for Smackdown in terms of where the top stars are going.

Same advertising hinted at Ambrose and Rollins being on Smackdown. As well as AJ Styles being on that brand.

Also F4W is hinting at the ppv sheet recently leaked being legit since his sources had been hinting at Night of Champions being replaced with the former WCW ppv name of Clash of Champions.

I'd like to see the PPVs for the two shows have similar themes. Like Fastlane and Roadblock and Payback and Backlash being together. Would also like to see Bragging Rights return as a stand alone event at the end of the year with all three brands coming together before the new year starts. Would also like to see King of the Ring return and be the same month as Money in the Bank, would have them alternate every year so Raw gets KotR one year and MitB the next.

January: Royal Rumble
February: Roadblock, Fastlane
March/April: WrestleMania
April: Backlash, Payback
May: Vengeance, Judgement Day
June: Money in the Bank, King of the Ring (alternate every year)
July: Bash at the Beach, Great American Bash
August: SummerSlam
September: Night of Champions, Clash of Champions
October: No Mercy, Halloween Havoc
November: Survivor Series
December: Bragging Rights (all three brands)

I've got a feeling that MVP will be returning in this brand split era. Not just because of the rumors, but he has spoken to Triple H lately and Alex Greenfield said something on one of the Writer's Room podcasts recently, where he mentioned he knew of other people coming back. He could have just meant guys coming off injury, but when you couple that with what Court Bauer said about half of those names being right in regards to the list (eliminating John Morrison and Rey Mysterio as possibilities), it does leave MVP as a very likely candidate.

I think Carlito will make a return too. It'd make sense to have him lead his cousins as foils against The New Day. Going through names in my head of free agents that I'm surprised the WWE hasn't signed back -- Daivari and Chris Masters are at the top of that list. Daivari got that good press for foiling that burglary on a train or something, and Masters saved his mother from a burning house with a tree.

Victoria has a good relationship with the WWE to this day, and is still insanely hot and quite active. I could see her making a comeback. As a bit of a nostalgia act, I can see them giving a run to Scotty 2 Hotty too. He might finally get that heel turn that Kane Knight always wanted.

The Usos and Scotty 2 Hotty as a three man unit against The Colons and The New Day?

Maybe it's finally time for the much anticipated return of Johnny fucking Jeter?

Oh, and the WWE are pretty stupid if they haven't at least tried to call Matt Morgan. I also think that Cliff Compton has enough ins with the company to at least get a look if he's available, but he might be under GFW contract or something, if that's still going.

WWE debunking rumors of them considering signing Kurt Angle to a deal for the new Brand Split era. Still not interested in signing him to a deal that would include him being an active competitor.

Kurt just can't help himself. :(

I was in a cynical mood earlier, so I worked out who you could really cut from the WWE roster today. Not because they suck or anything, but just because you're not using them to their maximum potential and you don't really have any plans to. Some guys can become agents or move into the Hall of Fame. Some you'd hope would go to the independent scene and strengthen that and get a lot better so you can bring them back when they have some momentum.

I combined this with the talent list in NXT that I thought was ready to get a call up, didn't count part-timers and came up with a main roster of:

Male Roster:

* Adrian Neville
* AJ Styles
* Austin Aries
* Big Cass
* Big E. Langston
* Bobby Roode
* Bray Wyatt
* Cesaro
* Chad Gable
* Dash Wilder
* Dean Ambrose
* Enzo Amore
* Finn Balor
* Jason Jordan
* Jey Uso
* Jimmy Uso
* John Cena
* Kalisto
* Karl Anderson
* Kevin Owens
* Kofi Kingston
* Luke Gallows
* Luke Harper
* The Miz
* Randy Orton
* Roman Reigns
* Rusev
* Sami Zayn
* Samoa Joe
* Scott Dawson
* Seth Rollins
* Shinsuke Nakamura
* Triple H
* Tye Dillinger
* Tyler Breeze
* Xavier Woods

Female Roster:

* Asuka
* Bayley
* Becky Lynch
* Charlotte
* Emma
* Lana
* Maryse
* Naomi
* Natalya
* Paige
* Sasha Banks

My point is that you can probably cut the main roster in half without the product really being effected. You can call up some guys from NXT that are ready to start making money for the company, and replace them in NXT with a bunch of new faces that can help the younger guys learn and attract people when they're touring.

I want Kurt Fucking Angle.

Hell, use him as the GM of Smackdown. That would be awesome and a huge suprise to boot.

I wouldn't be opposed to seeing Kurt given a shot at a color commentator. Michael Cole and Daniel Bryan on RAW and Mauro Ranallo and Kurt Angle on SmackDown.

Just had this funny feeling they're going to have Joe in the draft, and that he vacates the NXT Title and that the rumored Balor vs. Nakamura match at Takeover in Brooklyn is for the vacant belt. I can't think of a bigger match they can do for Joe. I had one the other night and it completely escapes me now.

Nakamura would win that match and Balor would very soon appear on the opposite show to AJ Styles, and be the heel that gets the assistance from Gallows & Anderson who float, initially, with the tag belts.

Balor v Nakamura is happening in three weeks, unless they have it again at Takeover.... or their first one ends pretty quick by some sort of outside shenanigan....

Oh okay. I haven't been watching NXT so I didn't know that.

I guess Balor will be up and Nakamura will win the title from Joe or something.

Some developments from the NXT tapings:

Just to drop this in here as it seems appropriate, the latest Squared Circle Gazette Radio is now up, as we attempt to book the 2016 WWE Draft. At your request, we're talking all about current events, looking at who should go to which show and why, the title situation, NXT call-ups, feuds and stories out of the gate, possible directions for WrestleMania 33 and much more. In addition, we get your thoughts on what you want to see out of this brand split, as we explore ways to make the shows different. A really interesting show breaking down what lies ahead in the world of WWE. Check it out and let us know what you think!

http://squaredcirclegazette.podbean...._WWE_Draft.mp3

Yeah, that's exactly what I was thinking would be perfect for him at this point in his career. Seems very deflating/"bleak" to have the man himself say it's not happening. :(

If the plan is still for the second World Title to be created, I wonder how long it will take for them to roll it out. Kinda imagining Raw drafting both Rollins and Reigns and ensuring the title will stay on the red brand (as Ambrose probably can't be drafted)...so then the SmackDown GM announces that Cena/Styles at Battleground will be for the SmackDown World Title. Would much prefer one World Title though, especially early on.

Yet I also still can't shake the feeling that the three Shield guys are going to be split up hence why they're getting the triple threat over with at Battleground.

Either way I'm guessing Ambrose drops the belt, turns up on Raw the next night for his rematch clause...then when he loses that/gets screwed out of the match he tells the GM that he never actually got drafted and signs over to SmackDown where he ends up being the #2 face there behind Cena.

WWE World Heavyweight Championship is now being called the WWE Championship again. Is the Big Gold Belt coming back?

I'd say signs point to yes. They will probably just pull it out on one edition of either RAW or SmackDown and have a tournament, match or Battle Royal to decide a new champion and we'll have to sit there and like it.

Battle fucking royal please.

Not sure how realistic it is but I'd like to see pretty much the entire Women's Division on Raw with the title being exclusive to that brand. Have the second hour of Raw be entirely devoted to the division to try to break up some of the usual monotony that comes with a normal 3 hour Raw.

Then on SmackDown bring back the Cruiserweight Title after they go ahead and sign a bunch of dudes from the Cruiserweight Classic.

2 roadblocks in one year.

It's be pretty badass if they went to some no-contest/double KO sort of finish where the decision was made that it had to be settle on the "big stage."

Some news from a recent Observer Newsletter about current plans for the new Brand Split.

Being speculated the reason for this might be due to Stephanie McMahon having a similar title for her normal job and didn't want to be seen as being demoted because of the job's name for tv.

I AM THE CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER OF THE SMACKDOWN BRAND IN WORLD WRESTLING ENTERTAINMENT.

Dave is the perfect GM. He is a substitute teacher. He knows what is i like to have no power but also have responsibility of teaching people shit.

Some more stuff about current plans from the recent Observer Newsletter and PWTorch.

I feel like Money in the Bank should be considered a new major PPV at this point. If both shows have a World Title it'd feel kinda dumb if only one of them has a MITB match.

Or they could bring it back to Mania as an interbrand match, that made for a nice featured attraction every year.

Gotta love not even giving it a chance :y:

The roster is objectively the deepest it's ever been when you consider how many NXT stars are ready for a call-up. Actually splitting the airtime between them and having dedicated writing teams could work wonders. It certainly can't be worse than the nearly unwatchable television they've produced in the last three years.

I think bringing back King of the Ring and having it be the same month as Money in the Bank would be the best. Could have them alternate every year so Raw would get KotR one year and MitB the next.

As the news has settled in and more info is coming out, I can't help but feel this is goingto be a huge let down. Seems like they are going to try to recreate the original brand split (when they had wwe, wcw, ecw talent) with a bunch of nobodies. I really don't know if the WWE even has a true major star let alone enough for two seperate brands.

They have enough stars for 2 shows easily. They only have one megastar but there are two, IMO two, who have the ability to become a megastar. Rollins and AJ.

Rollins will either be the next face of the company or the next HHH. It's already set in stone.

I can't wait to see Darren Young get that big singles push we have all been waiting for.

The have enough wrestlers for two shows, not sure about stars though. I hate using the term, but do they have enough who can "draw."

That's why they're bringing back the stars.

https://scontent-lhr3-1.xx.fbcdn.net...01&oe=57FB8796

"Waiting for my meeting" says Jimmy Wang Yang.

The split PPVs aren't as big of a deal because of the WWE Network. The #1 thing that ruined the last split and will determine the success of this one is will they treat SmackDown! equally.

Love Jimmy Wang Yang. The dude's only like 35 years old.

I hope we get Cowboy/Redneck Jimmy Wang Yang.

He's gonna meet someone tonight!

good.

Jimmy Yang and Paul London had such good chemistry. They had this series of Velocity matches that were incredible. It's a shame that London is so sour on the company, because if he had been a good boy, he'd be getting a call right about now.

Next wave of potential people the WWE wants to hire or bring back was teased at recently by the Observer.

I bet you Jimmy Yang comes in as an exterminator or a Ghostbuster or something. Something where he wears a pack on his back. Jetpack Jimmy.

Curt Hawkins was solid but unremarkable. He seemed a lot better in the ring than Zack Ryder. The two together might work out. But I don't see them being as interesting as most of the other tag teams, and they have a hard enough time as it is.

Is the brand split thing all decided by the "office?" Maybe I am just a mark but when Vince was talking about how he wants a ratings war, social media boost etc it makes it kind of seem like a real thing.

Another possible former wrestler returning for the new Brand Split.

Feel like Raw is gonna be getting most of these rumored returnees as they have an extra hour to fill.

That or Triple H will remain associated with Steph on Raw and it'll just become a thing that newly debuting NXT talent always start on Raw.

I want NXT HHH to finally show up on the main roster, as the guy who just wants the new talent to succeed and mimics Nakamura's entrance

Isn't WWE's roster already big enough without countless past names returning?

Busted Open counted the # of active wrestlers who got airtime (not just matches) on RAW like..2 weeks ago and it was 36. Didn't include guys like Lesnar Reigns Orton..or the USOs..

Really hope the "Shining Stars" have their debut match next week only to be split up by the draft.

They already had a debut match, right?

sorry i meant to put debut in quotes.

I do wonder if any tag teams will be split up. I'd kinda hate to see that because they've started to build the division back up a bit, but they alluded on commentary this week that it could happen.

I'd rather all teams be drafted as units, but if they have to I guess they could just split up a few inconsequential teams to put across the "randomness" of the draft. Like have The Ascension split up or something, or have one of the Social Outcasts can go solo.

Maybe have Luke Harper end up on a different show from the rest of the Wyatts so that when he returns he can be a solo act. I'd also say splitting the Dudleyz so Bubba can actually be his Bully Ray character could be interesting but they probably decided to be a package deal.

Stop trying to take Luke Harper away from Bray. Luke is not ready to go solo and woukd instantly be lost in the mid card shuffle.

They will split the Shining Stars and act like it's a huge deal.

I could see Steph being like, oh so you drafted Kalisto I am taking Sin Cara or some crap like that.

He could be WWE's Shang Tsung, cutting the lights and morphing into Nakamura/Balor/Bayley etc.

Harper is excellent. I have no doubts whatsoever about him thriving on his own.

Good call on the Lucha Dragons though. With them jobbing to Breezango lately I think that they might just be trying to cash in on the team before splitting them up. It gives each show a masked Hispanic wrestler and Kalisto will only keep getting held back having Sin Cara there.

Did Harper thrive on his own last time?

Nope.

He 100% has the ability to but let his character build up to something giving him depth when he does go solo.

The Wyatt Family feel dead in the water to me. They have for ages. I'd rather see Bray drafted on his own with The Wyatt Family being left as servants of Luke Harper. Or they can be released and Harper can become disciple of Seth Rollins.

Good teams will be split up in the draft, but shitty teams will be forced to stay together.

He won the IC Championship so he was the most successful Wyatt ever.

I think Bray's injury ca.e at a good time. If they win this fued with New Day it should get them momentum going. Especially if they keep doing cool segments like last week st the compound.

That was such a random title win for Luke Harper.

I figured they would become the new Heat and Velocity in terms of brand alignment. Makes sense.

It would be awesome for The Wyatts to finally win in a good feud. I have zero faith, however, that it happens.

I think it will happen. New Day has to lose eventually and the tag belts need to transition to Enzo and Cass fairly soon imo. Would be perfect for the two sheep people to take the belts and turn around and lose them to Enzo and Cass.

New Day probably should have dropped the belts to Gallows & Anderson before this feud with The Wyatts. Enzo & Cass could have their eyes on the prize while New Day fight over something personal.

I think we'll be getting a Bayley vs. Paige program coming out of Battleground. My guess is that Sasha calls up Bayley to be her partner, they win, Paige gets jealous, and after the split, Paige ends up on the same show with Bayley and beats her down. Sasha and Charlotte end up in the same realm to continue their program.

Then when Total Divas returns Paige will randomly turn face again and drop all character development/personality.

Recent plans according to the Obsevrer for the new Brand Split.

Oh, absolutely.

New SmackDown logo

http://i.imgur.com/VZgP3vX.jpg

Right, so I’ve been advocating for the draft to return for ages so with it happening next week I guess I should go ahead and make some predictions. They really haven’t given a whole lot of information about how the draft will work and who will be eligible, but they’ve been hinting at teams potentially being split up which leads me to believe that they won’t be drafted together with the possible exception of The New Day.

Speaking of them, they also haven’t said if champions will be eligible or not. My gut instinct tells me that at minimum the WWE Champion, Women’s Champion, and Tag Team Champions will float between brands. But with the rumors of there being two World Champions again, they’d need to come up with some weird loophole like they did in 2002 to lock the champion onto one show. Also all of the promo materials in the lead up have implied that everybody is eligible, so I’ll go with that.

The original draft show featured each show making 10 picks with the rest being conducted via lottery after the show. I’m thinking it’ll be something similar if only because it’s tough for me to imagine every jobber on the roster getting picked on TV. 10 picks per brand on the live SmackDown, and then a lottery will take place on the WWE Network after.

---

Shane and Steph squabble over who should get to pick first, knowing full well there is only one World Champion. Vince, somewhat surprisingly, awards the first pick to SmackDown to try to let the new live show hit the ground running only to then turn right around and tell Stephanie she’ll get to make two picks in a row immediately after.

This means that WWE Champion Dean Ambrose is drafted to SmackDown with the first pick of the draft while Stephanie takes Seth Rollins and Roman Reigns, stating this gives her brand the best chance at claiming the WWE Championship at Battleground. I expect that to happen, and the now title-less SmackDown will bring back either a blue version of the WWE Championship or the Big Gold Belt.

SmackDown’s second selection is none other than John Cena, marking his first night as a SmackDown-exclusive wrestler since 2005. Raw counters with Brock Lesnar, who the announcers on Raw hinted was eligible and is a huge draw despite his sporadic appearances. Shane drafts AJ Styles, bringing his rivalry with Cena to the blue brand. Raw then takes Randy Orton, meaning the buildup to his SummerSlam clash with Lesnar will take place exclusively on Raw.

Given the competitive nature of the two brands, it would be logical for there to be a run on titles, right? Well…logic doesn’t always prevail in WWE land, but let’s do it anyway. The New Day dance their way over to SmackDown. Charlotte is selected by the Raw brand. Rusev is tabbed for SmackDown, and finally The Miz goes to Raw. SmackDown has three titles to Raw’s two, but that will be changed once Rollins or Reigns wins the WWE Championship. If they are hellbent on keeping the shows totally separate, Raw can add its own set of Tag Team Titles again. SmackDown, rather than having its own Women’s Champion, will eventually can bring back the Cruiserweight Championship and use the CWC as a pipeline for new talent.

Sami Zayn is Shane’s next pick, which means the only logical counter would be Kevin Owens going to Raw to build their Battleground match as a final encounter (although I somehow, someway doubt this will be their last meeting and that they will “fight forever”).

Just flying through the next few picks, Chris Jericho to SmackDown to give them another veteran presence. Cesaro to Raw to help work some long matches to fill the three hour telecast. Baron Corbin to SmackDown which gives the rookie a rub just for being drafted in the first place. Apollo Crews to Raw for much the same reason. Sheamus to SmackDown because, let’s face it, WWE don’t want Sheamus to be viewed as irrelevant enough to not get picked at all.

Stephanie’s final selection is Bray Wyatt, meaning he won’t be tormenting the New Day anymore after Battleground (and after that horrible Final Deletion ripoff, that’s probably for the better). Shane wraps up his draft with Big Cass, again making a rookie seem like a really big deal but also giving a reason for people to tune in to the lottery on the WWE Network to see if Enzo will stay with him.

LOTTERY:

Yeah, I can’t be fucked with going through the whole roster since so many of these midcarders are interchangeable at the moment. I will say that it makes sense for Darren Young to go to Raw and Zack Ryder to SmackDown so that they’ll be on the same show as the guys they’re facing at Battleground, meaning one or both of those stories can continue after the PPV as needed.

In terms of tag teams Enzo stays on SmackDown with Cass, and Anderson/Gallows are on SmackDown as well to stay as AJ’s backups. I think most of the teams will stick together on one show or another but they’ll have a few token breakups just to put across the randomness of the draft. The Lucha Dragons are probably the “big” split with Kalisto going to SmackDown and Sin Cara to Raw. This kinda leaves nothing for Sin Cara to do with no tag team partner and no Cruiserweight Title, but he’s pushing 40 and the character in general has flopped so I think he’s just holding Kalisto back at this point. I still wouldn’t mind Luke Harper going to SmackDown with the rest of the Wyatt Family being on Raw.

Most of the women conveniently end up on Raw where the Women’s Championship is. If they do put any women on SmackDown, I’d just pick someone like Emma who is injured and will be out for a while so it’ll look like a random draft pick but they can figure out what to do with her later and it will also keep her on the same show as Ryder. I guess Alberto Del Rio would be assigned to Raw too to stay with Paige.

Draft Rules revealed:

Interesting that the Wyatt Family are not considered a team. Could be an oversight, unless Braun Strowman is going off on his own which feels like a terrible idea. The Lucha Dragons aren't listed as a team either, although they seemed like the most likely to split.

Also :lol: @ Demon Kane. Could leave the door open for Corporate Kane as GM.

Six off NXT, eh?

Finn Balor
Bayley
American Alpha (unsure if this would count as one or two under these rules)
Samoa Joe
Alexa Bliss
The Revival (if tag teams count as one pick)

Replace Alexa Bliss with Nia Jax or Asuka and you have it, I think.

This should be a spoiler warning that Dean Ambrose, Seth Rollins or Roman Reigns will be the first draft pick, depending on whoever Stephanie McMahon or her General Manager feels has the best chance of being the WWE Champion after Battleground.

Reigns is so getting demoted to the B show. Rollins and Ambrose stay on Raw.

Wish they would just have left the entire Womens division on Raw instead of giving Raw more draft picks.

Shoot. Maybe Cena ends up on Raw now with Reigns being demoted. Rollins and Cena on Raw? Hell I can't wait for draft night.

How long til Smackdown is 3 hours

Well, nothing soon since Raw will have a lot more wrestlers. Smackdown won't have enough to fill 3 hours.