WWE's inconsistancy...
 

I realize the WWE is inconsistant with several angles/storylines but one thing that comes to mind that really pisses me off is when they have someone switch brands after being gone for a while without explanation. One example is Mark Henry. During the original roster split, he was drafted to SmackDown! He disappeared for a year and without explanation returned on Raw with Teddy Long and Rodney Mack. He then again took time off in early 2004 and returned last December on SmackDown! once again without explanation. Hopefully, they let him go all together because his contract expires because if they re-sign him I will probably end up having to watch him on Raw w/o explanation. A more recent example is Ashley who just returned on SmackDown! when coming back from injury with no storyline to explain it. I know there is more but I can't think of them ATM. They could at least give us some shit about how their contract expired with the other brand or something. I don't know why but this really pisses me off.

I like it when talent change brands. It keeps things fresh.

They mentioned Ashley being signed by SmackDown!

Yeah, but it's happened so much that it's no longer special, and with all the old "rules" regarding the brand split, it doesn't make much sense storyline wise.

Yeah and they need an explanation or storyline and not just have someone pop up on a different brand. I also think it's time they kill the roster split.

Why is Crippla back?

they aren't inconsistent

crisis

ok they are

kills

no they aren't

crippla

It's funny. Rather than address it, half the time they ignore it in hopes that nobody'll notice. I wonder which is worse...

Brand extension has its strengths and weaknesses, but I like it how it is. The strength is that with so much big name talent in the singles divisions you can keep big names around and push new ones with 2 world titles and 2 secondary (IC and US). I guess 3 now...

The weakness is the lower midcard wears thin and theres a lot of crap floating around, also with 2 titles and less shows/ppvs something seems to be lost from the storylines and the "champions". The Tag Team division is probably what hurts the most. With 2 tag team titles the division is split and as a result you have very few good tag teams and very little interest in that.

The roster split needs to end, its as simple as that. All these wrestlers switching shows maybe a sign that we are close to the end of it. I'm predicting by the beginning of next year, in order to shake things up, Vince Mcmahon will make the announcement to bring the rosters back together.


But i might just be being optimistic.

They DID resign Henry...

This is only a potential strength though, one that they failed to use. They made about as many "big" names during the Attitude Era without Smackdown as they did with two shows and two titles over the las few years.

Even then, there's a quality issue. But I won't go into comparing the actual job they've done with Cena and Orton.

What? NO! When did this happen? They re-sign a talentless, injury prone, lazy fuck like him and not re-sign Benoit? WTF?

The need to go back to the Champ on both shows.

make rankings on Raw and smackdown and they can have playoffs every few months to earn a title shot at the big shows.

They draw so many inspirations from sports, they need to just go all out.

Have "Seasons" where at the end the best records go to the playoffs. Winner of the playoffs get the champ. have a season for each title. Run then 4-5 months at a time.

M<ainwhile have the champ in a storyline, so its still a little like Wrestling, but while he is in a fued, his next opponent is being set up.

I dont kno, give me till I get home from work to figure it out and ill post my idea, see how you like it.

Uh, they re-signed Benoit.

If you want to talk about inconsistency...

...talk about Triple H trying to KILL Shawn Michaels back in 2002; bashing his head into a limosine window and smashing his back with a sledgehammer... now, without any real explanation, they're back together as DX.

....talk about Undetaker and Kane not being recognized as brothers anymore.

Do you guys expect anything more from the WWE? Do you want them to keep detailed records that they refer back to every week so that storylines are consistent? We can barely get a good storyline out of them, let alone a consistent one. I just ignore the fact that they think the fans are idiots, and roll with the punches. Maybe that makes me an idiot, but it keeps me sane.

My personal favorite of all time was the De-Borthering of E&C. I remember one time in particular when Christian was in the ring doing a match with whoever Edge was fueding with, Edge was doing some kind of guest commentary, and not only did they not mention they were brothers, they didn't even talk about how they had been a record holding tag team.

I except them to remember what happened two weeks ago. I expect them to remember main event matches.

I expect them to pay a minimimal amount of attention to the product.

You know, like the rest of us.

What I expect and what I get are two different things, obviously. If the rest of us can remember what happened two weeks ago, why can't creative? But I stopped seriously asking that question long ago, because I'm not fond of the answer.

The creative team's logic is that the fans may remember what happened in the past, but they are too stupid to connect it with the present. They think that we are all ADD cases. Look at Cena and Carlito. WWE would put them in the ring as tag partners, but are we to forget that carlito debuted beating Cena for the US belt, then had him "stabbed in a nightclub". They are uncreative enough to book 2 faces together, and remember that they have animosity.

Well, you asked if we expected some pretty lofty things. Detailed records, something even shows with a "Bible" don't do (Hence why Trekkies pick out so many "flaws.").

I'm just pointing out that not forgetting things two weeks later should be more within their grasp than pouring through 20 years of records meticulously kept.

Nah, they did decent with that. They gained "respect" over the years and even appeared as though they were about to shake hands on June 14, 2004, after Bad Blood 2004, in which the two wrestled in a Hell in a Cell Match. Then McMahon was on both their asses. Sure, Triple H was trying to "kill" Shawn Michaels in 2002, and they're partners now, but pro wrestling's always had that mentality as a feature.

And at least it was explained, within a reasonable context.

I understand that it is impossible to not book people together over and over. All I ask is that their history is not disregarded, or only brought up to further storylines. HHH was perfect when DX teamed with Cena, because when the match was signed, he looked at Cena as if he was 2 seconds from busting his head. JR and King did not acknowledge it, but his look sold the tension perfect. That is the continuity we need.

I agree about the roster split, but it's not likely to end any time soon unfortunately, especially now that ECW is a brand of WWE.:'(

^ How does ECW being involved make it less likely the roster split will end? You have confused me there.

To a point, it makes sense. Raw, Smackdown, and ECW are all being treated like separate shows, and unifying all three would make ECW significantly less special. However, since they don't HAVE to do that to ECW, and just unite the brands that were once one brand, it doesn't relaly make a LOT of sense.

Yeah, I wasn't including ECW. I just meant put Raw and SmackDown! back as one big brand and unify the belts. Seriously, they just don't have enough for two brands anymore and they need to have the belts mean something once again.

It'd actually be cool if ECW was more of an open environment, actually. They already have guest appearances, so why not allow other people to challenge for the title? Include indies or whatever, like back when WWF/E used to actually promote the small time federations and promotions.

I like the sound of that idea a lot, but I doubt that WWE would go for it. Pushing talent that they don't have under contract goes against everything that they've been working for since taking over the industry. If they would use ECW as a way to showcase talent that they sign from the indies, then it could work.

Yeah, I know it won't happen, but it'd be cool.

Hell, even if they just use people fro mtheir farm leagues, it'd be cool.

Now, where would the logic be in using your own talent?

Tell me about it.