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**The CyNick** · 09-25-2004, 10:37 PM

I believe WWE TV breaks down like this:

RAW Brand:
RAW (2hr show with A level talent, all angles are done here), Heat (1 hr show with first run B level matches, few if angles are shot here) and Bottom Line (1 Hour recap show)

SD Brand
SD (2hr show with A level talent, all angles are done here), Velocity (1 hr show with first run B level matches, few if angles are shot here) and After Burn (1 Hour recap show)

Then you have the 1 hour Experience show on Sunday mornings which I too have never seen, but understand it recaps both brands with some special packages they used to use on Confidential (ie "SD went to Australia this week here's the highlights")

Now, in theory turning 4 of the 5 hours which are pretty much wasted right now into shows with A-level talent and story progression is a good idea. But in theory communism was a good idea, in theory.

In reality its a really bad idea. First problem is that I doubt Spike TV will give the WWE two more days to show wrestling in prime time. I mean I know they love the WWE for bringning in what little ratings they get, but at the same time I dont think they want to be known as the WWE Channel. They want to build up their reputation, not bring it down.

But even if the WWE could get the better timeslots there would be huge pressures on the already stretched writing team to write 4 more hours of "qaulity" first run TV. I remember a lot of the writers complaining when the WWE added SD to the mix, imagine the problems if they had two more shows to worry about.

Finally in all likelyhood this will burn out the fans. One of the reasons they did the brand extension in the first place was because they felt they were burning out talent by having them on two times per week. Now they have stars who aren't nearly as over and you want them to overexpose them? That sounds like suicide to me.

What I would rather see them do is to concentrate on making RAW and SD consistantly good, and then maybe make Heat and Velocity worth watching. But until they can do that, they shouldn't even give a seocnd thought to adding more A-level shows.

As for the PPVs, I think they are moving towards something like you have listed, where they have shows for each brand every month and then the 4 major shows with talent from both sides. I wouldn't mind seeing KOTR come back, but perhaps only for one of the brands. I say that only because judging from what Vince said at the Mania 21 Press Conference it seems like they want to keep Mania as the only show where RAW guys can face SD in matches (Rumble doesn't count as a macth). If they brought back KOTR as a dual brand show, you would have to make it end with a RAW vs SD finals, and then that hurts the specialness of Mania.

I'd also like to see them bring back more WCW PPV titles, and I actually think they may do that down the line. In 05 they have two PPVs scheduled for January (one RAW and the Rumble obviously). I think that RAW show will get pushed back to December in the future (like at the end of 05) and that could easily be called Starrcade. With all the history of that PPV they really should capitalize on it. Havoc should be brought back as one of the October shows. And there's BATB, and Super Brawl which should be used. The other they shows they add in the future can be given stupid WWE created names like Taboo Tuesday.

09-25-2004, 10:37 PM	#4
The CyNick Make the IWC Great Again Posts: 8,922	I believe WWE TV breaks down like this: RAW Brand: RAW (2hr show with A level talent, all angles are done here), Heat (1 hr show with first run B level matches, few if angles are shot here) and Bottom Line (1 Hour recap show) SD Brand SD (2hr show with A level talent, all angles are done here), Velocity (1 hr show with first run B level matches, few if angles are shot here) and After Burn (1 Hour recap show) Then you have the 1 hour Experience show on Sunday mornings which I too have never seen, but understand it recaps both brands with some special packages they used to use on Confidential (ie "SD went to Australia this week here's the highlights") Now, in theory turning 4 of the 5 hours which are pretty much wasted right now into shows with A-level talent and story progression is a good idea. But in theory communism was a good idea, in theory. In reality its a really bad idea. First problem is that I doubt Spike TV will give the WWE two more days to show wrestling in prime time. I mean I know they love the WWE for bringning in what little ratings they get, but at the same time I dont think they want to be known as the WWE Channel. They want to build up their reputation, not bring it down. But even if the WWE could get the better timeslots there would be huge pressures on the already stretched writing team to write 4 more hours of "qaulity" first run TV. I remember a lot of the writers complaining when the WWE added SD to the mix, imagine the problems if they had two more shows to worry about. Finally in all likelyhood this will burn out the fans. One of the reasons they did the brand extension in the first place was because they felt they were burning out talent by having them on two times per week. Now they have stars who aren't nearly as over and you want them to overexpose them? That sounds like suicide to me. What I would rather see them do is to concentrate on making RAW and SD consistantly good, and then maybe make Heat and Velocity worth watching. But until they can do that, they shouldn't even give a seocnd thought to adding more A-level shows. As for the PPVs, I think they are moving towards something like you have listed, where they have shows for each brand every month and then the 4 major shows with talent from both sides. I wouldn't mind seeing KOTR come back, but perhaps only for one of the brands. I say that only because judging from what Vince said at the Mania 21 Press Conference it seems like they want to keep Mania as the only show where RAW guys can face SD in matches (Rumble doesn't count as a macth). If they brought back KOTR as a dual brand show, you would have to make it end with a RAW vs SD finals, and then that hurts the specialness of Mania. I'd also like to see them bring back more WCW PPV titles, and I actually think they may do that down the line. In 05 they have two PPVs scheduled for January (one RAW and the Rumble obviously). I think that RAW show will get pushed back to December in the future (like at the end of 05) and that could easily be called Starrcade. With all the history of that PPV they really should capitalize on it. Havoc should be brought back as one of the October shows. And there's BATB, and Super Brawl which should be used. The other they shows they add in the future can be given stupid WWE created names like Taboo Tuesday.