STATE OF THE 'E: The Brand Split And Why It DOESN'T Mean Anything!

[Rated_R(ob)KO]

**THIS IS AWAITING APPROVAL TO BECOME A BLOG! I'M POSTING IT HERE FOR EARLY REVIEW AS PER USUAL!**


Okay, I know I'm in the middle of my FCW blog rant but, I have to take a break and talk about something that's been nagging at everyone since (majorly) the beginning of te year. It seems that the brand split is coming to an end. First they took away "Bragging Rights" which was a PPV designed to see which brand was better. Speculation was they took it away because of the poor sales it garnered for it's existence.

Now, a couple months later, it would all make sense as to why the PPV was discontinued... they're no longer making the long running franchise game:

"WWE SMACKDOWN! VS. RAW"

That game has been a staple within THE 'E for a VERY long time.... actually, ever since the brand split. Before then, it was just known as "SMACKDOWN!" with other words added like "Just Bring It!" for example. Now, we all know why the brand split took place to begin with. TOO MUCH TALENT! They acquired all of Ted Turner's merry band of miscreants for $35.00 (USD) and some of Stephanie McMahon's pubic shavings and proceeded to have a clusterf**k of talent happening which included them having ECW on their shows and WCW on their shows and they tried to make them seperate brands but under the same banner... there was an "Invasion" and a whole bunch of other crap as well.

Well, flash forward 10 years now and... where are the WCW guys? Where are the ECW guys? All gone. THE 'E have a ton of homegrown talent now and that's it. There really isn't a NEED for a brand split. They did it because they were over 100 guys deep in the talent pool and a lot of ego was being hurt. That's all. And now with Haitch announcing that the SD! talent would be appearing on RAW and vice versa apparently all of the talent are worried about their future. Well unfortunately, that's how the cookie crumbles.

No one WANTS to lose their job. But in this economy and the fact that no other company seems to be able to compete with them, they're sitting comfortabely at the top of their mountain. Until then, what do they really need a roster of 80+ deep for?

Now, here is what I would personally do to streamline the company and make the transition a bit smoother overall.

1.) Trim the roster of about 30 Superstars/Divas. Your roster is over 80 right now, make it about 50.

2.) Make "SUPERSTARS" the show for the lower/mid-card guys. Give them a Cruiserweight (or something akin) Championship and maybe throw the U.S. Championship there as well. Considering they could be defended on any of the shows, have them do that from time to time to gain exposure. And considering the show is on the Internet, have ZR defend his Internet Championship there too.

3.) Keep The Heavyweight Championship and the WWE Championship. I know, I know, why have two Championships if the shows aren't "exclusive" anymore. Well, the WWE Championship is supposed to be the PRIDE of their company anyway. Make it so. That Championship should be considered the holy grail. The WHC should be a close second and should be attainable by the upper mid-card and those guys who are on the mountain but just not particularly ready to carry the whole company on their back.

That would be where Smackdown! comes into play. Make that show for the people who are on the precipice of main eventing a live show. The WHC could be defended on any show as well making it viable all over and you KNOW that that guy is gunning for the WWE Championship in the near future. So long as he can break that glass ceiling of course.

Also, this is where you want your Intercontinental and Divas Championships to be defended the most as well. Of course the Cruiserweight/U.S. Championships can be defended here but, make it a special event.

And on to RAW... That is where all of the money makers should be. The Tag-Teams, and the WWE Championship. That is the main show, it should FEEL like the main show. The best music, the best set designs, the best looking Championship, the best writing... EVERYTHING! Now, I know it sounds like I'm bashing SD! and Superstars here but, I'm not. This is how you get people to pay attention to the other shows more. On RAW they can have all of the Championships be defended, and the main storylines there. Have some carry over to SD! and Superstars. Make it compelling on ALL shows but, make RAW THE show.

4.) Lower your PPV numbers. You're sitting at 14 PPV's a year. Do we REALLY need that many? I know it's all about the Benjamins baby but, c'mon. In America we're pulling out $50.00 (USD) a month for a SD PPV and $55.00 (USD) for HD. Now, when you add taxes that turns into $55.00 (USD) and $60.00 (USD) respectively. I know I pay for them month in and month out, but that's because I'm an avid fanboy and supporter of THE 'E. And, I can afford to. It's not cool when a PPV should be considered a "luxury" to purchase.

Maybe get rid of 5 of them. Have 9 PPV's. The "Big 4" (Royal Rumble, WrestleMania, SummerSlam, & Survivor Series) and have them truly MEAN something again. and then also have Money In The Bank, Backlash, Elimination Chamber, War Games, and Vengeance. And have them truly mean something as well. There's a couple months gap in between there for one or two of them. ANNOUNCE THE DAMN CARD! I mean, SummerSlam came and there was only 5 announced matches. WTF? And the majority of them were announced the WEEK before the PPV. Again, WTF?

5.) Give us another show as well. Something to expose the talents a little more to the general populace. Hell, throw it on NBC. They're affiliated with them. Give an hour a week on Tuesday for the show. 8pm. Have the guys discuss things about their lives on the road, backstage shit. Make it a bit... personal. That would give the non-fans something to look into and then maybe they'll switch and watch a RAW episode, or a SMACKDOWN! episode, hell maybe even turn on the comp and watch Superstars.

Needless to say, it would definitely help them out.

Well, that's all I have for this one. Please, leave comments, questions, concerns and beratings for me. I welcome them. And hell, if you have anymore input, please... put forth.

STATE OF THE 'E Can be checked out in various forms:

The Podcast

The Facebook

The YouTube

The Website

[The Brown One]

I don't like to think of the World Heavyweight Championship as a stepping stone to the World Wrestling Entertainment Championship. Sure the WWE title has history on its side, being held by the legends of the 'golden era'. But the WHC should be treated as an equal championship. Why? It seems these days that the WWE title is being passed to new guys without even having to win the IC/US titles and then the WHC first - see The Miz, Sheamus, ADR. The WHC has been recently held by Orton, Christian and Edge. For a "secondary" title, I'd like to think that list of wrestlers are veterans, as opposed to the new talent to the WWE mentioned above who held the WWE title. So I agree that there should be both the WWE, and the WHC, but for a different reason.

I'd also get rid of the Survivor Series PPV. It's seriously lost its 'magic' and position as one of the 'Big Four' a long time ago. Like you said, they have unannounced matches on PPVs frequently, and that shouldn't be happening for one of your top PPVs. I'd rather have the WWE remove that PPV from their calendar to free up some time to have better buildup for the other PPVs.

[Poot-Hair]

I don't like to think of the World Heavyweight Championship as a stepping stone to the World Wrestling Entertainment Championship. Sure the WWE title has history on its side, being held by the legends of the 'golden era'. But the WHC should be treated as an equal championship. Why? It seems these days that the WWE title is being passed to new guys without even having to win the IC/US titles and then the WHC first - see The Miz, Sheamus, ADR. The WHC has been recently held by Orton, Christian and Edge. For a "secondary" title, I'd like to think that list of wrestlers are veterans, as opposed to the new talent to the WWE mentioned above who held the WWE title. So I agree that there should be both the WWE, and the WHC, but for a different reason.

I'd also get rid of the Survivor Series PPV. It's seriously lost its 'magic' and position as one of the 'Big Four' a long time ago. Like you said, they have unannounced matches on PPVs frequently, and that shouldn't be happening for one of your top PPVs. I'd rather have the WWE remove that PPV from their calendar to free up some time to have better buildup for the other PPVs.

Y'know along these same lines why not cut out 5 or 6 ppv's in a year, only have one every other month? Since it looks like the brand extension is fizzling why not have 2 full months to build a MASSIVE ppv? if not 5 or 6 then cut out a ppv or two before your biggest ones. Maybe the month before the Royal Rumble cut out and have a 2 month build and the month before WrestleMania do the same? Something to think about

[Hannibal]

It seems these days that the WWE title is being passed to new guys without even having to win the IC/US titles and then the WHC first - see The Miz, Sheamus, ADR.

The Miz was a United States Champion 3 times, A tag Team Champion 3 times and won Money in the bank. He'd been there for what was it? I think 5 to 6 years. He earned his way to the WWE Championship.

[S.E. Zero]

The Miz was a United States Champion 3 times, A tag Team Champion 3 times and won Money in the bank. He'd been there for what was it? I think 5 to 6 years. He earned his way to the WWE Championship.

I approve this message

[tshizzy34]

the miz was a united states champion 3 times, a tag team champion 3 times and won money in the bank. He'd been there for what was it? I think 5 to 6 years. He earned his way to the wwe championship.

^^^^^^^^^this!

[BlazersDozen]

I have a few things

In 2000 the WWF roster was about 65 deep. Only around 15 less guys than today & I'm sure they can easily find 15 guys to fire or send down to FCW. So I don't really think the roster is a HUGE problem right now especially whenn you add the fact that Triple H, Undertaker, Kane, Christian & others are close to retirement so that'll get the difference into single digits.

I like the idea of having the WHC as a upper mid card title but I would think you may have to rename it, as personally, I think it already SOUNDS more prestigious than the WWE title (& looks more prestigious) but its a great idea that would allow guys like Christian, Ziggler, Sheamus & Miz to have something to do since they are above the IC & US belts but just below the main event top drawing area.

I think Superstars should be extended to 2 hours with multiple appearances from US & IC champs & maybe a main eventer here & there. This should be a show for the likes of R-Truth & other guys who have nothing to do but are talented enough to keep around.

Smackdown should be used just as it was before the brand split. Basically just to advance storylines at a quicker rate in time for PPVs. Maybe the top guys won't be having matches here every week, but they'll be cutting promos & having run ins with rivals.

Obviously RAW should be the big show & this is where the top talent will have their matches.

Now here's my idea. NXT, the internet show, should stay as an internet show but no longer be used for guys coming up from FCW but for guys who are green but loaded with potential (Alex Riley, Zack Ryder, Trent Barretta, Curt Hawkins) & this is where the Internet Championship would be defended.

If they go back to having 10 tag teams, then the roster is just fine because everyone would be getting used whether on RAW, SD, Superstars or NXT whether as a singles guy or a tag team.

Also, nobody ever said that RAW talent will be on SD every week. They only announced SD talent being on RAW every week.

[Hannibal]

Having the world heavyweight championship as an upper midcard titles is a bad idea and demeans the title. It's a bad idea. It's a WORLD championship for a reason. It means you're the best in the world at the point in time. They should just merge championships. Unified Championship all over again.
Have a Tournament all over again. Jericho should be involved and you know what? This would be an awesome set up for Mania this year.

[Enforcer23]

**THIS IS AWAITING APPROVAL TO BECOME A BLOG! I'M POSTING IT HERE FOR EARLY REVIEW AS PER USUAL!**


Okay, I know I'm in the middle of my FCW blog rant but, I have to take a break and talk about something that's been nagging at everyone since (majorly) the beginning of te year. It seems that the brand split is coming to an end. First they took away "Bragging Rights" which was a PPV designed to see which brand was better. Speculation was they took it away because of the poor sales it garnered for it's existence.

Now, a couple months later, it would all make sense as to why the PPV was discontinued... they're no longer making the long running franchise game:

"WWE SMACKDOWN! VS. RAW"

That game has been a staple within THE 'E for a VERY long time.... actually, ever since the brand split. Before then, it was just known as "SMACKDOWN!" with other words added like "Just Bring It!" for example. Now, we all know why the brand split took place to begin with. TOO MUCH TALENT! They acquired all of Ted Turner's merry band of miscreants for $35.00 (USD) and some of Stephanie McMahon's pubic shavings and proceeded to have a clusterf**k of talent happening which included them having ECW on their shows and WCW on their shows and they tried to make them seperate brands but under the same banner... there was an "Invasion" and a whole bunch of other crap as well.

Well, flash forward 10 years now and... where are the WCW guys? Where are the ECW guys? All gone. THE 'E have a ton of homegrown talent now and that's it. There really isn't a NEED for a brand split. They did it because they were over 100 guys deep in the talent pool and a lot of ego was being hurt. That's all. And now with Haitch announcing that the SD! talent would be appearing on RAW and vice versa apparently all of the talent are worried about their future. Well unfortunately, that's how the cookie crumbles.

No one WANTS to lose their job. But in this economy and the fact that no other company seems to be able to compete with them, they're sitting comfortabely at the top of their mountain. Until then, what do they really need a roster of 80+ deep for?

Now, here is what I would personally do to streamline the company and make the transition a bit smoother overall.

1.) Trim the roster of about 30 Superstars/Divas. Your roster is over 80 right now, make it about 50.

2.) Make "SUPERSTARS" the show for the lower/mid-card guys. Give them a Cruiserweight (or something akin) Championship and maybe throw the U.S. Championship there as well. Considering they could be defended on any of the shows, have them do that from time to time to gain exposure. And considering the show is on the Internet, have ZR defend his Internet Championship there too.

3.) Keep The Heavyweight Championship and the WWE Championship. I know, I know, why have two Championships if the shows aren't "exclusive" anymore. Well, the WWE Championship is supposed to be the PRIDE of their company anyway. Make it so. That Championship should be considered the holy grail. The WHC should be a close second and should be attainable by the upper mid-card and those guys who are on the mountain but just not particularly ready to carry the whole company on their back.

That would be where Smackdown! comes into play. Make that show for the people who are on the precipice of main eventing a live show. The WHC could be defended on any show as well making it viable all over and you KNOW that that guy is gunning for the WWE Championship in the near future. So long as he can break that glass ceiling of course.

Also, this is where you want your Intercontinental and Divas Championships to be defended the most as well. Of course the Cruiserweight/U.S. Championships can be defended here but, make it a special event.

And on to RAW... That is where all of the money makers should be. The Tag-Teams, and the WWE Championship. That is the main show, it should FEEL like the main show. The best music, the best set designs, the best looking Championship, the best writing... EVERYTHING! Now, I know it sounds like I'm bashing SD! and Superstars here but, I'm not. This is how you get people to pay attention to the other shows more. On RAW they can have all of the Championships be defended, and the main storylines there. Have some carry over to SD! and Superstars. Make it compelling on ALL shows but, make RAW THE show.

4.) Lower your PPV numbers. You're sitting at 14 PPV's a year. Do we REALLY need that many? I know it's all about the Benjamins baby but, c'mon. In America we're pulling out $50.00 (USD) a month for a SD PPV and $55.00 (USD) for HD. Now, when you add taxes that turns into $55.00 (USD) and $60.00 (USD) respectively. I know I pay for them month in and month out, but that's because I'm an avid fanboy and supporter of THE 'E. And, I can afford to. It's not cool when a PPV should be considered a "luxury" to purchase.

Maybe get rid of 5 of them. Have 9 PPV's. The "Big 4" (Royal Rumble, WrestleMania, SummerSlam, & Survivor Series) and have them truly MEAN something again. and then also have Money In The Bank, Backlash, Elimination Chamber, War Games, and Vengeance. And have them truly mean something as well. There's a couple months gap in between there for one or two of them. ANNOUNCE THE DAMN CARD! I mean, SummerSlam came and there was only 5 announced matches. WTF? And the majority of them were announced the WEEK before the PPV. Again, WTF?

5.) Give us another show as well. Something to expose the talents a little more to the general populace. Hell, throw it on NBC. They're affiliated with them. Give an hour a week on Tuesday for the show. 8pm. Have the guys discuss things about their lives on the road, backstage shit. Make it a bit... personal. That would give the non-fans something to look into and then maybe they'll switch and watch a RAW episode, or a SMACKDOWN! episode, hell maybe even turn on the comp and watch Superstars.

Needless to say, it would definitely help them out.

Well, that's all I have for this one. Please, leave comments, questions, concerns and beratings for me. I welcome them. And hell, if you have anymore input, please... put forth.

STATE OF THE 'E Can be checked out in various forms:

The Podcast

The Facebook

The YouTube

The Website

mate this is brillant...i think you should send this into WWE and they will put you as thier head developer in product...or something like that

[jonod]

**THIS IS AWAITING APPROVAL TO BECOME A BLOG! I'M POSTING IT HERE FOR EARLY REVIEW AS PER USUAL!**


Okay, I know I'm in the middle of my FCW blog rant but, I have to take a break and talk about something that's been nagging at everyone since (majorly) the beginning of te year. It seems that the brand split is coming to an end. First they took away "Bragging Rights" which was a PPV designed to see which brand was better. Speculation was they took it away because of the poor sales it garnered for it's existence.

Now, a couple months later, it would all make sense as to why the PPV was discontinued... they're no longer making the long running franchise game:

"WWE SMACKDOWN! VS. RAW"

That game has been a staple within THE 'E for a VERY long time.... actually, ever since the brand split. Before then, it was just known as "SMACKDOWN!" with other words added like "Just Bring It!" for example. Now, we all know why the brand split took place to begin with. TOO MUCH TALENT! They acquired all of Ted Turner's merry band of miscreants for $35.00 (USD) and some of Stephanie McMahon's pubic shavings and proceeded to have a clusterf**k of talent happening which included them having ECW on their shows and WCW on their shows and they tried to make them seperate brands but under the same banner... there was an "Invasion" and a whole bunch of other crap as well.

Well, flash forward 10 years now and... where are the WCW guys? Where are the ECW guys? All gone. THE 'E have a ton of homegrown talent now and that's it. There really isn't a NEED for a brand split. They did it because they were over 100 guys deep in the talent pool and a lot of ego was being hurt. That's all. And now with Haitch announcing that the SD! talent would be appearing on RAW and vice versa apparently all of the talent are worried about their future. Well unfortunately, that's how the cookie crumbles.

No one WANTS to lose their job. But in this economy and the fact that no other company seems to be able to compete with them, they're sitting comfortabely at the top of their mountain. Until then, what do they really need a roster of 80+ deep for?

Now, here is what I would personally do to streamline the company and make the transition a bit smoother overall.

1.) Trim the roster of about 30 Superstars/Divas. Your roster is over 80 right now, make it about 50.

2.) Make "SUPERSTARS" the show for the lower/mid-card guys. Give them a Cruiserweight (or something akin) Championship and maybe throw the U.S. Championship there as well. Considering they could be defended on any of the shows, have them do that from time to time to gain exposure. And considering the show is on the Internet, have ZR defend his Internet Championship there too.

3.) Keep The Heavyweight Championship and the WWE Championship. I know, I know, why have two Championships if the shows aren't "exclusive" anymore. Well, the WWE Championship is supposed to be the PRIDE of their company anyway. Make it so. That Championship should be considered the holy grail. The WHC should be a close second and should be attainable by the upper mid-card and those guys who are on the mountain but just not particularly ready to carry the whole company on their back.

That would be where Smackdown! comes into play. Make that show for the people who are on the precipice of main eventing a live show. The WHC could be defended on any show as well making it viable all over and you KNOW that that guy is gunning for the WWE Championship in the near future. So long as he can break that glass ceiling of course.

Also, this is where you want your Intercontinental and Divas Championships to be defended the most as well. Of course the Cruiserweight/U.S. Championships can be defended here but, make it a special event.

And on to RAW... That is where all of the money makers should be. The Tag-Teams, and the WWE Championship. That is the main show, it should FEEL like the main show. The best music, the best set designs, the best looking Championship, the best writing... EVERYTHING! Now, I know it sounds like I'm bashing SD! and Superstars here but, I'm not. This is how you get people to pay attention to the other shows more. On RAW they can have all of the Championships be defended, and the main storylines there. Have some carry over to SD! and Superstars. Make it compelling on ALL shows but, make RAW THE show.

4.) Lower your PPV numbers. You're sitting at 14 PPV's a year. Do we REALLY need that many? I know it's all about the Benjamins baby but, c'mon. In America we're pulling out $50.00 (USD) a month for a SD PPV and $55.00 (USD) for HD. Now, when you add taxes that turns into $55.00 (USD) and $60.00 (USD) respectively. I know I pay for them month in and month out, but that's because I'm an avid fanboy and supporter of THE 'E. And, I can afford to. It's not cool when a PPV should be considered a "luxury" to purchase.

Maybe get rid of 5 of them. Have 9 PPV's. The "Big 4" (Royal Rumble, WrestleMania, SummerSlam, & Survivor Series) and have them truly MEAN something again. and then also have Money In The Bank, Backlash, Elimination Chamber, War Games, and Vengeance. And have them truly mean something as well. There's a couple months gap in between there for one or two of them. ANNOUNCE THE DAMN CARD! I mean, SummerSlam came and there was only 5 announced matches. WTF? And the majority of them were announced the WEEK before the PPV. Again, WTF?

5.) Give us another show as well. Something to expose the talents a little more to the general populace. Hell, throw it on NBC. They're affiliated with them. Give an hour a week on Tuesday for the show. 8pm. Have the guys discuss things about their lives on the road, backstage shit. Make it a bit... personal. That would give the non-fans something to look into and then maybe they'll switch and watch a RAW episode, or a SMACKDOWN! episode, hell maybe even turn on the comp and watch Superstars.

Needless to say, it would definitely help them out.

Well, that's all I have for this one. Please, leave comments, questions, concerns and beratings for me. I welcome them. And hell, if you have anymore input, please... put forth.

STATE OF THE 'E Can be checked out in various forms:

The Podcast

The Facebook

The YouTube

The Website

I like this blog!

World Heavyweight Championship is difficult as it stands for so much historically, I always wondered if there was something in the paperwork when wwe bought wcw that it had to be kept.. If the brands re-merge fully then I could only realistically see it being used as you suggest. But then it sort of becomes a modern day intercontinental championship. Maybe that's the way forward?