WWE brought back the brand extension nearly one year ago right before the Battleground PPV, acknowledging the influx of talent they had on the main roster and NXT, and in an attempt to make use of every one of their talents, they once again separated the WWE into two separate, unique and independent shows in RAW and Smackdown. WWE programming has certainly changed since then, but whether it has been for better or worse, it all depends on one’s interpretation, and I’m here today to explain my views on where WWE stands in hindsight one year later. I always like to start with the positive and the good it has brought to them, so let’s do that.
First and foremost, as I stated before, WWE has made use of their talent, and Smackdown being billed as the “land of opportunity” with milk and honey and all that good stuff has certainly lived up to the billing. Becky Lynch, who was being hung out to dry from the Four Horsewomen as the only woman to not win any title, won her first as the inaugural Smackdown Women’s Champion. Heath Slater was given, albeit brief, a run as tag team champion alongside Rhyno. Superstars such as Bray Wyatt and Jinder Mahal, who may not have become WWE Champion under the old platform, have been able to hold WWE’s top title (even though Wyatt’s reign was completely forgettable). However, more notably, superstars that weren’t even drafted on television have been the ones that have shined the most. Alexa Bliss, who went 47th overall has somehow become the first woman to have held both the RAW and Smackdown tag titles. Carmella, who was the very last pick in the entire draft, has become the first ever Ms. Money In The Bank, technically winning a ladder match twice.
However, more notably, superstars that weren’t even drafted on television have been the ones that have shined the most. Alexa Bliss, who went 47th overall has somehow become the first woman to have held both the RAW and Smackdown tag titles. Carmella, who was the very last pick in the entire draft, has become the first ever Ms. Money In The Bank, technically winning a ladder match twice.
On the RAW side, Braun Strowman, a talent many had questions about as a singles superstar went 48th overall, and he has ascended into becoming a top tier superstar and a bonafide monster heel. A run as Universal Champion certainly looks to be in his future to boot. Kevin Owens was also given the reigns as top dog on RAW for about half a year as the Universal Champion working with Chris Jericho to take things over. RAW remains the dominant brand as it always has been, and nothing will change as RAW is allotted more time, more exposure and more superstars. I can’t really rave about Monday nights that much because theoretically and symbolically, there hasn’t been much change aside from the three new titles that were introduced to the brand when RAW started in the “New Era”.
Of course with the positive, also comes with the negative. First and foremost, if you haven’t noticed, WWE has been rather…..lacking all of this year. Hasn’t it just seem like each show every week is just, bland? There have been a lot of shows like that before, do not get me wrong. However, this year, it just appears to me that WWE is visibly running through the motions more than ever. There’s no sense of urgency, there’s nothing new, and there’s nothing exciting. When the brand split began, and RAW and Smackdown became independent, both shows were relatively solid, but Smackdown especially shined. In the first RAW of the new era, we had Sasha and Charlotte put on an epic match, two great fatal four way matches and Finn Balor going over Roman Reigns cleanly, all on free television. Now, we see Finn Balor in a feud with Elias Sampson in which he will face off against him for three weeks in a row. Meanwhile, on Smackdown LIVE, the wrestling, whatever we get, is extremely limited, and it appears to me that the main event is a tag team match each week.
When the brand split began, and RAW and Smackdown became independent, both shows were relatively solid, but Smackdown especially shined. In the first RAW of the new era, we had Sasha and Charlotte put on an epic match, two great fatal four way matches and Finn Balor going over Roman Reigns cleanly, all on free television. Now, we see Finn Balor in a feud with Elias Sampson in which he will face off against him for three weeks in a row. Meanwhile, on Smackdown LIVE, the wrestling, whatever we get, is extremely limited, and it appears to me that the main event is a tag team match each week.
When the brand split began, and RAW and Smackdown became independent, both shows were relatively solid, but Smackdown especially shined. In the first RAW of the new era, we had Sasha and Charlotte put on an epic match, two great fatal four way matches and Finn Balor going over Roman Reigns cleanly, all on free television. Now, we see Finn Balor in a feud with Elias Sampson in which he will face off against him for three weeks in a row. Meanwhile, on Smackdown LIVE, the wrestling, whatever we get, is extremely limited, and it appears to me that the main event is a tag team match each week. Not to mention, there is little variety with the brand split. We won’t get fresh matchups each week because all of the talent is dispersed into two indepdent shows, and WWE felt the need to split them because they didn’t know how to divide the two.
At least before with Smackdown LIVE, we had storytelling, interesting plots with all of the superstars that weren’t being utilized, and solid matches. Now, we get brief matches with little energy, and seemingly the same combinations of people every week. I assure you, if I was a new fan to the show, and I was watching RAW or Smackdown for the past couple of months, I’d question if I already watched it, because it is too repetitive. In addition, the tag team division has just become sad above anything else. This goes double for Smackdown. On Smackdown, the only serious contenders they have are The Usos and The New Day. Breezango and The Ascension remain the only tag teams to have remained on the Smackdown roster since the draft.
On Smackdown, the only serious contenders they have are The Usos and The New Day. Breezango and The Ascension remain the only tag teams to have remained on Smackdown since last year’s draft, and both of them have done nothing (well I shouldn’t say that about Breezango) important for the better part of their stint. One team is strictly comedy, and the other isn’t important enough to be a part of weekly programming. On RAW’s side, the return of the Hardy Boyz have been a breath of nostalgic air, but now that Enzo and Cass have split, unless you want to count Heath Slater and Rhyno, The Hardy Boyz are the only face team that remains on RAW. The Club, The Revival, and Cesaro and Sheamus are all heels, and there are no believable tag teams that could match up with them.
All of this is to say is that there has been a visible plague of complacency that has permeated WWE television for the better part of this year. Every PPV this year has left me with just “eh.” I always seemingly just saying, nothing bad, nothing great, just in the middle. WWE has been inoffensively dull, but sometimes, it’s insulting to know that the reason why they had the brand split was that of the talent they had, and now they aren’t utilizing the roster to its fullest potential. What I thought was initially a stroke of genius has suddenly waned and the excitement has turned into consistent disappointment. Royal Rumble. Fastlane. Elimination Chamber. WrestleMania. Payback. Extreme Rules. Great Balls of Fire. Backlash. Money In The Bank. Which one of those PPV’s this year has left you in awe or amazement? At the very least, would you watch any of those PPV’s from start to finish again? Probably not.
Also, consider what I just did. Including Battleground this Sunday, that will have already been 10 PPV’s that WWE has displayed this year. For the sake of perspective, consider that in 2015, the last year before the brand split, there were 12 PPV’s for the entire year. That is just way too much content for WWE to expect their fans to invest their time into. Add in an extra hour of 205 Live, and they wonder why ticket sales for their PPV’s have been disappointing and the Cruiserweights aren’t getting over. Imagine if Neville wasn’t brought over to the CW’s. Can you even begin to imagine what an awkward spot all of them would be in?
Overall, I think considering where WWE was before the draft last year, they are in a little bit of a worse spot. There is too much content being force-fed to fans, the talent isn’t being utilized to their full potential, and the programming has been getting repetitive. For those of you who may wonder why I write pieces like this and continue to watch despite all the negativity? WWE has proven that they can produce excellent content like they did shortly after the draft, and we have seen it time and time again. I continue to watch in hopes that programming will get better, though, as I mentioned during Smackdown’s PBP here, I’m dangerously close to taking a hiatus from watching the programming if it doesn’t improve soon. The draft was never a necessity, and where we stand today simply proves that point.
Where do you stand one year after the draft? Has it been a success? Failure? Let me know. Until next time.
