[TomahawkJock]

I remember the days when WWE had one brand PPVs and actually had to use their midcard/lowercard talent to fill that PPV card. Now a days its just Main Event matches and yet they still dont announce the whole card and throw in random diva matches and Ryback squashes. This is terrible for the midcard. Back in 2003-2006, they actually had to use their midcard talent and put them in feuds if they wanted to fill the card.

Yet even today with NO BRAND SPLIT, they still can't announce all the matches and fill the card. Pretty sad to be honest.

 

[Brye]

Brand split PPVs were great because WWE actually decided to make feuds and get people onto the card, especially the midcard talent.

 

[Marv95]

The roster back then was stacked compared to today, so it kinda made sense to have branded PPVs. But it wasn't a bad idea to end the concept with no Angle, Eddie, Brock, Show, lack of CWs, etc. and low buyrates.

 

[Fallen Sephiroth]

The roster back then was stacked compared to today, so it kinda made sense to have branded PPVs. But it wasn't a bad idea to end the concept with no Angle, Eddie, Brock, Show, lack of CWs, etc. and low buyrates.

Hell, the roster's stacked now, but there's no direction as to who should be a part of which card. Yeah, the smarks can tell you who the ME, Upper, Mid and Low cards should be, but it doesn't look like the WWE knows that or what they want the shows to be. Smackdown used to be upper midcard transitioning to ME back to Raw(or overexposed ME's needing a bit of a rest to get fresh)/midcard/tag teams/cruiserweights/developmentals, while Raw was ME's/Upper Mids/Promos/Divas. They have the roster to still fill all of that, but since they haven't been really pushing anyone except for their new promotions from NXT, they don't know where everyone will fit and lots of talent is still very mic-untested. This is the problem. I always hated the separation, b/c I wanted to see some stars on both shows, but right now it is NECESSARY for development.

I think another thing that happened was since Smackdown focused so much on wrestling, primarily for development, Raw kept snatching all the good talent, and then trying rotating them to fill both shows that eroded and then killed both brands, as less and less airtime was being given to keep developing. This is also something that really needs to change. Stick to what you do best, but find out permanently what you do.

 

[GetStokedOnIt]

Brand split PPVs were great because WWE actually decided to make feuds and get people onto the card, especially the midcard talent.

WWE sadly have forgotten how to do this, even without the brand split PPV concept this would make every PPV higher in quality, rather than 4 main card matches and a bunch of random matches. If WWE actually put the effort into the midcard, the PPV quality would increase so much.

 

[Irish Jet]

A Smackdown only PPV would probably produce record low buyrates.

Plus the brand split is all but over now anyways, at least on Raw.

 

[TomahawkJock]

Yeah I never said it would be better now but Im saying it was better at the time and I have a hard time figuring out why they scrapped it.

 

[JamesCurtis24]

It's not like they can't have good PPVs they just choose not to.

 

[xhc]

The main event and the title matches had much more time for buildup, which was great. Also, the midcard feuds.

 

[yoseftigger]

One brand ppv back then were terrible and IWC complained about it too. They had terrible buyrates.

Take your nostalgic glasses off and realize what a terrible concept it was.

 

[RyanPelley]

I thought most of the brand exclusive PPVs were absolutely horrible. Sure, it got low - mid carders on PPV, but they were not worth the $40.

 

[TomahawkJock]

But it did help them get more over. And surely the last few PPVs havent been worth the money. Don't tell me they are. The fact that they had to build up feuds to fill the card for the PPV made the midcarder become more well known with the fans.

 

[Fallen Sephiroth]

I thought most of the brand exclusive PPVs were absolutely horrible. Sure, it got low - mid carders on PPV, but they were not worth the $40.

You're right. My brother was the only one insane enough to pay for a Smackdown PPV, and he's a true WWE mark. Still, there needs to be a balance btw the shows again, maybe with both being featured on the PPV's but separate on TV. I always thought of Smackdown as the ghetto Raw, but when it was good, it blew Raw outta the water.

 

[yoseftigger]

But it did help them get more over. And surely the last few PPVs havent been worth the money. Don't tell me they are. The fact that they had to build up feuds to fill the card for the PPV made the midcarder become more well known with the fans.

Oh, same thing with UFC. People buy ppv for the main events. I would rather have 4 "main events" rather than 1 or 2 main events and a bunch of mid carders. No matter if you announce Rhodes vs Christian ahead of time, hardly anyone is going to buy the ppv if they weren't going to. However a ppv with 2 world titles, a big main event, and some other high profile match will gather extra buys.

 

[TomahawkJock]

I didn't really make this thread to debate the economic impact of brand split PPVs. I was more talking about how having midcarders on the PPV made them look better, having them in fueds leading up to the PPV made them look better. Having 2 months in between PPVs resulted in better feuds.

 

[nmadankumar]

Nobody would watch a smackdown only pay per view today with the lack of depth in the roster

 

[Choke2Death]

They were good back when the roster was heavily stacked around 2003-2004 but today, they would produce the lowest buyrates ever, specially Smackdown, since they struggle to have more than two interesting feuds to draw people in, and two might even be a stretch.

 

[TempestH]

Personally I think they should keep the dual branded PPVs.

The only problem I see with the dual branded PPVs is that EVERY "relevant" Superstar "has" to be on EVERY SINGLE SHOW. If Cody Rhodes, Miz, or Dolph Ziggler don't have a match on PPV, then it supposedly means they've been "buried" or "lost in the shuffle". This method of thinking needs to stop. This is why we get random matches like Randy Orton vs Kane. John Cena, the face of the company missed TLC and it didn't affect him at all.

 

[expmsct]

I guess it's hard for some people to tell because Raw is a "supershow," but Smackdown actually has the far better roster.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_WWE_personnel

What many perceive as a shallow roster are actually creative and presentation issues. This has been the case for several years and will continue to be the case for at least as long as Vince is running the show.

 

[TomahawkJock]

One Branded PPVs would be fine. The roster is fine. The creative hasnt put midcarders in feuds though to help them get over. That's what needs to happen. When there was only one brand on a PPV, that brand had to put midcarders/lower midcarders into feuds to make the match interesting and to fill the card. Plus it made for more compelling feuds because they only had a PPV every two months.