[The Cop]

Is anyone else getting really really pissed off with the lack of brand division right now? More so than usual?

For instance why was Punk on Smackdown? I love Punk but if he is a Raw wrestler then I want to see him on Raw.

The same applies to Del Rio at the minute, he needs to stop randomly turning up on Raw every other week to wrestle someone he has no heat with in a throw away match.

The reason the WHC and Smackdown have lost all purpose is because of this lack of division, the only title Smackdown actually has at the minute is the US title and Ambrose is ALWAYS on Raw battling DBry and his random tag partners that seem to be chosen out of a hat through the year (Hell No and Taker, Hell No and Rnady Orton, DBry and 10 other superstars, DBry and the Rhodes. So really Smackdown has no titles I suppose...

Oh and the draft lottery was exciting too.

In other news:

Orton should have faced Hogan at WM30 and returned to his 'legend killer' persona.

Axel continues to job as the 'perfect' IC champion.

The mid-card continue to leech off Heyman and Punk.

DBry is getting old very quickly.

I still don't know who any of the divas are except AJ and the Bellas.

Fandango, welcome to Superstars.

 

[Jimshine]

not trying to be a doosh but the only people who miss the brand split are people who first started watching wrestling in that era.

here's looking at you kid, check out the 60+ years of wrestling that came before the notion of a 'brand split' was even conceived.

brand split was a gimmick

 

[A PG Attitude]

not trying to be a doosh but the only people who miss the brand split are people who first started watching wrestling in that era.

here's looking at you kid, check out the 60+ years of wrestling that came before the notion of a 'brand split' was even conceived.

brand split was a gimmick

This. I didn't like the sound of it when I stopped watching and I'm glad it was gone when I started watching again.

 

[Arrogant Mog]

I don't think they have the starpower to do that anymore

 

[samizayn]

More so than usual? What exactly do you mean, the brand split is over. It's hard to get less existent than nonexistent


There was a while I was hoping for it back, but at this point, ehh. No point digging up the past.

 

[Eulonzo]

not trying to be a doosh but the only people who miss the brand split are people who first started watching wrestling in that era.

This is true. :side: I started watching in that era.

 

[BigRedMonster47]

I don't think they have the starpower to do that anymore

^^ THIS ^^

WWE simply don't have enough star power to split the brands anymore, it's a shame because I always loved the Draft back in the days but until they get the star power Brand Splits are not going to happen sadly.

 

[FabioLight]

Like they said there is no star power or enough titles prestige to have a brand split, the solution now is merge them and make smackdown a event,special or PPV... ( even though they have too many PPVs)

 

[Chrome]

I wouldn't mind if they considered bringing it back in a few years after they rebuild their starpower, but right now they're fine having just one brand, the WWE brand. Just need to unify those World titles and they'd be set.

 

[Gretchen]

Brand Split or not, they need to get the WWE Title storyline off SD, and make the WHC feuds the main feuds of SD. This latest thing they've been doing with Bryan and Orton has really managed to make the WHC even more worthless than it felt before.

 

[TinkerMan]

They don't need to split the brands they simply need to watch an episode of raw from 99-01 and time the show that way.

6 minute matches, loads of promos and loads of dirty wins.

That's all you need.

 

[MachoMadness1988]

Unify the titles and have all wrestlers wrestle on both main shows for the love of God.

 

[*Eternity*]

The brand split will literally serve no purpose in todays time. The only reason the split was created was because the roster was stack with WCW acquisitions, that's it. The current roster is not nearly as large and there is nearly not as much star power now like there used to be back then. There is literally 6 star talents in the WWE today and out of those 6, only 1(Cena) is a definite draw. If a true brand split were to occur right now, then Smackdown will go extinct within 2 months along with any PPV that may be exclusive to it.

 

[Hannibal Lector]

Unify the titles and have all wrestlers wrestle on both main shows for the love of God.

Good god no.

 

[Cardiac Kid]

I started watching when the brand split was around, so that is probably why I prefer it. However, when you have a brand split it prevents having a Randy Orton vs Daniel Bryan main event 3 pay per views running, I just can't get hyped for a PPV when its like this. Other than Mania, Summerslam, Survivor Series and Royal Rumble if there are alternating PPV's between brands there is more build and matches should be repeated less.

You could also just watch one show and not miss anything, e.g. you could just watch Raw on a Monday Night and enjoy it, now you need to watch Raw, Smackdown and Main Event to follow storylines, which is too much for some.

I would agree there is less star power than before but I feel Cena, Orton, Bryan, Punk, Ziggler, Kane, Big Show, Sheamus, ADR, Shield and Ryback could all main event shows. There are also other guys that have the potential to such as Rhodes, Sandow, Barrett, Cesaro and Swagger, Big E and then add part timers, so Im not 100% I buy all this "there's not enough talent".

 

[KingLobos]

Brand split was the dumbest idea ever conceived. And the guy who said the only people who liked it are people who started watching when it was around is right.

 

[Jimshine]

 

[DudeLove669]

Brand split was garbage.

 

[WrestlingOracle]

. The roster isnt deep enough and a 3 hour raw are 2 huge reasons to not split brands. The set up right now isnt the problem. The problem is the prevailing philosophy of killing time on a three hour RAW with inferior shit. You have two hours of smackdown that was essentially wasted on rematches and nonsensical wrestling until recently where Finally smackdown has been used as a supplement to the biggest storyline right now. The point of RAW is to build momentum for wrestlers, and especially feuds to culminate on ppv while generating interest in said product. RAW is far and away the flagship show in terms of ratings and prestige, hence those 3 hours are extremely precious. Yet you have Del Rio and Christian killing 15 minutes of what should be on SD, as Del Rio has proven he isnt a selling point on ppv. 2 divas segments is about a weekly raw occurance, yet 1 is clearly enough. Cutting a diva segment and the usual SD shit would open RAW time to build the credibility a potential main event scene guy like Cesaro.

What i propose is that Smackdown be used as an Proving ground. You can mix and match guys with no direction on SD and see what gels, then when you got an promising plan that can lead to ppv success, bring it out to RAW ala Sandow/Rhodes. Cesaro was a guy who was featured alot on SD/main event, then had the awesome, well recieved showcase vs Bryan on RAW, which is why WWE's next step should be to have Cesaro transistion from versatile worker who elevates talent to an plausable main event player. Given that SD s somewhat prominant, yet is small enough to take risks, give guys who need mike work their time on SD, so that when they transition to RAW, they can cut an good promo, which would go a long way in improving their appeal to the fans, and hence their standing in WWE. Similarly, the SHIELD is bound to split, which should cause a major feud that will certainly warrant RAW time and deservably show. However, 3 guys wont be in the wwe title picture, yet im sure all 3 will be on RAW with someone spinning their wheels killing precious RAW time. Under my idea, you can feature the talented guys without direction on SD to put em in the WH title picture, or find an good feud.

Expanding my thoughts and knowing the roster isnt deep enough for an equal footing split, I would like the WH title to become an stepping stone to RAW. The top 2 or at max 3 fighting over it would get airtime on hour 1 of RAW, which cuts scrubs like Tons of Funk from taking RAW time, which again should only be for main event caliber guys. We would see only THE top guys on SD

 

[The Cop]

Unfortunately for all of you stuck in the Attitude Era, WWE is now the undisputed ruler of wrestling broadcast in terms of ratings and viewership.

This means that the roster is way too big for just Raw, they need Smackdown and even superstars to get as many superstars as possible air time.

Ditching Smackdown is a stupid idea.

You obtain starpower by working hard, working the crowd and putting on the best match possible every match. That is how Punk and Cena ended up at the top of the company. Stars like Axel have no starpower because he initially relied on his ancestry to push him to the top without any mic skills or crowd draw.

Starpower would happen if the brands were split properly and superstars went all out every match.

Bad booking and crap gimmicks aside of course.