Brand Split - Should it return?

HooohRaaah

I am of the opinion that it should 100% return with strict rules in place about talent appearing on each show.
There is zero competition in pro wrestling and I feel having different RAW & SmackDown! Rosters would bring back somewhat of a competitive nature again of shows competing against each other.

Performers would be less saturated. Less is more in the business. Currently we see too much of Rollins, Ambrose etc.

It would revitalize the SmackDown show.

Two separate writing teams would give the two shows a distinctively different feel.

Likes of Cesaro etc would most likely be in higher calibre feuds if there was a split.

What do people think?

rovert

They can't write for one brand let alone two. Also there aren't enough stars to carry two brands.

It you could be successfully but it isn't within WWE to do it.

gimmick

God no. For the whole split people wanted it to end. It was an awful idea first day.

HooohRaaah

gimmick wrote: »

God no. For the whole split people wanted it to end. It was an awful idea first day.

Why?

gimmick

Why? 2 world champions in one company is too many. It diluted the mid card to the extent that it pretty much doesn't exist anymore. The tag titles and mid card titles are now merely props. It may have been going that way anyway but they defo died at the start of the split.

Ageyev

NXT serves as a decent "separate brand" - you get a different show with different wrestlers, different matches, developed storylines and all with WWE's TV production values. And it has the less is more thing.

gnfnrhead

For a brand split to work you need a lot of talent. WWE had that following the (God awful) invasion but don't have anywhere near that now. Excluding the part timers, their big stars are Cena, Orton and Bryan. Having to split that evenly across two rosters would result in the likes of Big Show and Kane in PPV main events every couple of months and I doubt many people would enjoy that. Go through the main roster and try to split it evenly. You'll almost definitely end up with two meh rosters, especially after the first ten or so names. If you try to bulk up a roster, the other one very quickly looks like crap. The brand split worked early on because Smackdown got five great wrestlers (plus a load of very good wrestlers) while Raw got a load of the big names to go with the good wrestlers. That was enough to carry each show but WWE no longer has that at their disposal.

This without even mentioning the extra work that would be involved when they can't even make one show worth watching right now.

CSF

gnfnrhead wrote: »

For a brand split to work you need a lot of talent. WWE had that following the (God awful) invasion but don't have anywhere near that now. Excluding the part timers, their big stars are Cena, Orton and Bryan. Having to split that evenly across two rosters would result in the likes of Big Show and Kane in PPV main events every couple of months and I doubt many people would enjoy that. Go through the main roster and try to split it evenly. You'll almost definitely end up with two meh rosters, especially after the first ten or so names. If you try to bulk up a roster, the other one very quickly looks like crap. The brand split worked early on because Smackdown got five great wrestlers (plus a load of very good wrestlers) while Raw got a load of the big names to go with the good wrestlers. That was enough to carry each show but WWE no longer has that at their disposal.

This without even mentioning the extra work that would be involved when they can't even make one show worth watching right now.

I wouldn't be in favour of a split but I do think WWE has a serious amount of talent right now.

Between Cena, Orton, Bryan, the Authority (they're a big part of the show, Heyman, Ambrose, Rollins, Reigns, Ziggler, Rusev, Ryback, Sheamus, Barrett, the 3 ex-Wyatts, Cesaro you've the nucleus of 2 decent mid to upper cards with your Kanes and Big Shows being used in the same role they always were. Then youve the guys from NXT and the part-timers to spice it up a bit.

The amount of talent on 1 roster has actually led to some seriously talented stars not getting the opportunity.

Sin Eater

The brand split was a disaster. I think it could have worked, if WWE had given it a proper chance and kept the brands seperate and independent of each other.

gnfnrhead

CSF wrote: »

I wouldn't be in favour of a split but I do think WWE has a serious amount of talent right now.

Between Cena, Orton, Bryan, the Authority (they're a big part of the show, Heyman, Ambrose, Rollins, Reigns, Ziggler, Rusev, Ryback, Sheamus, Barrett, the 3 ex-Wyatts, Cesaro you've the nucleus of 2 decent mid to upper cards with your Kanes and Big Shows being used in the same role they always were. Then youve the guys from NXT and the part-timers to spice it up a bit.

The amount of talent on 1 roster has actually led to some seriously talented stars not getting the opportunity.

Look at it purely from an in ring perspective. Triple H can do his ramblings promos if needed but the majority of the show takes place in the ring so you have to exclude the Authority and Heyman from that list straight away. How long can Rusev actually go for? The vast majority of his matches have been only a few minutes. Is that really enough to trust him into a high card spot? With a brand split you need all your upper card guys to be capable of main eventing if needed. Several people on that list are no where near that for various reasons. The names you listed are fine for a single roster but split it in half and suddenly it doesn't look so good. With Raw being three hours, it would also need a little extra meaning Smackdown would get maybe four people from that list and likely the least important four. Raw ends up with a fairly good roster, Smackdown fairly weak. At this point in time, they don't have the talent to properly split the roster in two without hurting at least one show. Considering how bad it usually is, that's the last thing they should be doing.

Stereomaniac

Just on the Rusev point there, I am of the opinion that he can take the ball and run with it, as much as a heel can. But I think that there's always a risk that something won't succeed, with every character and storyline. However, I think that Rusev could definitely be a main heel on the roster for the next few years. He certainly seems to be a better mover than a lot of the more recent big men we've seen, and is very agile. But they will never know if they don't just go with it and see what happens for a bit. I'm anxious to see where they go with him.

CSF

Well obviously you'd have to go back to 2 hours if you were cutting the roster in half. But I think there's a decent balance there between the guys who do all the talking, and the guys you can rely on to put on an A grade match that night.

Then there's also a ridiculous amount of in-ring talent that wouldn't go near the mid to upper card, but regularly do Raw/Smackdown bits as it is.

I do have to reiterate that I'm not in favour of this for other reasons though. 1 night a week plus PPVs is enough for me.

CSF

Stereomaniac wrote: »

Just on the Rusev point there, I am of the opinion that he can take the ball and run with it, as much as a heel can. But I think that there's always a risk that something won't succeed, with every character and storyline. However, I think that Rusev could definitely be a main heel on the roster for the next few years. He certainly seems to be a better mover than a lot of the more recent big men we've seen, and is very agile. But they will never know if they don't just go with it and see what happens for a bit. I'm anxious to see where they go with him.

I think he's great too yeah.