Brand split 2016

PTH2009

Hearing rumours that a brand split will be announced soon

Yay or nay ???

Imo I think it's OK the way it is now and all the major stars get there air time on raw and sometimes smack down. How it may work would be combing nxt and smack down.

Here is the list of stars for Nov's raw and sd tapings in Glasgow

Raw

Dean Ambrose
***
Randy Orton
Cesaro
Kevin Owens
Dolph Ziggler
Rusev
Sheamus
Charlotte
Sasha Banks
And more

SmackDown

Roman Reigns
***
AJ Styles
The Usos
New Day
Bray Wyatt
The Wyatt Family
Becky Lynch
Naomi
And more

Looper007

It could work but I somehow doubt they will stick with it for a long term future and will only do it to spike up failing ratings and to push the Shane vs Steph/HHH feud which is rumoured to go on over the summer.


They have the talent on the main roster, plus they can move up some of those too talented to be on NXT guys like Nakamura, Balor, Joe, Asuka, Aries and Roode when he joins. I know that won't please many NXT fans and it will take a big hit but I think it would make sense.

I think Main Eventers can skip between both shows when it comes to fighting for WWE title but if none are in title feuds they should just stick to their own brand. Same with the women's title and Tag teams, you can have them split onto different brands but the Champs can move between both brands as can the team or Woman wrestler they are facing. IC belt and Us title should be the only titles exclusive to Raw and Smackdown. The mid carders who are assigned to each brand can't move though they are exclusive to their brand.

Aside from the four big PPV's, would you have a Raw only PPV and Smackdown PPV inbetween them. I think the brand split would be great cause it give some men and Women like say Zayn, Ambrose, Becky, Emma etc.. to have their moments to shine weekly and their own feuds based on one show. I think Reigns/Cena will always be based on RAW, I think the likes of Orton would work better on Smackdown. Brock Lesnar can move between shows.

I like to see how it works but I still it be short term thing if it happened.

Furious-Red

So im guessing Vince will announce the split with Shane and Steph getting one brand each?

PTH2009

Furious-Red wrote: »

So im guessing Vince will announce the split with Shane and Steph getting one brand each?

Lots of speculation he is

With a smaller roster on raw how will they get a 3 hour show out of it ???

I guess there may be an interbrand tag match down the line

Bounty Hunter

PTH2009 wrote: »

I guess there may be an interbrand tag match down the line

Survivor series.


There has been speculation about this split since before Mania when some post mania house shows were branded as Raw vs WWE so people thought Shane was going to win vs Taker.

It'd make sense if Shane was the one running Raw though as HHH is considered the man in charge of NXT so it really could be Raw vs the WWE (Steph getting SD).

It'd be interesting to see if it was a full out brand split or just two competing Shows with Steph trying to make SD better than Raw as it is now hers. Either way SD should start (It already has improved) becoming more relevant.

If it was a full on split have it so that the champions could move from show to show and put the belts on people you want to be able to appear on both and I could imagine rosters along the lines of this:

Roman Reigns (c)
Kevin Owens (US champ)
Seth Rollins (IC champion)
The New Day (Tag champs)
Charlotte (Womens champ)

Raw
John Cena
AJ Styles
Finn Balor
Anderson & Gallows
Sami Zayn
Cesaro
Brock Lesnar (part time)
Dolph Ziggler
Rusev
Baron Corbin
The Miz
Ryback
Neville
The Vaudevillians
Kane
Sasha Banks
Natalya
Nikki Bella
Summer Rae
Lana
and more....

SmackDown

Randy Orton
Dean Ambrose
The Usos
Sheamus
Bray Wyatt
The Wyatt Family
Chris Jericho (part time)
The Big Show
Apollo Crews
Enzo & Cass
Tyler Breeze
Kalisto
Becky Lynch
Paige
Naomi
Tamina
Emma
and more...

DM_7

Shane returning, NXT call ups, Signings from Japan and signing TNA guys to fill out NXT point to a brand split.

johnnyryan89

Looper007 wrote: »

I think Main Eventers can skip between both shows when it comes to fighting for WWE title but if none are in title feuds they should just stick to their own brand. Same with the women's title and Tag teams, you can have them split onto different brands but the Champs can move between both brands as can the team or Woman wrestler they are facing. IC belt and Us title should be the only titles exclusive to Raw and Smackdown. The mid carders who are assigned to each brand can't move though they are exclusive to their brand.

Aside from the four big PPV's, would you have a Raw only PPV and Smackdown PPV inbetween them. I think the brand split would be great cause it give some men and Women like say Zayn, Ambrose, Becky, Emma etc.. to have their moments to shine weekly and their own feuds based on one show. I think Reigns/Cena will always be based on RAW, I think the likes of Orton would work better on Smackdown. Brock Lesnar can move between shows.

I like to see how it works but I still it be short term thing if it happened.

If the brand split is gonna only be a short term thing until just say Summerslam as a feud between Shane and Steph/HHH I think you could have Smackdown create their own un-official Heavyweight, Tag Champions and even Womens Champion by calling up NXT champions to fight for HHH against Shane or could make a returning wrestler the un-official Smackdown champion. After HHH's feud with Reigns over the last six months and I'm sure they ain't gonna have him lose the belt already to Styles then could say that HHH doesn't recognise Reigns as the true champion because he feels that he was only handed a title opportunity because better guys like Seth, Orton and Cena picked up injuries.

If they could keep it like they first done the brand split and didn't have lads appearing on both shows and just switching for no reason then could make for a interesting summer of wrestling and beyond, could have a Balor led BC screw Shane and help HHH by jumping ship to SD from Raw at SS, then builds to the Shield reunion vs. Bullet Club. Could even continue the brand split beyond Summerslam when the Shane and Steph/HHH feud will finish, would give you more time to develop storylines and not having the main guys work every PPV will keep them somewhat fresh (health wise and character wise). Raw would have to be cut down to two hours though because even without the roster split in two the show has so much filler and would get worse with the brand spilt.

Blue_Dabadee

I think they could do talent exchange between NXT and Smackdown where top tier talent from NXT can appear on Smackdown such as Balor, Joe and Aries.

I don't how feel about 3 hour episode of RAW each week under brand split.

Loughc

Blue_Dabadee wrote: »

I don't how feel about 3 hour episode of RAW each week under brand split.

I don't like the 3 hour episode model as it is now. The only positive thing is a brand split men's they'll have no choice but to develop the undercard feuds as a way to kill time.

Loughc

Also another thing pointing towards a brand split coming is the NFL are currently doing their annual draft and WWE are wanting to mention recent pop culture items in the spotlight at the moment.

They could capitalise by having this week's Raw a draft episode and follow it up with a draft show special on the network.

johnnyryan89

Loughc wrote: »

Also another thing pointing towards a brand split coming is the NFL are currently doing their annual draft and WWE are wanting to mention recent pop culture items in the spotlight at the moment.

They could capitalise by having this week's Raw a draft episode and follow it up with a draft show special on the network.

That's a good call actually about the NFL draft and WWE mentioning recent pop culture items but would it be better to let guys maybe choose which side they want to work with the likes of Owens and Corbin snubbing Shane because they prefer The Authority and Ambrose, Ziggler and obviously Reigns staying on Raw because they despise The Authority.

Furious-Red

johnnyryan89 wrote: »

That's a good call actually about the NFL draft and WWE mentioning recent pop culture items but would it be better to let guys maybe choose which side they want to work with the likes of Owens and Corbin snubbing Shane because they prefer The Authority and Ambrose, Ziggler and obviously Reigns staying on Raw because they despise The Authority.

Would that not lead to all the heels on one brand and the faces on the other ?

Turtyturd

Maybe they'll fill out Raw with a Smackdown recap.

johnnyryan89

Furious-Red wrote: »

Would that not lead to all the heels on one brand and the faces on the other ?

Possibly would but could mix and match the heels and faces, such as The Miz prefers Raw because it's more high profile for his image and Becky Lynch chooses Smackdown because HHH gave her the opportunity to perform on the main roster. Could add some NXT talent to Smackdown, have HHH call them up to help him to beat Raw.

Bounty Hunter

They will always have more stars on Raw, it's their flagship show, it's 3 hours, it's the more viewed show and im sure there would be many many marketing etc reasons too. Meanwhile HHHs character is always going to be one to put over his buddies and thus wanna recruit more heel like characters (a Randy Orton for example) to Smackdown (his brand).

Shane however is not an anti-heel character, he is instead a make the show the best he can kinda guy so he would get heels on board if it meant Raw was better for it. For example you could easily see him drafting someone like Rusev because he has been so impressed with the Bulgarian Brute and sees big things in him, hell that is even something the IWC would get behind. Similarily you could see Steph drafting a face just because they are someone that she thinks Shane desperately wants (Sami Zayn for example who Shane has bigged up since GMing Raw).

It was this kinda logic that gave me the rosters I drew up in my post above. Raw is stronger and has the more indie up and comer vibe which suits Shane and the flagship brand but with people like Reigns, Rollins, Owens, The New Day & Charlotte on both shows means SD would be alright a little weaker and people like Bray & Ambrose could get a main guy push on SD too. both of those could work face (it surprisingly seems to work for Bray) or heel and it's be great if the split lead to them finally getting used right.

You could have some cross promotional feuds saved for big shows like The Wyatts vs The Bullet Club or one of them vs a reformed shield.

Bounty Hunter

One worry I would have is... Vince behind the scenes conducting the draft.

Lana and Rusev being drafted to different shows for example.

PTH2009

Smackdown not being live on TV is another problem.

A big plus for SmackDown is if they air it live on the network but I doubt they will do that

Raw might go back to 2 hours.

Mr.Nice Guy

I would be in favour of a brand split for the most part, although I hope they treat it seriously which they almost never do.

One thing that worries me is that I feel it cheapens the title when there are two of them. I enjoy the one world title as it feels like a big thing when a guy wins it.

johnnyryan89

Bounty Hunter wrote: »

One worry I would have is... Vince behind the scenes conducting the draft.

Lana and Rusev being drafted to different shows for example.

You just know that they'd do something like that or break up tag teams. If they have an official draft lottery I'd like to see them draft tag teams as one pick and not have to draft them one at a time.

Mr.Nice Guy wrote: »

I would be in favour of a brand split for the most part, although I hope they treat it seriously which they almost never do.

One thing that worries me is that I feel it cheapens the title when there are two of them. I enjoy the one world title as it feels like a big thing when a guy wins it.

I think if this is only until Summerslam then you could have two world champions and then combined them again at SummerSlam with a champion vs. champion match.

The Smackdown champion would be an un-official champion, HHH's way of saying that he doesn't recognise Reigns (if he wins on Sunday night) as his champion, could call Samoa Joe up from NXT as his champion and even use the NXT belt as the title or bring back one of the old titles and hold a mini tournament or even give it to someone like Orton or Rollins if one of them are back by the end of May.

If it comes down to Reigns vs. Rollins at Summerslam in the champion vs. champion match could have Rollins go over to combine both the belts with help from the BC led by Balor who would be your MITB winner and have him cash in and pin Rollins, gives you the BC vs. Shield feud to build up then.

Furious-Red

If they do the draft i would rather they get to pick their own picks like when Vince n Flair did it

briany

Brand split seems like one of the most obvious ways to get back to some real competition mindset in WWE because they're unlikely to face any from companies within the wrestling niche. Take RAW and Smackdown, and pit the bookers against one another. Alternate PPVs back and forth between the two shows and have crossover matches on the big four. Make the Cruiserweight belt and IC belt exclusive to Smackdown, and the US belt exclusive to RAW. Women's belt, Tag belts and WC belt holders would go between both shows, much as the NWA world champ would go everywhere back in the day.

Furious-Red

Would be a great idea for them to be fighting for NXT's top talent to come to their show. Plus it will make them look more like a big deal .

Would be great whoever gets SD to make an announcement for them to go live (never gonna happen) so if some debuts its not ruined by reading spoilers 2 days before it even airs.