Should WWE do another brand split?

[Psykohurricane55]

Since, they started the whole program between shane mcmahon and undertaker, there has been rumors of bringing back the brand split. So It got me thinking since the product has been stail for the last couple of years because the lack of exposure for alot of midcard wrestlers, it might be a good idea to bring back the brand split. You could have all your older act like cena, orton, jericho, etc.. on smackdown to help the rating on that show and you use raw as a stepping ground fo guys like reigns, ambrose, ryback, owens and the wyatts to make a name for themselves and actually become main event talents without having to be hold back by the old guard.

You could have the u.s and divas titles be raw exclusive titles and the ic and tag title be smackdown exclusive. The world title would be the only title that would be defended on both brand.

So why not go back to the brand split and it would also give more air time for guys on the midcard that would get time normally.

So what do you guys think, should wwe bring back the brand split, yes or no and why?

 

[Brian440]

I may be in the minority here, but I say no. At least not at this point in time. Too many talents on the injured list, and simply not enough of them are really that over to me to make it work. Even with a full active roster, they still struggle to make a 3 hour Raw interesting so I could only imagine how bad it would be if they had half the roster. Sure, they could call up NXT guys, and I am not knocking that show, but not every WWE fan watches it. So, they are not going to know who some of these guys are. Basically, calling up some of the NXT guys to fill some voids and help get them established to the more “mainstream audience”, Raw going back to 2 hours, and of course all of the injured guys returning, a brand extension COULD POSSIBLY work, but I still don’t think so. This isn’t 2002 and my thing is, just simply not enough over talent.

 

[King Patrick Star]

I can’t stop talking about this topic, but I did run out of what to say, so here’s what I have said in the past.

A wise man once said…

Here’s my list of how I would like to divide the roster up for the WWE Brand Extension in today’s WWE. In order for this to work, Raw has to drop back down to 2 hours, to make it seem like a “level playing field”. I left out the part timers (Brock Lesnar, The Rock, Shane McMahon, Sting, Triple H, and the Undertaker), but I also added some NXT SuperStars that I feel should be on the Red or Blue shows.

Raw – live on Monday, exclusive home of the WWE World Heavyweight Championship Title
Alberto Del Rio
Big E
Big Show
Bubba Ray Dudley
Cesaro
Chris Jericho
Curtis Axel
Dean Ambrose
Dolph Ziggler
Goldust
Hornswoggle
Jack Swagger
John Cena
Kalisto
Kane
Kevin Owens
King Barrett
Kofi Kingston
Luke Harper
Mark Henry
The Miz
R-Truth
Randy Orton
Rhyno
Roman Reigns
Rusev
Ryback
Seth Rollins
Sheamus
Stardust
Zack Ryder
Alicia Fox
Bayley
Brie Bella
Charlotte
Natalya
Nikki Bella
Paige
Sasha Banks

Smackdown – live on Tuesday, exclusive home of the WWE World Tag Team Championship Titles
Adam Rose
AJ Styles
Alex Riley
Austin Aries
Bo Dallas
Braun Strowman
Bray Wyatt
D-Von Dudley
Damien Sandow
Darren Young
Diego
El Torito
Erick Rowan
Fandango
Fernando
Finn Bálor
Heath Slater
Hideo Itami
Jey Uso
Jimmy Uso
Konnor
Neville
Sami Zayn
Samoa Joe
Sin Cara
Titus O'Neil
Tyler Breeze
Tyson Kidd
Viktor
Xavier Woods
Becky Lynch
Cameron
Emma
Naomi
Rosa Mendes
Summer Rae
Tamina

The Intercontinental Championship Title, the United States Championship Title, and the Divas Championship Title can appear and be defended on both shows. These 3 Championship Titles can be used to transition a SuperStar from Smackdown to Raw.

Since King Wade Bad News Barrett and Brie Mode Bella have announced their intentions to leave WWE in a few months, each roster would then have 37 SuperStars (30 male and 7 female).

I put this on the other Brand Extension thread, but I have more to add to this.

First of all, any talk of the WWE’s financial situation is moot. How much money did the WWE make during the Brand Split vs. how much money are they making since the Brand Split ended…it doesn’t matter how much money did the WWE make during the Brand Split vs. how much money are they making since the Brand Split ended. All I care about is what I want to see on WWE TV. I want to see district and complete variety between the Red show and the Blue show, aside from the color scheme. If the WWE wants me to watch Smackdown, then stop showing me Raw on Thursday nights.

Second of all, the WWE’s main roster can be split up in many different ways. There are some who want an even split, similar to the way it was before. I, personally, prefer having the Main Eventers on Raw (like the “Majors”), the rookies on NXT (like “college”), and the SuperStars in-between on Smackdown (like the “Minors”). This way, you can really take advantage of the “farm system” the WWE is trying to implement and give those who “graduated” more time to develop.

Third of all, the Championship Title designation, which is the number reason why I’m a fan to begin with, doesn’t necessarily have to be one way or the other, as demonstrated during the oriental Brand Split. I, myself, have come up with quite a few variations I wouldn’t mind utilized in the WWE.

Option 1 (my current favorite idea) – Keeps the Main Eventers of Raw and the mid to lower card Stars on Smackdown, using the Intercontinental and United States Championship Titles as the transitional marker for those making the jump from Blue to Red.

WWE / Inter-brand
Intercontinental Championship Title
United States Championship Title
Divas Championship Title

Raw Exclusive
WWE World Heavyweight Championship Title

Smackdown Exclusive
WWE World Tag Team Championship Title

Option 2 – Each of the 4 WWE shows would have exclusive Championship Titles, except the Divas Championship Title

WWE / Inter-brand
Divas Championship Title

Raw Exclusive
WWE World Heavyweight Championship Title

Smackdown Exclusive
Intercontinental Championship Title

Main Event Exclusive
United States Championship Title

SuperStars Exclusive
WWE World Tag Team Championship Title

Option 3 – Makes the Intercontinental Championship Title Monday’s main attraction and the United States Championship Title Thursday’s main attraction.

WWE / Inter-brand
WWE World Heavyweight Championship Title
WWE World Tag Team Championship Title
Divas Championship Title

Raw Exclusive
Intercontinental Championship Title

Smackdown Exclusive
United States Championship Title

Option 4 – Give each Brand a set of exclusive Championship Titles, similar to the original format.

Raw Exclusive
WWE Championship Title
Intercontinental Championship Title
Raw Tag Team Championship Title
Women’s Championship Title

Smackdown Exclusive
World Heavyweight Championship Title
United States Championship Title
Smackdown Tag Team Championship Title
Divas Championship Title

My point is, it doesn’t matter how they do it, but it would benefit everyone involved by having re-splitting the roster. “Of course you need a remix, that’s how you make 1 hit record into 2.” – 50 Cent. You split the roster and assign them to a specific show, and that gives more opportunities to those who otherwise wouldn’t get it, being under one banner. Someone listed a bunch of names of who probably wouldn’t be WWE or World Champion had it not been for the Brand Split. Real or kayfabe, Championship Titles legitimize the Wrestler. Gold and Leather is the difference between a SuperStar and a Legend.

Forth of all, this talk about Smackdown being the B-Show is tralse and fue. Yes, I can agree that from 1999 to 2002 and again from 2011 to present day, Smackdown is, without a doubt, the B-Show. It’s the Raw recap show. It’s the “deleted / extended scenes from Raw” show. It’s the show that you don’t need to watch. However, from 2002 to 2011, it was the show where you can only see certain SuperStars. It was the best taped Wrestling show on Earth. The WWE can do that again today, if they really wanted to. Let’s say the WWE took my format of having the Main Eventers and the mid to lower card SuperStars on separate shows, but they featured the Main Eventers on Smackdown and featured the mid to lower card SuperStars on Raw, would that make the playing field even?? Absolutely!! Would that make Raw the B-Show?? Absolutely not!! It would give the viewers a chance to see all 74 WWE SuperStars on 2 different shows, instead of the 20 that we currently see at a minimum of twice a week.

I’ve been a fan, a SMark, a proud member of the WWE Universe since the spring of 1989. I’ve seen it before 89, but wasn’t hooked until after the Mega Powers exploded. That’s shorter than a few, but longer than most here in the Zone. I dislike a lot of the things most like (I can’t think of an example right now) and I loved a lot of the things most hate (The WCW / ECW Alliance Invasion angle). In 27+ years, I know what I want to see, and that’s “more” in every sense of the term. I want to see Triple H open Raw and Kevin Owens close Raw. I want to see Kalisto open Smackdown and the New Day close Smackdown. I don’t want to see someone I saw on Monday show up on my TV on Thursday. I just want to need to see Smackdown again.

TL;DR – FU…I mean AA.

The only thing I would change is the roster. wrestlingmasters55 has a great idea of having the Legends / “older” Stars on Smackdown and the newer Stars on Raw. In that specific scenario, I’d just switch my rosters, putting all of the former WWE World Heavyweight, Intercontinental, and United States Champions on Smackdown and the rest of the roster on Raw. This would give the appearance of Smackdown being the “A” show, and still make the less experience half seem more important being on the actual flagship show. That’s a great idea and great use of smoke and mirrors.

 

[Барбоса]

WWE has proven itself to be completely unable to produce a coherent set of stories for one roster. What makes you think they could do it for two?

But then with more creative teams, maybe they might actually give someone who is actually creative a chance.

But there already is a brand split. WWE and NXT.

 

[Gallops77]

I may be in the minority here, but I say no. At least not at this point in time. Too many talents on the injured list, and simply not enough of them are really that over to me to make it work. Even with a full active roster, they still struggle to make a 3 hour Raw interesting so I could only imagine how bad it would be if they had half the roster. Sure, they could call up NXT guys, and I am not knocking that show, but not every WWE fan watches it. So, they are not going to know who some of these guys are. Basically, calling up some of the NXT guys to fill some voids and help get them established to the more “mainstream audience”, Raw going back to 2 hours, and of course all of the injured guys returning, a brand extension COULD POSSIBLY work, but I still don’t think so. This isn’t 2002 and my thing is, just simply not enough over talent.

I completely agree. There simply isn't enough main event level talent in the WWE right now. You can't split the World Titles when they've only been unified for a little more than 2 years. They have hard enough time having a solid RAW every week, how would they do it with half the talent?

They need to change the way they use RAW and Smackdown. RAW is the flagship show, treat it as such. Guys who aren't over yet, don't feature them on RAW. Save RAW for the major angles, the top guys. The champions. We don't need to see Goldust and R-Truth in a backstage segment on RAW. Nobody cares about them at this point. That time could be used to further build their current STARS. Spend more time building the MAIN diva's feuds on RAW and cut out the garbage.

Smackdown could be the "wrestling" show. More of the matches in the mid card, continue build on mid card titles. Make Smackdown the feature show for the Diva's division, which with the talent they have in NXT and now on the main roster, they could hopefully get back to where the division was with Trish, Lita, Victoria, Jackie etc.

Use Main Event for the guys who they need to just get more exposure. Feature the lesser important Divas on Main Event.

The brand split only worked in 2001/2002 because of the over abundance of talent they had. Austin, Rock, Triple H, Taker, Kane, Big Show, Angle, Lesnar, Benoit, Hogan, Hall, Nash, RVD, Booker T, Edge, Eddie Guerrero etc. A TON of talent that they could split up and build upon, and they did and it worked. Aside from Benoit, all of those guys are either hall of famers or future hall of famers. And that's just the main event or upper midcard guys at the time.

They had a strong base of superstars BEFORE they began building stars like Cena, Orton, Batista, etc.

Right now? They don't have the talent to stretch into a brand split like they did then.

 

[EastCoastFan]

The brand extension overstayed its welcome the first time. In 2002, WWE had enough talent to have separate rosters. Today, they don't.

 

[Fugazi]

Yea, sure, why not.


I mean smackdown at this point is useless. It's a raw recap that is then recapped on RAW because RAW has too much time to fill.

But yeah seriously go for it. two world titles, ic/us can be upper midcards, two tag titles, divas on one show and cruiserweights on the other. Sounds good tbh.

NXT would turn into what it should really be, and that's developmental, and smackdown can basically become the new NXT.


As for the roster size issue, bring up in bulk a bunch of guys from NXT, it's not hard. Like i said, NXT should be the developmental program, but instead they have guys who work better than the majority of the TV roster

 

[Gallops77]

Yea, sure, why not.


I mean smackdown at this point is useless. It's a raw recap that is then recapped on RAW because RAW has too much time to fill.

But yeah seriously go for it. two world titles, ic/us can be upper midcards, two tag titles, divas on one show and cruiserweights on the other. Sounds good tbh.

NXT would turn into what it should really be, and that's developmental, and smackdown can basically become the new NXT.


As for the roster size issue, bring up in bulk a bunch of guys from NXT, it's not hard. Like i said, NXT should be the developmental program, but instead they have guys who work better than the majority of the TV roster

NXT isn't meant to be developmental. It was when it was FCW. It was before the WWE Network really took off. Now, NXT is a separate brand in itself. There are guys who come to the WWE because they WANT to compete in NXT. NXT is the indy feeling with a WWE budget and production quality. It's the show they use for the wrestling purists and not as much for the "sports entertainment" like RAW/Smackdown are.

A brand extension would thin out the roster too much. What they need to do is like I said earlier, manage their shows better and showcase the storylines and feuds that are their main storylines. The R-Truth/Goldust skits are fodder unless it turns into a serious tag team run from them, which at this point I don't see happening.

I know a brand extension would help out some of the talent and give them more opportunity, but the company would suffer without the abundance of talent it had the first time they did the split.

 

[Vanilla Midget]

It would be far more interesting to see new ideas come into play rather than retread old ground. The brand extension coincided with a shift in ratings and overall quality of story. The biggest thing they need to do is figure out how to make new stars, then if they have enough they could consider it.

A lot of people are putting NXT forth as a current alternate brand. It was a developmental territory, now it's something more akin to just a independent territory under the WWE umbrella. It's not its own brand until wrestlers start to move there from Raw/Smackdown. Guys still start there then debut in WWE, usually lower in the card. For example, Big E went from the champion in NXT to being a bodyguard. Neville went from top guy to lower midcard. There's still a stretch to go before it is a brand of equal footing, it is nonetheless its own distinct brand.

Say they relaunch the brand extension, what happens to the divisions? Are the women only on one show? Or do the divas, tag team, and world championships appear on both shows? Will those characters be overexposed compared to the others?

Do they bring back the womens belt, the world tag belts, and the big gold belt? Are we going back to champion overload? Do they bring back brand specific ppv events? Will that matter now that they have the network?

It sounds like more headache than interesting TV. Why pigeon hole themselves creatively with what guys are on what show? They should try new ideas, and start putting over the new guys as stars.

The brand split in of itself wasn't good. The fact that only certain guys are on certain shows makes you really want to see the show your favourites are on, but that opens the possibility of tuning out when the other is on.

The only thing that really intrigues me is that one brand could be run old school, and the other could be business as usual. The edgy brand could ditch heel authority figures, put an emphasis on wrestling, and have logical storytelling. The other could stick with the formula.

 

[kadroan]

Since, they started the whole program between shane mcmahon and undertaker, there has been rumors of bringing back the brand split. So It got me thinking since the product has been stail for the last couple of years because the lack of exposure for alot of midcard wrestlers, it might be a good idea to bring back the brand split. You could have all your older act like cena, orton, jericho, etc.. on smackdown to help the rating on that show and you use raw as a stepping ground fo guys like reigns, ambrose, ryback, owens and the wyatts to make a name for themselves and actually become main event talents without having to be hold back by the old guard.

You could have the u.s and divas titles be raw exclusive titles and the ic and tag title be smackdown exclusive. The world title would be the only title that would be defended on both brand.

So why not go back to the brand split and it would also give more air time for guys on the midcard that would get time normally.

So what do you guys think, should wwe bring back the brand split, yes or no and why?

I think WWE should bring the brand split back. It'd help everybody get a legit chance to get some shine. The roster, when healthy reminds me of the 2002 roster, pre-roster split since you got a lot of former world champions and TNA (equivalent of WCW) guys coming in the roster over the past couple of months.

I'd have US, Divas, Tag Team (renamed to World Tag Team), WWE title exclusive on RAW and have the WHC, IC, Women's, Tag Team (brought back).

Reigns would be the face of RAW (WWE Champion) and Ambrose would be the face of SD (WH Champion).

 

[TDFG]

I don't see any benefit in having a Brand Split, even now RAW is too long at being 3hrs and that is with a full roster.

There is no need to go back to the days of Jack Swagger & The Miz being World Champion.

 

[THTRobtaylor]

Not the same as last time...

RAW and Smackdown failed as a split... it's interesting that they have put a Monday Nitro video up today. I really think it could be a signal of things to come - after all in the storyline Shane does STILL own WCW... he could lose to Taker but suddenly come back with WCW and make a few shock signings. Not so much an invasion this time, not for a while, but WCW would be a far more exciting proposition than rehasing the same brand split we saw fail already.

 

[Gallops77]

I think WWE should bring the brand split back. It'd help everybody get a legit chance to get some shine. The roster, when healthy reminds me of the 2002 roster, pre-roster split since you got a lot of former world champions and TNA (equivalent of WCW) guys coming in the roster over the past couple of months.

I'd have US, Divas, Tag Team (renamed to World Tag Team), WWE title exclusive on RAW and have the WHC, IC, Women's, Tag Team (brought back).

Reigns would be the face of RAW (WWE Champion) and Ambrose would be the face of SD (WH Champion).

This roster reminds you of the 2002 roster? Here's who was on the roster in 2002:

Stone Cold Steve Austin
The Rock
Kurt Angle
Undertaker
Kane
Big Show
Brock Lesnar
Triple H
Shawn Michaels
Edge
Christian
Matt Hardy
Jeff Hardy
Booker T
Rob Van Dam
Chris Benoit
Chris Jericho
Eddie Guerrero

These are guys who were around for the brand split. Not to mention, you had Lita/Trish at the top of the Women's division.

Of all those guys, ONE of them wasn't an eventual World Champion, and that was Matt Hardy.

Right now, you're looking at this:

John Cena
Seth Rollins
Dean Ambrose
Roman Reigns
Randy Orton
Bray Wyatt
AJ Styles
Kevin Owens
Dolph Ziggler
Alberto Del Rio
Rusev
Sheamus

Nobody cares about Big Show anymore. Kane is almost non existent now. Triple H, Lesnar, Jericho and Taker are all part time acts. I could have honestly stopped the list at Orton because after him is all mid carders. The 2002 list had 11 guys who were World Champions (Whether it be WWF/E or WCW) by the end of 2002. The current roster has 7, and of those 7, Ziggler, ADR and Sheamus had forgettable reigns. Right now, the roster is too bottom heavy. Too many solid mid carders and not enough stars. You could split that 2002 list in half and put on separate shows that were entertaining. Now? Not a chance. They need to build their midcard more. Get Owens and Styles to be bigger names in the company. Give Finn Balor a decent push when he debuts on the main roster. Wyatt needs to be a world champion at some point.

Also, you can't compare WCW and TNA. There is NO comparison. WCW had it's flaws, but it was MUCH more popular than TNA.

 

[kadroan]

This roster reminds you of the 2002 roster? Here's who was on the roster in 2002:

Stone Cold Steve Austin
The Rock
Kurt Angle
Undertaker
Kane
Big Show
Brock Lesnar
Triple H
Shawn Michaels
Edge
Christian
Matt Hardy
Jeff Hardy
Booker T
Rob Van Dam
Chris Benoit
Chris Jericho
Eddie Guerrero

These are guys who were around for the brand split. Not to mention, you had Lita/Trish at the top of the Women's division.

Of all those guys, ONE of them wasn't an eventual World Champion, and that was Matt Hardy.

Right now, you're looking at this:

John Cena
Seth Rollins
Dean Ambrose
Roman Reigns
Randy Orton
Bray Wyatt
AJ Styles
Kevin Owens
Dolph Ziggler
Alberto Del Rio
Rusev
Sheamus

Nobody cares about Big Show anymore. Kane is almost non existent now. Triple H, Lesnar, Jericho and Taker are all part time acts. I could have honestly stopped the list at Orton because after him is all mid carders. The 2002 list had 11 guys who were World Champions (Whether it be WWF/E or WCW) by the end of 2002. The current roster has 7, and of those 7, Ziggler, ADR and Sheamus had forgettable reigns. Right now, the roster is too bottom heavy. Too many solid mid carders and not enough stars. You could split that 2002 list in half and put on separate shows that were entertaining. Now? Not a chance. They need to build their midcard more. Get Owens and Styles to be bigger names in the company. Give Finn Balor a decent push when he debuts on the main roster. Wyatt needs to be a world champion at some point.

Also, you can't compare WCW and TNA. There is NO comparison. WCW had it's flaws, but it was MUCH more popular than TNA.

I agree. SCSA and Rock weren't full time anymore in 2002. When I was comparing 2002 to now, I was referring to the transitional period where they went from Attitude Era Rock/Austin/HHH being the face of the company to a new era, the Ruthless Aggression era where we saw the emergence of Brock, Cena, Batista.

Of course right now star power pales in comparison to 2002, but what I was referring to is the transition.

Looking at the WM card, you got guys under 30 like Ambrose and Reigns in major WM matches.

 

[Gallops77]

I agree. SCSA and Rock weren't full time anymore in 2002. When I was comparing 2002 to now, I was referring to the transitional period where they went from Attitude Era Rock/Austin/HHH being the face of the company to a new era, the Ruthless Aggression era where we saw the emergence of Brock, Cena, Batista.

Of course right now star power pales in comparison to 2002, but what I was referring to is the transition.

Looking at the WM card, you got guys under 30 like Ambrose and Reigns in major WM matches.

Austin was around for about half of 2002 until he bitched about having to job to Lesnar and walked out. The Rock was full time until Summerslam in 2002 when he started filming The Scorpion King.

The point is, when they did the brand split, they had a TON of main event level stars. 2002 saw the rise of Lesnar, return of Shawn Michaels and Taker, Kane, Show, Angle, Benoit etc were all top stars. They don't have enough talent RIGHT NOW for a split.

Talk to me in a year or two. See how they develop guys like Kevin Owens, AJ Styles, Finn Balor etc and see if they can be main eventers. Until they have almost an overabundance of main event talent, they shouldn't do a brand split.

 

[AnthonyM4]

They absolutely should not. Last time there was a brand split, wrestlers from each brand would jump on the other show without any explanation given. No reason to believe that won't happen again.