Hello! Well, it seems as though a lot of peoples wishes have just come true. In case you've missed it, there was an announcement put out announcing that Smackdown is going live on Tuesday's from around Mid-July. That's one thing, and an announcement that all but guarantees me doing Smackdown Reviews- as well as losing even more sleep. However, I think the thing that caught most people's eyes was this paragraph in the Article (Full Article here: http://variety.com/2016/tv/news/wwe-smackdown-live-usa-1201782569/)
"The debut of a live "Smackdown" comes as two of the WWE's biggest attractions, John Cena and Seth Rollins, are returning from competition injuries. And the company is expected to create strong points of differentiation between "Smackdown" and USA's other live program "Monday Night RAW," according to WWE. A draft will be held before the "Smackdown" launch date to determine which wrestlers on the company's talent roster will be assigned to which program. Each show is expected to feature a separate cast, plots and writing teams."
I can't remember the exact Post it was, but in one of my recent ones I actually said I'd be against a Brand Split. My reasoning behind that, was I viewed the Roster as too thin to give us 5 Hours of TV a week, with unique rosters for basically half of it- and that was BEFORE we got like 10 people being released. Most RAW's scrape the bottom of the barrel for a segment or two every week with the full Roster at its disposal. However, provided they do the Brand Split in the "right" way, I can actually see it being a success- as I'll be discussing throughout this Post.
Consider this a sort of broad overview for how I see the Brand Split taking shape, as well for want of a better way to describe it an "FAQ" section for what I see as points to discuss prior to the Brand Split.
Will the World Heavyweight Title come back?
In short, I fucking hope not. Having two "World Championships" was always a stupid idea, and with it finally gone the last thing I want is for it to be brought back. I've already seen some people talking about it, and their argument was "well, people on Smackdown need something to go after". IT'S WRESTLING! In "shoot" Sports, people aim to reach the highest level whether that be winning the Premier League, Superbowl, World Series etc.
In Wrestling, that highest level is obviously the WWE Title- but beyond that, Titles mean as much as the WWE want them to mean. There's literally no reason (other than the WWE not wanting them to) that the US/IC Titles can't be treated as an Upper-Midcard Title that all the Smackdown people crave. Especially with Cena coming back next week, and likely winning the US Title again- they've got a chance to properly elevate the Title before we reach Mid-July.
While I don't expect Cena to end up on Smackdown once the Draft's done, the same argument can be made for the IC Title by having someone like Orton win it on his return. In short, Midcard Titles can be more than Midcard Titles. Especially in the case of a Brand Split, having some top tier stars feuding over the IC/US Title's can only help.
How will the Titles be divided?
As previously mentioned, the obvious way to go is to have the US and IC Titles split up- but beyond that I don't see any reason why the WWE, Womens and Tag Titles have to remain exclusive to their own respective brands. Especially in the case of the Tag Division, it's just too thin to successfully split up and achieve even a modicum of success.
Will the Bragging Rights PPV come back?
I've seen literally nobody ask this question, but I thought I'd just bring up the fact this PPV was a thing. To be honest I actually liked the concept, but the execution for the 2 (?) years they did it was horrendous. For what it's worth, I could actually see this return. However, given the lack of emphasis there's been on Survivor Series matches over the last 5 or so years barring the one in 2014 I can see us getting RAW vs Smackdown in November.
Who will be the Authority Figures?
I don't think this one really needs too much explaining. It'll of course be William Regal and Teddy Long.
Who will be the "Top Guys" on each brand?
I'm going to do a "Full Draft" at the end, but I figured this question was worth its own section. For RAW I'm going with;
- John Cena
- Roman Reigns
- Seth Rollins
- Bray Wyatt
- Brock Lesnar (when he's around)
- Kevin Owens
And for Smackdown;
- Dean Ambrose
- Randy Orton
- AJ Styles
- Finn Balor (I'd say he's nailed on to debut before Mid-July)
- Sami Zayn
Feel free to tell tell me your own splits for the "Top Guys", but in my opinion this is about the best there can be. Smackdown will be more focused on the "New Era" stuff and primarily on just plain Wrestling. I'd also expect some, if not a lot of crossover between Smackdown and NXT. Joking aside from the "Authority Figures" question I can legitimately see either Regal or Triple H in charge of Smackdown despite the obvious Shane/Stephanie divide.
With that in mind, I've put AJ Styles, Balor and Sami Zayn on Smackdown. These three could really make Smackdown something special every week. Especially in the AJ Styles/Finn Balor case, I'm expecting these two to start feuding as early as the Night after Money in the Bank- and with no Roman on Smackdown it'll become pretty much the story to focus on during Smackdown.
However, you still need some "mainstream" appeal which is why I've put Orton on Smackdown- because whatever else can be said about him he's one of the most recognisable faces to "casual" wrestling fans. Then I've put Ambrose on Smackdown because in what I expect to happen he'll have the Money in the Bank, so putting a divide between him and Roman would be a smart move in my opinion.
That leaves RAW as the "flagship" show, with of course Cena and Roman at the top of the pile. However, there'll still be people like Kevin Owens and The Wyatts to satisfy the more "smarky" fanbase. In short, Smackdown will be the "Sports" show and RAW will be the "Entertainment".
Will the Cruiserweight Title return?
This is again a question I haven't really seen asked, but with the Brand Split coming into effect I can actually see it happening. We've got the Cruiserweight Series coming up, and from the way the Adverts for it have come across to me, it's for an actual Title. I'd love it if they had someone like Neville return from injury, enter the Tournament, win it, and then bring it with him to Smackdown. This goes back to my point about having crossover between Smackdown and NXT.
How will they fill 3 Hours of RAW every week with a Brand Split?
In short, I have absolutely no clue. WWE are going to have to really get their act together as far as building a really strong Midcard before July. Because, despite what Vince may be desperate for, we can't just have Roman and Cena on screen for 3 Hours every week. There needs to be actual compelling stories going on in the Midcard for RAW to be even remotely watchable with half of the roster gone.
How will they handle the Women?
The interesting thing from the WWE.com article about this was, to me, the fact they had Roman, Cena and Sasha Banks as the picture for it. It's actually really interesting timing as far as the Womens Division goes, because had they announced this a few months earlier, I'd have predicted we'd get a Womens Title and Divas Title on separate brands. I made this point close to a year ago in one of my Divas Division burials, there's way too many Women on the Roster. My immediate thought was to have the Womens Title for the "Womens Wrestlers" and have the Divas Title for the "Total Divas".
They've of course done away with the Divas Title now, and with all of the stuff about how they're called Superstars now I can't see it changing. But with the number of Women that they've got, combined with the need to fill air-time I can see the Women getting even more spots on both shows than they currently do.
Who'll be in charge of RAW and Smackdown?
Obviously Vince McMahon is the ultimate authority. However, I would hope he gives Triple H almost complete autonomy over Smackdown. The separate writing teams will be interesting, and I'd assume that the Ryan Ward bloke who used to write NXT would stick with Triple H on Smackdown in the scenario mentioned above. Also bonus points if they get Paul Heyman in as a sort of consultant to either team.
What are the small changes that I want to see?
We've obviously got the big stuff, but to properly divide the two almost everything needs to be different.
- Completely separate Commentary Teams. Get Saxton off RAW and put King back on, move Saxton to either a Backstage Interviewer or Ring Announcer with Eden gone- and have the Smackdown Commentary team as Mauro, Graves and Tom.
- BLUE ROPES. PLEASE FOR THE LOVE OF GOD BRING THE BLUE ROPES BACK.
- Camera Work. I've noticed it a lot in the NXT Tapings since they've gone back to Full-Sail Post-Mania, a lot of things like the Entrances are shot completely differently. Make it another point of differentiation between the two.
- This one may be too far from a logistics viewpoint, but I'd love it if they changed the lay-out of the Ring Area between RAW and Smackdown. Have RAW as it currently is, but for Smackdown move the Commentary Team.
There's probably a few more that will no doubt be brought up to me on Twitter, but these are the ones I initially thought of.
Will the Brand Split be a success?
This is the ultimate question, and one which is impossible to answer given how fresh the news is. Does it have the potential to succeed? Absolutely. Do I think it'll succeed? Provided they do even half of the stuff I've talked about in this Post, yes.
Right then, it's Full Brand Split time. I'm just going to go by alphabetical order, because that's simply put the easiest way to format it.
As previously mentioned there'll be a few on both in the WWE, Womens and Tag Champions- so at the time of writing this;
Both
Roman Reigns
Charlotte (and by proxy Dana Brooke)
New Day
Let's dive in then;
RAW (Men)
Alberto Del Rio, Baron Corbin, Bo Dallas, Braun Strowman, Bray Wyatt, Brock Lesnar, Cesaro, Chris Jericho, Curtis Axel, D-Von Dudley, Dolph Ziggler, Epico, Erick Rowan, Heath Slater, Jey Uso, Jimmy Uso, John Cena, Kevin Owens, Luke Harper, Paul Heyman, Primo, Roman Reigns, Rusev, Seth Rollins, Titus O'Neil, Zack Ryder.
RAW (Women)
Alicia Fox, Becky Lynch, Lana, Naomi, Natalya, Nikki Bella, Tamina.
Smackdown (Men)
Aiden English, AJ Styles, Apollo Crews, Big Cass, Big Show, Bubba Ray Dudley, Darren Young, Dean Ambrose, Enzo Amore, Fandango, Goldust, Jack Swagger, Kalisto, Karl Anderson, Luke Gallows, Miz, Neville, R-Truth, Randy Orton, Sheamus, Simon Gotch, Sin Cara, Tyler Breeze.
Smackdown (Women)
Emma, Eva Marie (mainly in the scenario where Graves and Tom do Smackdown Commentary), Maryse, Paige, Sasha Banks, Summer Rae.
That's of those currently on the Main Roster, but as previously mentioned by the time the Draft comes about I'd expect Finn Balor to be included on the Smackdown list. I've left off people like Ryback who'll be gone pretty soon, and the Women are interesting because half of them are injured, but I've included all of them anyway.
Thanks for reading as always. This is the first "extra" Post I've done for this Summer, and there'll be more to follow depending on what topics there are to talk about. On subjects such as this one, debate is always good- so feel free to tell me your opinions on either what I've written or just the Brand Split in general either in the Comments or on Twitter. Thanks again for reading, hopefully you have a good week. GET EXCITED EVERYONE! This Summer of Wrestling is shaping up to be a really interesting one.
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