Smackdown moving to Tuesday and going live

[Timbo Slice]

So my question is whether or not they're gonna have crossover with NXT backstage people, too. It would seem weird if this is set up to get NXT talent integrated into the main roster while also being NXT guys that NXT backstage stuff doesn't have a say.

 

It's funny that there's RAW, then there's the SD!/NXT bridge along with the EVOLVE/NXT bridge.

 

I do agree with the sentiment that this would give WWE the ability to run a couple Network Specials a month now, because this seems like a way to give the TV brass what they want along while really trying to make the Network jump outside of the original programming, which now seems like a lost cause by all accounts.

[goc]

for the original split, i was 6-7 years old, but was there a split in the fanbase for raw vs sd? i've started to think about how this could be a bigger thing now with the large involvement of social media. we see it with NXT fans making it (trying to make it) nxt vs WWE, so it's not far-fetched or anything..

There was a little bit of it but not a lot. There were definitely people who only watched one show though but I still think the majority of people watched both. I was definitely in the SD only camp though.

 

The arguments about why not to watch Raw was that it was a shitty show that very rarely had good matches, had crappy booking and was dominated by HHH. The arguments against watching Smackdown were "it's not live" and "why would I watch it when it's not the A-show?" So yea pretty much there was no reason to watch Raw instead of Smackdown yet some people convinced themselves it was better simply because it was live.

[Loss]

It's neither a good nor bad idea on its own. It all comes down to details and execution. It did fade out before, but maybe with the deeper roster now after they have changed their hiring practices, it will work better this time. Time will tell either way.

 

The best way to establish Smackdown is to move John Cena there. That also has the benefit of getting him away from Reigns for the time being.

[BrianB]

The brand split was atrocious last time. Wow, people really have short memories. Yeah, it was cool the first year or two, but then it was a waste of time that meant nothing and devalued every title. Hoping this doesn't happen, or if it does, there's one World Champion, one Women's Champion, and one set of Tag Team Champions. The Intercontinental and pointless U.S. Titles can be split.

 

This.

[Strummer]

Can't say I was a fan of the original but I'm kind of indifferent here. Could go either way. I assume Steph runs Raw and Shane Smackdown

[Strummer]

I have a feeling Raw will get most of the workrate guys to fill the three hours. And anyone who can remotely cut a promo winds up there

[Coffey]

I would be OK with a brand split again, even though I wasn't a huge fan of it the first time around. They need to not do brand specific PPVs again. I do remember the draft shows always feeling like a lot of fun & being a big deal though. When John Cena was drafting to RAW and announced on Jericho's segment, that was huge. The biggest hurdle for me is making Smackdown ever feel equal. It always feels like the lesser show. Even when it has the better roster & better matches, like during the Smackdown Six era. WWE gotta make it feel like it's important & must-watch TV like they did with RAW for so long.

 

Good luck doing that in this day & age though. People don't even tune-in for all of RAW anymore. The ratings are in the low 2's & third hour is always the worst.

[Loss]

Can't say I was a fan of the original but I'm kind of indifferent here. Could go either way. I assume Steph runs Raw and Shane Smackdown

 

Stephanie flies home on Tuesdays to be with her family. Vince currently doesn't even travel to Smackdown. HHH and Ryan Ward write and run the show now, so the politics of all of that will be very interesting.

[Strummer]

I just can't imagine Steph running the B show now

[sek69]

 

The brand split was atrocious last time. Wow, people really have short memories. Yeah, it was cool the first year or two, but then it was a waste of time that meant nothing and devalued every title. Hoping this doesn't happen, or if it does, there's one World Champion, one Women's Champion, and one set of Tag Team Champions. The Intercontinental and pointless U.S. Titles can be split.

 

This.

 

 

 

It only got bad when Smackdown was clearly positioned as the B show and their world champion was portrayed as the lesser guy nearly 99% of the time. The biggest problem with a brand split is that Vince has an attention span of a toddler with ADHD and will quickly lose interest in things.

 

If they have one world champion who faces guys on both shows, that eliminates one issue. All they have to do is maintain interest in SD long enough to keep it level with Raw, which is something they've historically had a problem doing.

[Matt D]

Or, counterpoint, Smackdown was enjoyable because it was a B show and Vince wasn't paying attention to it.

 

I really feel like most people's arguments are of "importance" and "business sense" as opposed to quality or enjoyment or fun watching or good matches.

[cpst]

 

Can't say I was a fan of the original but I'm kind of indifferent here. Could go either way. I assume Steph runs Raw and Shane Smackdown

 

Stephanie flies home on Tuesdays to be with her family. Vince currently doesn't even travel to Smackdown. HHH and Ryan Ward write and run the show now, so the politics of all of that will be very interesting.

Steven Guerrieri was lead writer of Smackdown for a few years. Did he get demoted when Ryan Ward started working on Smackdown again?

[Steenalized]

It's neither a good nor bad idea on its own. It all comes down to details and execution. It did fade out before, but maybe with the deeper roster now after they have changed their hiring practices, it will work better this time. Time will tell either way.

 

The best way to establish Smackdown is to move John Cena there. That also has the benefit of getting him away from Reigns for the time being.

Couldn't agree more with this. But this is pro wrestling, in particular the WWE, so they (1) will have my attention to start and (2) will probably bungle it and piss me off at various times.

[jcmmnx]

I want a Samoa Joe/Cena feud headling Smackdown. This is a good opportunity to really push some guys to the next level. Hell they've never even gave guys like Ambrose or Bray a proper big star push. Rusev could be a star, Big E, Zayn, Owens AJ, Cass and Enzo along with Charlotte, Sasha, and Bayley. There's so much talent ready to break out just waiting on a legitimate push.

[GOTNW]

One important thing to note is that for a few years they did a good job of taking advantage of the brand split to create new stars and adding to the legacy of their old ones. This benefited Cena, Batista, Rey, Edge, JBL and even someone like Undertaker in that regard. Of course eventually you got the Dolph Ziggler/Jack Swagger/Sheamus runs but even then someone like Bryan had his first run as a player on Smackdown.

 

I also hope Lesnar starts jobbing soon because they seem to be rebuilding right now and I don't see how him running over people fits in there.

[Matt D]

Yeah, I really don't think there's necessarily a main eventer John Cena without the brand split. They wanted to ride the Batista horse. The brand split meant they didn't have to choose between both of them.

[Coffey]

Maybe WWE is going to call-up people like Finn Bàlor, Shinsuke Nakamura & Samoa Joe? They are obviously going to need more bodies for the main roster. Initially I didn't think that Joe or Nakamura would EVER hit the main roster but a brand split makes me think it could happen now.

 

I don't really feel like the roster is as depleted as a lot of other people do either. Especially if WWE is planning on using even more NXT people. Plus, when you divide the divisions up onto each show, a lot of it sort of fills itself up time wise. If you have the Intercontinental Championship on RAW & make that belt the focal point, then the United States Championship on Smackdown (maybe with the return of the John Cena Open Challenge) and make that the vocal point - then you could have someone like the part-time Brock as the World Champion that only shows up for special events. Not that I think that will happen as I assume Roman keeps the belt on RAW for quite some time. But you have Tag Teams on RAW and Women's Championship on Smackdown, so that is something you can do each show.

 

I guess we're in the "wait-and-see" camp now.

[Eduardo]

Yeah without the brand split, we probably wouldn't have seen main eventers, Eddy Guerrero, Rey Mysterio, Bryan Danielson getting his first shot as heel champion, and random fun stuff like Kendrick/London-Noble/Kash feud, etc.

 

Not to mention, the demographic splits between the two shows, was kinda interesting too. For several years, Smackdown! was the most watched English-language show in, the so-called, 'Hispanic' households.

[Matt D]

We should look forward to the stereotypical banding of Nakamura, Itami and Okada once they realize that they have no idea how to book three+ Japanese guys as separate characters.

[GOTNW]

I hope they sign Okada. He wouldn't pollute New Japan anymore and maybe they'd teach him how to work.

[goc]

I would be OK with a brand split again, even though I wasn't a huge fan of it the first time around. They need to not do brand specific PPVs again. I do remember the draft shows always feeling like a lot of fun & being a big deal though. When John Cena was drafting to RAW and announced on Jericho's segment, that was huge. The biggest hurdle for me is making Smackdown ever feel equal. It always feels like the lesser show. Even when it has the better roster & better matches, like during the Smackdown Six era. WWE gotta make it feel like it's important & must-watch TV like they did with RAW for so long.

 

Good luck doing that in this day & age though. People don't even tune-in for all of RAW anymore. The ratings are in the low 2's & third hour is always the worst.

This is the stuff I never understood about the "I only watch Raw" crowd during the brand split. How in the world did Raw feel like "must-watch TV" during the first 3-4 years of the brand split? Why was HHH killing off every babyface that got over and having long and boring promos "must-watch TV" over Smackdown tearing it up?

 

People are clearly forgetting that we got like at least 8-9 good years of Smackdown during that period so the idea that the goodness of the brand split was short lived or anything just makes no sense to me. It didn't go to shit until they started having Raw as a "Super Show" where SD guys could show up there.

 

 

 

One important thing to note is that for a few years they did a good job of taking advantage of the brand split to create new stars and adding to the legacy of their old ones. This benefited Cena, Batista, Rey, Edge, JBL and even someone like Undertaker in that regard. Of course eventually you got the Dolph Ziggler/Jack Swagger/Sheamus runs but even then someone like Bryan had his first run as a player on Smackdown.

 

I also hope Lesnar starts jobbing soon because they seem to be rebuilding right now and I don't see how him running over people fits in there.

 

The Sheamus run was good though. At least from a matches perspective.

[Coffey]

This is the stuff I never understood about the "I only watch Raw" crowd during the brand split. How in the world did Raw feel like "must-watch TV" during the first 3-4 years of the brand split? Why was HHH killing off every babyface that got over and having long and boring promos "must-watch TV" over Smackdown tearing it up?

 

Because even then, Smackdown was all about showing replays for RAW & whenever something important had to happen, like an announcement or debuting/returning wrestler they would do it on RAW. Smackdown was the better show for a long time but WWE themselves never presented it that way.

 

Also, I wasn't saying that RAW was "can't-miss" or "must-watch" during THAT time period, I was saying at one time (which was during the Monday Night Wars) it was can't miss because everyone wanted to see what Austin or Rock were going to do. They need to find a way to rekindle that feeling.

[goc]

 

This is the stuff I never understood about the "I only watch Raw" crowd during the brand split. How in the world did Raw feel like "must-watch TV" during the first 3-4 years of the brand split? Why was HHH killing off every babyface that got over and having long and boring promos "must-watch TV" over Smackdown tearing it up?

 

Because even then, Smackdown was all about showing replays for RAW & whenever something important had to happen, like an announcement or debuting/returning wrestler they would do it on RAW. Smackdown was the better show for a long time but WWE themselves never presented it that way.

 

I watched a ton of Smackdown during that era and the idea that it was "all about showing replays for Raw" is just not even close to true. They also seemed to debut new wrestlers on Smackdown FAR more often than on Raw. Cena, Batista & Orton were the top 3 guys of that era and they all debuted on Smackdown!

[Coffey]

I mean, it's a wrestling forum of hardcore wrestling fans. I'm sure a lot of us watched a ton of Smackdown during that era. You can't seriously deny that WWE themselves treat Smackdown as a secondary show to RAW though. It's always been apparent which show is the flagship. It's Vince's baby.

[goc]

Why in the world should I care about what WWE presents as the "A show" when the "B-Show" is so much better? Even 07-09 ECW was better than Raw! And it's really not like there was some huge difference between the way Raw & Smackdown were treated anyway, the biggest thing people can point to that's actually legit is that on the co-branded PPVs the big Raw match would usually go on last. Who cares?