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Welcome, one and all, to Mr. Tito Strikes Back exclusively here at LordsofPain.net / WrestlingHeadlines.com. So everybody keeps asking me "what do you think about the WWE Brand Split?" Inquiring minds want to know! After all, I lend some credibility on this subject. Since I'm the old man on the block, I wrote columns during 2002 when the first one happened and then wrote columns as the Smackdown brand began to collapse during 2004-2006 in order to heavily favor RAW as the #1 show. First of all, let's get something straight... It hasn't happened yet. All we're hearing are insider news reports. Gee, what could those be about? In case you didn't realize this yet, we've had the same 3-4 insider news reporters FOR YEARS who seem to have exclusive access to WWE locker rooms, board rooms, and other backstage places. Nobody else can. It's funny, too, because WWE is a publicly traded company and yet they keep telling these 3-4 insider news reporters what happens among executives within production meetings and board rooms. Do you really think that Walmart, Coca-Cola, IBM, Microsoft, Exxon, etc, would EVER tell reporters what happens behind closed doors? HELL NO. WWE likes to control the media (those 3-4 reporters) but they also use them to "test balloon" ideas. Such as, hey, let's try a Brand Split again... And look what happens... We're talking about it. Now, most of you keep getting on me for my Shane McMahon vs. Undertaker prediction from Wrestlemania 32 where I thought Shane would win... Certainly, disregard the other bigger matches that I predicted accurately at that event or other recent events, but go ahead and single that pick out, mmmkay? The reason I went with Shane over the Undertaker is because one of these 3-4 insiders reported that the Brand Split could be a post-Wrestlemania 32 RAW thing with Shane winning RAW and it forced Stephanie/Triple H to Smackdown. That would be the angle that dominated the entire summer. However, that "test balloon" was popped and the Undertaker won that match. My thinking was that Vince McMahon would "screw" the Undertaker to then team up with Shane to run RAW and then have Stephanie/Triple H run Smackdown. So I missed one... Big deal. If you only knew how much I painfully force myself to do Pay Per View predictions... Just boring to write. ANYWAY - I was thinking about writing a column where I completely trash this idea of the new Brand Extension with separating the WWE roster between RAW and Smackdown again, different titles, etc... Then, my buddy Tom Stubler (@KHstrike) tweeted me something interesting that got me thinking... The NXT showed the WWE the "benefit of a legit second brand". He's right! And the funny thing about NXT's popularity is that it can only be seen by 1,000,000 people domestically, maximum, and not every WWE Network owner watches NXT. However, look how popular that NXT brand has become. They packing in the smaller venues that they play and filling larger arenas for the Takeover events. For as little exposure that NXT actually gets, they've made some household names and received major praise for their Takeover events. In fact, I'd argue that's the main reason I subscribe to WWE Network. Getting to watch at least 4 NXT events per month and 1 WWE Pay Per View is a damn good deal for $9.99. OK - Thanks to my buddy Tom, I see some potential benefit of the Brand Split. In fact, if there is any value to Triple H as an Executive to the WWE, there you have it... His success at NXT has probably convinced Vince that a second brand can exist... With USA Networks now airing WWE Smackdown, the WWE cannot halfass this show any longer. Therefore, the brand split could be returning. HOWEVER - WWE Smackdown better morph into a completely unique looking show. Because if it's another RAW-lite show as we saw from 2006 until now, it will fail HARD. Go back to your history... Why did the initial years of the WWE Brand Extension actually work well? Because RAW and Smackdown were two different shows and had 2 different lead writers who briefly had creative freedom to compete with each other. And guess who was Smackdown's lead writer from 2002-2004? PAUL HEYMAN. That's right, the same guy who took Extreme Championship Wrestling very far in a competitive wrestling market was also the same guy writing Smackdown shows that beat RAW in viewership from 2002-2004 consistently. Heyman reinvented Rey Mysterio, put John Cena on the correct upward trajectory, made Brock Lesnar into a bigger star, gave Eddie Guerrero new life, and built one of the finest tag team divisions around that didn't need tables, ladders, and chairs. Smackdown was cool, it had a better announcing team (Michael Cole & Tazz, great team), and it created legitimate jealousy among the McMahons. THAT'S WHY the Brand Extension worked for much of the early years... Then, one by one, RAW gutted Smackdown of its top stars and it was over. John Cena's move after Wrestlemania 21 during 2005 was, in my opinion, the final nail in its coffin. That show no longer mattered because RAW became star heavy of its top guys and Smackdown morphed into a farm system for RAW. The World Heavyweight Championship, in particular, became an absolute joke with the many weak champions and the title inflation. NXT worked as a separate WWE brand because it was completely different than the main roster WWE. They played in smaller arenas, weren't controlled by marketing interests (no commercials will do that to you), and storylines were kept simple. Better yet, Triple H and his former wrestler bookers have focused on adding credibility to all 3 titles: NXT Title, Women's Title, and Tag Titles. There's a real "sense of urgency" among the entire roster to capture these titles and if not, just settling the score with a rival. There is only little influence by the WWE's Corporate management structure and not much involvement by Vince McMahon. No writers from Hollywood... Actual former wrestlers are running the territory and booking the show. The reason WHY NXT works so well is that it's the complete opposite from what the bloated WWE shows are presenting. As I was mentioning with Shane/Undertaker at Wrestlemania 32... Early reports (because WWE Corporate is so leaky or was testing ideas through the exclusive reporters) suggested that Shane McMahon would "run" RAW while Triple H would run Smackdown both in character AND as a booker. That's right... Vince would be hands off. However, could Triple H translate his NXT success to a much bigger stage? It's easy to impress 1,000 or so repeat customers who appear at every NXT show at the same Full Sail University location... It's another to impress 10,000+ at different cities with a much younger or casual audience attending. That's why many NXT call-ups are struggling... After all, Triple H has been the EVP of Creative for the past 3 years or so and we're not seeing any marginal booking changes to RAW/Smackdown. He is reportedly the "#1 advisor" to Vince McMahon yet we're not seeing his influence that much on Creative. In fact, tension between Vince and Creative, led by HHH, has become worse. Vince is repeatedly shredding scripts and he doubled down hard on Roman Reigns. Hell, he even convinced Triple H to put over Reigns at Wrestlemania 32. The main difference I see from the 2016 Brand Extension (if it happens) versus the 2002 one is TALENT. That's right, the 2002 roster was LOADED because it was on the heels of the Attitude Era where the WWE roster expanded, especially during 1999-2000. Then, you have many WCW and ECW wrestlers on the WWE roster because both WCW/ECW died during 2001. WCW, in particular, had contracts coming off the AOL/Time Warner books and many wrestlers (Hogan, Nash, Hall, Steiner, and Mysterio) were available to finally join the WWE. Then, and wait for it Comments section... WWE's developmental system, Ohio Valley Wrestling, was LOADED with developmental talent who were ready to join the WWE. Brock Lesnar, Shelton Benjamin, Batista, Randy Orton, Charlie Haas and a guy named John Cena were all called up. Besides Brock Lesnar, each of those guys were midcarders. That's right folks... The vaunted "Class of 2002" were MIDCARDERS on this roster. LOADED... WWE had some of the all-time greatest draws around with Rock, Undertaker, Steve Austin (sort of ), Hulk Hogan, Kurt Angle and then the return of Shawn Michaels. Compare that to the 2016 roster... Ummmm... Well, we have that "Class of 2002" still around? Oh, John Cena is just coming off of an injury, Randy Orton is still injured, Brock Lesnar is part-time, and Batista is never coming back? Oh boy... Well, we have Triple H and the Undertaker, right? Old... 1-2 matches for them, tops. It's a good thing that the WWE has CM Punk and Daniel Bryan as mega superstars... Oh, they let Punk walk and Bryan retired? Surely, that developmental system created a top drawing superstar by now, right? *crickets* Ummm... TNA wrestlers coming to the WWE? New Japan wrestlers coming to WWE? Oh, you're telling me that WWE is approaching 2000 WCW Nitro ratings numbers? Feeling kind of thin... Wasn't this THIN roster and lack of major superstars an issue for the end of the last Brand Extension? Didn't you, the Internet Wrestling Community (IWC), call for the end of the Brand Extension because the WWE roster was so thin and void of superstar drawing power? Remember how long you BEGGED the WWE to merge the WWE Title and World Heavyweight Championship? The utter hilarity of the SAME internet fans who begged for the WWE rosters to be merged through 2013 are the SAME fans calling for the new Brand Extension. Are you kidding me? Do you know how hypocritical you sound right now? What, are you too much of a TNA/New Japan fan to believe that the few signings from both places could be enough to carry 2 full rosters of wrestlers? I guess you have failed to see how badly the WWE RAW ratings were declining during that "Bullet Club" feud with Roman Reigns? I'm just not seeing it, folks... The roster is TOO THIN for this. Sure, it could present some opportunities for various midcarders who have been stuck lately, but it could potential cause 2 lame television shows void of star power. Unless WWE goes on an extreme talent raid of all Indy, International, and TNA promotions... And there's a cost for that... I'm just not seeing it. Worse yet, this brand extension will force the NXT roster to probably get raided. That's a great brand that the WWE has built up over the last 2 years and has made the WWE Network subscription worthwhile for most. NXT's show works because it's 1 hour... Unless the WWE developmental system has a plan in place to replenish talent, that show could get thinned out. If Triple H gets spread too thin, less attention will be paid to NXT. WWE had killed the NXT show that has kept many WWE Network subscribers in place. I understand that Smackdown will make more money in the short-term, but remember, RAW/Smackdown's existence are at the mercy of Comcast/USA Networks. If I were WWE, I would cheer for Netflix to keep being successful because this hurts USA Network's re-run business and makes them need to keep WWE around. I HOPE IT WORKS, folks... I'm not pissing on your Cheerios. I'm just using the reality of the situation. I wrote columns during the 2002 era and fully understand why a roster split would work in 2002. Roster was loaded and even when it was split, there was some weaknesses shown. Paul Heyman coached up a lot of Smackdown wrestlers during 2002-2004 but we saw a lot of bad stuff passing off on RAW. Not everything was perfect during that time and just 3 years later, the WWE itself became bored with idea. RAW became the "A" show and Smackdown clearly became the "B" show once John Cena left with the WWE Title during 2005. Smackdown served as a farm system for RAW. The SAME WWE management is in place with the exception of no Paul Heyman on Creative and no Jim Ross on developmental. Stephanie, Shane, Vince, Kevin Dunn, and Triple H were all in place during that time... Gee, they are STILL in charge. I'm sure that I'll give many recommendations on how to make this successful, but I have an early one to make... PUSH Shinsuke Nakamura. He is the most talented in-ring performer and entertainer that I've seen in a long time. Nakamura is a MAIN EVENT STAR in the making and the WWE should push him HARD on a main roster brand. I'm still in awe of that Takeover Dallas match... It remains my "MATCH OF THE YEAR" and it would take a complete miracle for something to top that. Nakamura has everything that the WWE wants in an entertainer - charisma, personality, and in-ring ability. And hey, he can speak English. PUSH HIM TO THE MOON! And call each brand something unique like RAW Wrestling Federation (RWF) and Smackdown Championship Wrestling (SCW), with each brand's main title as RWF Champion and the SCW Champion. Sorry, but the "World Heavyweight Championship" was the most idiotic title name during the last brand split. So confusing... I would personally like the WWE Champion to be a traveling champion to both brands while each brand pushed the Intercontinental Title and US Titles as their main belts. All speculation at this point, as the idea has yet to be executed... But in my opinion, specifically because the NXT is a great brand and the WWE roster is too thin, this brand split idea should be executed. And I mean the killing version of executed, as in this idea should be shot down. Rosters are too thin! SO JUST CHILL... 'TIL THE NEXT EPISODE! Comments and feedback are welcome. Follow and Tweet me @titowrestling or login in below to post comments. © Mr. Tito and LordsofPain.net/WrestlingHeadlines.com - 1998-2016
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