andrew "the ref" coyne Posted March 12, 2012 Share Posted March 12, 2012 This is something that I've noticed on WWE for the last year and wondered if we're currently seeing the true end to the brand split. Â Earlier this year, WWE introduced this "supershow" concept whereby Smackdown guys appear on Raw and vice versa and now it looks like we're going to have one GM ruling both shows. To me it seems like they are doing a "soft" end by slowly eliminating all the things that seperate both brands and bringing it back under one umbrella so to speak. Â Will we see a WWE / World title unification shortly after Mania? I do wonder if the recent CM Punk / D Bryan fued was WWEs way of testing the waters for a full time war breaks out between them leading to a new undisputed champion. Â If this is what they are doing is it the right thing to do? I think so, though I believe WWE should continue to use each show to focus on seperate fueds, just with a shared roster. Â Thoughts? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Up Chuck Posted March 12, 2012 Paid Members Share Posted March 12, 2012 I think the Supershow gimmick is evidence that they probably won't be ending the split any time soon. Their house show schedule revolves around the brand split, and the Supershows are just a way of getting around it for the purposes of whatever they want to do on TV. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members LaGoosh Posted March 12, 2012 Paid Members Share Posted March 12, 2012 If the brand split ended would anyone really notice? I honestly see no reason whatsoever to end it as they haven't stuck to it for years now anyways. It's handy as a tool to create storylines if need be (the Long vs. Ace story as a recent example) but they can completely ignore it if they want to. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rave Posted March 12, 2012 Share Posted March 12, 2012 I've mentioned this already but on the new website they make no mention of which superstar is on which brand on the superstars page. That to me also says that they are slowly getting rid of the split as well as the above mentioned. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Invisible Boy Posted March 12, 2012 Share Posted March 12, 2012 There does seem to be a lot less emphasis on which show a wrestler is on and to be honest I think the best way is to just wait and see if they announce another draft after Wrestlemania. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1SinN6 Posted March 12, 2012 Share Posted March 12, 2012 There is another draft show coming up so not stopping anytime soon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andrew "the ref" coyne Posted March 12, 2012 Author Share Posted March 12, 2012 I've mentioned this already but on the new website they make no mention of which superstar is on which brand on the superstars page. That to me also says that they are slowly getting rid of the split as well as the above mentioned. Â Aw nuts! This is what prompted me to bring up the thread and I completely forgot! Yes that too. Â There is another draft show coming up so not stopping anytime soon. Â Evidence? Nothing personal but the amount of times something "concrete" comes up and it turns out it was pulled out of some dirt sheet writers arse is rediculous. It's like how everyone kept saying MITB was "official" for Mania despite the fact that the official wwe website had the MITB ppv listed for 2012. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1SinN6 Posted March 12, 2012 Share Posted March 12, 2012 I've mentioned this already but on the new website they make no mention of which superstar is on which brand on the superstars page. That to me also says that they are slowly getting rid of the split as well as the above mentioned. Â Aw nuts! This is what prompted me to bring up the thread and I completely forgot! Yes that too. Â There is another draft show coming up so not stopping anytime soon. Â Evidence? Nothing personal but the amount of times something "concrete" comes up and it turns out it was pulled out of some dirt sheet writers arse is rediculous. It's like how everyone kept saying MITB was "official" for Mania despite the fact that the official wwe website had the MITB ppv listed for 2012. Â Â Nothing solid but Dave Meltzer has mentioned it. I believe it is the first 3 hour RAW after WM. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jason Mayhem Posted March 12, 2012 Share Posted March 12, 2012 I'd quite like to see the brand split stay so that we dont see the same guys across both shows, however I would personally offer different things on the different shows. Â Have RAW as the main show with the main storylines and big hitters, like Cena, Orton, Punk etc, have the world heavyweight championship, IC title and Divas Title being the focus. Then have Smackdown have a focus on the US title and Tag Team action, maybe even cruisers or TV title for new guys, rookies etc. Â Both shows are WWE branded, but it then gives time for character development across all areas and gives us a bit of variety. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xear Posted March 12, 2012 Share Posted March 12, 2012 I'd quite like to see the brand split stay so that we dont see the same guys across both shows, however I would personally offer different things on the different shows. Have RAW as the main show with the main storylines and big hitters, like Cena, Orton, Punk etc, have the world heavyweight championship, IC title and Divas Title being the focus. Then have Smackdown have a focus on the US title and Tag Team action, maybe even cruisers or TV title for new guys, rookies etc.  Both shows are WWE branded, but it then gives time for character development across all areas and gives us a bit of variety.  If Smackdown was a show with just midcarders and no top guys I don't think people would watch it as much as they do just now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jason Mayhem Posted March 12, 2012 Share Posted March 12, 2012 I'd quite like to see the brand split stay so that we dont see the same guys across both shows, however I would personally offer different things on the different shows. Have RAW as the main show with the main storylines and big hitters, like Cena, Orton, Punk etc, have the world heavyweight championship, IC title and Divas Title being the focus. Then have Smackdown have a focus on the US title and Tag Team action, maybe even cruisers or TV title for new guys, rookies etc.  Both shows are WWE branded, but it then gives time for character development across all areas and gives us a bit of variety.  If Smackdown was a show with just midcarders and no top guys I don't think people would watch it as much as they do just now.  Maybe not straight away, but if they spent time building people like they did with Mark Henry and have done with Bryan and Sheamus then people potentially would. You could have the same feuds but for the US instead of for the World Championship. I wouldn't place sheamus or Daniel Bryan any higher on the card than Mr Perfect or Bret or Shawn when they were feuding for the IC title back in the day.  They could always, use some of the bigger names like Kofi, Miz etc to create super teams to kick it all off, then bring them back onto RAW when they have rebulit smackdown. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Van Dammer Posted March 12, 2012 Share Posted March 12, 2012 I think the Supershow gimmick is evidence that they probably won't be ending the split any time soon. Their house show schedule revolves around the brand split, and the Supershows are just a way of getting around it for the purposes of whatever they want to do on TV. Â This is the only part of the brand split that has ever worked, having effectively two rosters touring the country and working 7 nights a week as a result has been huge for the WWE, they will keep that side of it going but the rest will probably be brushed under the carpet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Magnum Posted March 12, 2012 Share Posted March 12, 2012 I don't think the brand split will be ending anytime in the near future, but the world titles mean less than ever now, so I'd like to see them unified if they ever intend to build them up to being a draw or a worthy plot device again - maybe even re-instituting the old policy that the world champion is the only one who can move between shows at will in the process. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pier Six Brawler Posted March 12, 2012 Share Posted March 12, 2012 They really don't need the brand split to have two touring crews. They used to have 3 or 4 crews sometimes back in the 80s and there was no artificial brand split back then. They should merge the world titles and just have a single brand name of WWE. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcmahonman Posted March 12, 2012 Share Posted March 12, 2012 On the new superstars page you can filter by brand. Just under CM Punk's picture there is a drop down list and you can choose what brand you want. Weirdly Raw has the WWE Championship, US Championship, Tag Team and Divas but SmackDown only has the World Heavyweight and the Intercontinental championships. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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