The King of Old School Posted September 21, 2019 Share Posted September 21, 2019 (edited) With the draft coming up in a few weeks, thought I'd try and kick off a bit of discussion/speculation about it. Who do you think will be a good fit for each show? Will NXT be involved in the draft? How long until they abandon it and have everyone appearing everywhere again?! I think Roman and Seth will be kept apart still, and Bray will definitely be on Raw too. I hope one or two get drafted to NXT too to freshen them up. Oh, and I give it until January until they get fed up of it again. Edited September 21, 2019 by The King of Old School Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Statto Posted September 21, 2019 Paid Members Share Posted September 21, 2019 I made this point when Heyman & Bischoff first got their new roles, but my main hope is they let those two legitimately sit down & debate/agree who goes where - I've got this idea for her, I want to do this with them etc. Just seems to make sense to let them make up their own rosters & give the shows the identity they want. Will be interesting how they have/will cleared this by the TV networks though - the whole "wildcard" thing was a knee jerk reaction to USA kicking off about Reigns being moved to the show that was going to Fox, IIRC. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Jazzy G Posted September 21, 2019 Paid Members Share Posted September 21, 2019 (edited) I wonder whether they should have the draft as a Network special to try and shift a few subscriptions, or do it on their YouTube channel. Invite some fans and press along and do it in the style of the drafts they do in yer other American sports (or the racial draft on Chappelle's Show). Throw it over to the legends panel for some analysis etc. We'll get more idea on which show they perceive to be the "A-show" once the draft is over. Of course it'll just be two nights of Steph & Shane drama on Raw & Smackdown. Is Corbin still GM or commissioner on Raw and Paige doing the same job on Smackdown? Edited September 21, 2019 by jazzygeofferz Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TildeGuy~! Posted September 21, 2019 Share Posted September 21, 2019 (edited) 7 minutes ago, jazzygeofferz said: Is Corbyn still GM or commissioner on Raw and Paige doing the same job on Smackdown? Not since December last year, no. Shane runs Smackdown and there’s no management on Raw. Corbin is now King as he won King Of The Ring last week though, whilst Paige manages Kairi Sane and Asuka but they’re never on TV so she doesn’t show up much. Edited September 21, 2019 by TildeGuy~! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Jazzy G Posted September 21, 2019 Paid Members Share Posted September 21, 2019 It'll be Shane, Steph & Vince then. Unless they go totally meta and introduce Heyman and Bischoff as on screen characters as well as their actual roles, but in more of a Jack Tunney/Gorilla Monsoon "interim president" role than out on TV every week Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
King Pitcos Posted September 21, 2019 Share Posted September 21, 2019 1 hour ago, jazzygeofferz said: I wonder whether they should have the draft as a Network special to try and shift a few subscriptions, or do it on their YouTube channel. It’s a gimmick show to try to get decent ratings for SmackDown and Raw. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Jazzy G Posted September 21, 2019 Paid Members Share Posted September 21, 2019 17 minutes ago, King Pitcos said: It’s a gimmick show to try to get decent ratings for SmackDown and Raw. Oh I completely get that, I was more spitballing ideas. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GeronimoJacksBeard Posted September 21, 2019 Share Posted September 21, 2019 14 hours ago, Statto said: Will be interesting how they have/will cleared this by the TV networks though - the whole "wildcard" thing was a knee jerk reaction to USA kicking off about Reigns being moved to the show that was going to Fox, IIRC. The mess of the Wildcard rule gimmick has made me wish they’d always stuck with the idea (or hopefully switch someday) to having less titles, but title holders being travelling champions, appearing on both brands. The WWE champion would need to be your top star in that instance (as it should be) if you want to keep the networks happy. Might help make the belts worth a shit and having to make new stars too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
simonworden Posted September 22, 2019 Share Posted September 22, 2019 6 hours ago, GeronimoJacksBeard said: The mess of the Wildcard rule gimmick has made me wish they’d always stuck with the idea (or hopefully switch someday) to having less titles, but title holders being travelling champions, appearing on both brands. The WWE champion would need to be your top star in that instance (as it should be) if you want to keep the networks happy. Might help make the belts worth a shit and having to make new stars too. I've always preferred the idea of having one overall world champ rather than one for each brand as it makes the belt much more prestigious in my eyes. However I understand having more belts in some people's eyes makes more "stars" not that I agree with that statement. The old "house shows" need the champ thing doesn't really fly these day either I reckon. The tag and women's belts should be the same, especially the former as they never have enough teams meaning at least on of the belts ends up being a prop for singles stars rather than well utilised. You could then add in 2 women's secondary belts too if you wanted. The other singles belts (discounting the 24/7) should be on one brand only as a way to make them the important belt on that show essentially. Divided up it could be Travelling Championships- WWE/ WWE Tag/ WWE Women's/ WWE Women's tag Raw- US/ Women's US Smackdown - Intercontinental/ Women's Intercontinental NXT/205 - NXT/ North American/ Tag/ Women's/ Cruiserweight NXT UK - UK/ NXTUK Tag/ NXT UK Women's Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The King of Old School Posted September 22, 2019 Author Share Posted September 22, 2019 I'd say the last thing we need is a Womens US & IC title. Completely agree with the WWE & Womens champs being "touring champs though". Just how it was in the original brand split in 2002. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Awards Moderator HarmonicGenerator Posted September 22, 2019 Awards Moderator Share Posted September 22, 2019 1 hour ago, The King of Old School said: I'd say the last thing we need is a Womens US & IC title. Completely agree with the WWE & Womens champs being "touring champs though". Just how it was in the original brand split in 2002. The Women’s title was Raw exclusive in 2002. That’s why SmackDown’s women’s division consisted of Torrie and Stacy! I wonder how far in advance they planned the split in 2002. Would they have unified the two World titles they had in late 2001 if they were already thinking of splitting the roster? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CavemanLynn Posted September 22, 2019 Share Posted September 22, 2019 I hope they acknowledge who are set main show players and who they need to rebuild, and use Smackdown as that rebuilding ground. NXT is the place people think of when they want to send someone somewhere to freshen up, but Smackdown could be the higher profile version of that NXT sandbox, providing they lean into the difference in Raw being the live show and Smackdown being recorded. If someone's getting stale, a stint on Smackdown where they can experiment both in ring and on the mic, editing both down to something ready for TV, would be a benefit to a lot of the roster who've been treading water with the same shtick for a couple of years. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Your Fight Site Posted September 22, 2019 Paid Members Share Posted September 22, 2019 (edited) I don’t think FOX stumped up the cash to buy a ‘B’ show or glorified developmental. FOX want a bona fide wrestling show, not a show where WWE can “experiment” or send wrestlers to find a new gimmick. Edited September 22, 2019 by Your Fight Site Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Dart Posted September 22, 2019 Share Posted September 22, 2019 14 minutes ago, CavemanLynn said: I hope they acknowledge who are set main show players and who they need to rebuild, and use Smackdown as that rebuilding ground. NXT is the place people think of when they want to send someone somewhere to freshen up, but Smackdown could be the higher profile version of that NXT sandbox, providing they lean into the difference in Raw being the live show and Smackdown being recorded. Smackdown is live. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members WeeAl Posted September 22, 2019 Paid Members Share Posted September 22, 2019 (edited) And it's now the A show. WWE's most important changeable metric, come October, will be the Smackdown rating. Attendance, network subs, Raw's rating, etc are all a lot less important than ensuring Smackdown stays popular enough to remain on FOX, not get demoted to FS1, and the plummeting share price that would follow such a move. SmackDown is likely to get the better end of the draft, for the first time since probably 2002. Having said that, it'll probably not look much different at first as the roster has been so intertwined for so long now that I have no idea who is supposed to be on what show. Edited September 22, 2019 by WeeAl Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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