WWE Brand Split a looming disaster

So the WWE is splitting the brand again making SmackDown live and with its own roster.  This failed miserably once before, but many are saying that it should not be doomed to do so again.  These people are wrong. 

First, a brand split means a World Title split.  So the much advertised unifying of the WWE and World Championship is now undone.  If you had under 3 years in the office pool you win.  This never goes over well, and does it mean two money in the bank matches, one for each?  What about Royal Rumble?  Which one does that winner get at WM?  Doesn’t that automatically make that title a bit higher and thus the whole show more important? 

Second, it kills all the other belts.  Maybe the US belt and Intercontinental belt get a boost from being on separate shows, but the newly minted Women’s Title is now going to be split.  Do we bring back the Divas Title?  The Tag Team titles have to be split too.  Are those divisions really deep enough to manage a split?  I guess you could do Women’s on Raw and Tag Team on SmackDown, but you still have decreased the visibility by half.  The Women’s Title was rolling, but now will be chopped in half and there is not enough talent to make two titles plus story lines beyond the title.  The Tag team division even had a little momentum with New Day being popular and a Tag Team rivalry brewing that had nothing to do with the titles.  Now, it is all gone as we split the division.

Third, people have long complained Raw is too long with 3 hours.  Now it will still be 3 hours with half the talent.  Just imagine Raw with Roman Reigns, but no AJ and no Ambrose.  Kevin Owens but not Zayn.  Can Reigns and Rollins carry three hours?  The answer is no.

Fourth, NXT is as good as dead.  To make this brand split work, you need more wrestlers and they are going to have to raid NXT.  I would expect Prince Devitt, Nakamura, and Samoa Joe to get call ups.  You would think American Alpha may get a shot too.  Kenta Kobashi will probably not stay long in NXT, if at all once the brand split.  He has a natural Nakamura fight coming his way.  This is great news for Austin Ares and even better news for Rich Swann, who is doing house shows for NXT, but not TV.  But the NXT roster is going to be very, very depleted.  NXT can probably rehabilitate Johnny Gargano and Ciampa, but that will take some work.  Are you ready for an NXT that features a lot more Mojo Rawley?  This has long been my point about NXT.  They are a great show when they just take people who should have been hired on the main roster years ago.  But do you think NXT can train up new recruits?  When was the last time you heard anyone praise Hugo Knox.  Knox was a WWE hire.  Low experience, former soccer player.  He is going to get a lot more NXT time now.  King Constantine anyone?  Former Serb wrestler.  He will be some of the remaining talent for NXT shows.  Angelo Dawkins?  These are the hires you don’t hear about, but are soon going to be all that is left on NXT.  They had better raid Ring of Honor now, or the show will hit the toilet. 

Fifth, the draft question is looming.  Are they going to do a regular draft?  If so, the project is dead.  For real great story lines to develop and people to move up and down, they really need to have more than a year.  They need to be fairly separate entities to make this work and for a good amount of time.  As we see with the resplitting of the WWE title, commitment is not something the WWE knows how to spell. 

Sixth, Double main events don’t exist.  This is just true.  The last match is the main event.  Everyone knows it.  If Smackdown is consistently the semi-main event on PPVs it will affect everything.  The Smackdown World title will be seen as less than the Raw world title.  I don’t know how you can keep an even playing field between the brands unless you split the PPVs too.  This is doable, but one would think that at least Wrestlemania and probably the other big three PPVs need them all.  Royal Rumble, Survivor Series, and Summer Slam.  This lets you divide the other 8 into 4 SD and 4 RAW PPVs.  I like that idea, but you know they are not going to do it.  And you still have the problem at Wrestlemania.  One show will be the flagship making all the other titles lesser.

Seventh, Wrestler pay is probably going to take a dip.  Wrestlers get PPV pay, but now it is going to be harder to get that PPV appearance.  Brand Split means more wrestlers, meaning tougher to get on the PPV and get the extra pay day.  Dolph Ziggler and Baron Corbin get on a PPV when there are only three single titles.  They don’t make a PPV with 4 single titles or 4 single title and 2 tag titles or 4 single titles and 2 tag titles and 2 women’s titles.  And if you do the separate PPVs, you have automatically lost 4 PPV checks.  What about merchandise?  Do you sell the KO t-shirt at RAW if KO is only on Smackdown?  It seems that merch would go down even if you did because of the lack of KO being on those shows and less opportunity to get people to want to buy his stuff.  Maybe you make up with it by having extra house shows, but I still would imagine the wrestlers take a hit here. 

Eighth, the potential damage to RAW is unbelievable.  Let us say that the NXT way of booking continues its hot streak on Smackdown.  It is entirely possible that Smackdown becomes a huge success, but it maybe at the cost of RAW.  If RAW takes Roman Reigns and continues the Vince style booking that seems so out of touch, viewership might tank completely.  It could become TNA.  That will be lost ad revenue and that is bad for business. 

Ninth, how can this be seen as anything other than a kick in the teeth to Roman Reigns.  He is no longer good enough to be a unified champ.  He is being stripped of half his title.  It would have been easier just to make him lose the title.  Roman Reigns is to Vince Jr. as Bob Backlund is to Vince Sr.  Yikes. 

All in all, I think the viewer might get to see more wrestlers, but it will be a worse product.  Remember NXT can be a great wrestling show because they did not bring in huge money.  Will you be able to even call it wrestling on Smackdown?  This is still the same company that is Sports Entertainment.  Thinking this is going to turn out well for the wrestling fan is a pipe dream.

NWA World Title Rankings

Let’s get serious a minute about NWA World Heavyweight rankings.  I understand that traditionally those who have say the North American Title or the National Title should be 1 and 2, but Tim Storm has had a lot of shots, and lost them all.  Let us put together a real contenders list.  Sorry PWI. 

#1 – Badd Blood               This is really a no brainer.  He is the longest reigning Pacific Northwest Champ of all time, and he laid that belt down without losing it.  He currently holds the Continental title and the Heritage Title.  He has fought everywhere from Mid Atlantic to Washington and from Indiana to Texas.  He deserves a shot at the title.

#2 – Raymond Rowe      Rowe likewise has two belts right now.  He is the Branded Outlaw champ as well as the Grand Warrior champ.  He also won a big three way match at the Parade of Champs, and should be a top contender for the title.

#3 – Vordell Walker        Vordell no longer holds two, but did forever.  He was a long running NWA Elite champ that included wins over the likes of Tim Storm until Steve Anthony, World Junior champ beat him.  Walker is still the Bayou Independent champ, and maybe the second longest reigning champ in the NWA.  He is also a former National title holder.  He is deserving of a shot.

#4 Greg Anthony             Anthony is the current National Champ and that alone should put him on this list.  He has not had a shot at Jax Dane yet at all, unlike Storm.  He defends it every week at Mid South and beat Jason Kincaid at Casino Royale, and Houston Carson at Parade of Champions.  He deserves a shot.

#5 Jason Kincaid               The longest reigning champion in wrestling today is the Gift Jason Kincaid of Smoky Mtn. Wrestling.  He is this low because of some high profile losses at Parade of Champions and Casino Royale, but let us not forget that he has beaten Michael Elgin and Johnny Morrison and Sabu and Lio Rush during his multiyear reign a top SMW.  He is also a Super 8 winner, so he has the goods.

#6 Matt Rivera                  Rivera is a current World Tag Team champ, but do not forget about his significant singles accomplishments.  He was a multi-time Western States Champ, and he defended that title all over eventually even defeating Jeff Jarrett to reclaim it.  He shouldn’t be at the top of the list, but he should be on it.

#7 Lance Hoyt                    Lance is part of the Killer Elite Squad, so he is a multiple time World Tag Team Champion.  He has wrestled literally all over the world.  Hoyt did just come up short in a three way match against Rowe, which drops him down to seven.  But it was not that long ago that Hoyt beat Jax Dane one on one in a no DQ match.  That win pushes Hoyt onto this list in a rematch that needs to happen.

#8 Little Cholo                   Little Cholo held the Vendetta Pro championship for over a year, and recently lost it on his first match back from injury.  He also lost it to a man who seems to have his number.  Cholo ought to have consideration for such a long reign and the number of men who tried but failed.  He should get a world title shot.

#9 Ricky Ruffin                  Ruffin is the man who defeated Rivera for the Western States title.  He has defended it since that time in Vendetta Pro.  He has not quite as defended it as aggressively and as far as Rivera did, which is why he is below Rivera on this list.  Still, the title itself merits consideration for a list like this.

#10 Johnny Justice          Johnny Justice is a four time Mid-America champion, and only lost that title in the last week or so.  It was lost in a fatal four way, so it was not even in a one-on-one situation.  He comes in above Eric Draven because he beat Draven for the title one on one, and Draven has already had a shot or two at the world title and come up empty.  Time for Justice to get his shot.