Watching Raw and Smackdown Live go head to head each week, calling each other out, trying to prove one is better than the other is a lot like sibling rivalry. While the blue team is in the lead, it may not be long before the red team figures out how to catch up in ratings and crowd support.
This is a common issue when you have one wrestling company that is far superior to the other promotions that move along like the Little Engine That Could. WWE made it known early on – back when Vince McMahon bought the company from his father over 30 years ago, he wanted to be the biggest and the best brand out there.
He succeeded in destroying whatever was in his path, first taking down the AWA and slowly picking apart the NWA and finally acquiring WCW. Big brother became the master tyrant that everyone feared.
Now, with a handful of promotions gaining some momentum, albeit a slight amount, and the addition of many independent promotions that thrive on local interest, there is a belief the smaller brands will continue to grow – but won’t conquer the empire McMahon has built.
For now, Raw and Smackdown Live are doing exactly what they were designed to do – keep fans interested in something new and fresh. But even that idea has lost some steam. Football is back, the Major League Baseball season has reached the playoffs. There is a Presidential election in the United States and there are other mitigating factors in the decline of ratings – all of which are secondary to the fact the wheel in this business has been reinvented over and over again.
Ultimately a good thing that was started will die a long and agonising death. And once again, McMahon and his cronies will go back to the drawing board to reinvent a product he hopes fans will buy into once more. Here are five reasons why the brand split cannot last.
#1 Depth Perception
When the draft was held July 19, you could tell right away there was no balance of power. Raw took the majority of talent with the hope of maintaining its spot as the top-rated television program. That has failed because both rosters have deficiencies. Having bigger names to go by doesn't necessarily mean things are better.
The split ultimately will fail because there isn't enough depth on either side to maintain the current stamina associated with new programs and new feuds. What the company needs to re-evaluate is the chance to make trades in order to keep angles fresh and fans entertained.
#2 Pay-per-view dilemmas
What will WWE do to produce cohesion with its major moneymaking events? It was thought for a while that one pay-per-view event a month was too much. Now there's an oversaturation. If WWE wants to continue this pace, it will need to come up with a plan for specific brand events and maintain 12 shows per year.
The company can keep it's for major events of the year – Royal Rumble, Wrestlemania, SummerSlam, and Survivor Series - and work on eight brand specific shows with each getting four events. It's the only way to avoid separation from fans who feel there's too much in a short period of time.
#3 The titles have lost their meaning
If you want to know how far the company has fallen, take a look at the current title structure. While some argue it's a great time to be a fan because there are new and exciting angles to work with, I would argue that division of titles for each brand hurts in the long run.
It means that the title isn't as valued, and more people, both men and women, will carry titles for shorter periods of time. The idea of a champion is someone who holds the belt for a while, is able to turn back all opposition, and is just a bit better than all the rest.
Because there isn't as much depth on both rosters and booking has been poor, the belts mean nothing.
#4 Boredom
WWE has had a long-standing history of changing things when you least expect it. That's evident in taking belts off of popular champions, changing up booking, and doing away with concepts that were successful in the business for years.
The one thing that Vince McMahon has done over the years that I really cannot stand, is that he has gotten away from the idea of taking chances, listening to the fans, and producing a product that is cutting edge. It would appear the company and the fans have reached a level stagnation.
The idea at first was exciting. There has to be a way to break the cycle.
#5 The success of NXT
The success of NXT - The biggest success of the Triple H era of this company is the fact that the brand in Orlando is doing such a great job of producing talent. That said, WWE has to work doubly hard to make sure it is continually bringing in talent to NXT so fans will remain excited about what is to come.
The greatest thing about the territories in the NWA was the fact that champions toured and faced top talent in each city and state. We don't have anymore. What wrestling has is a minor-league system that continually produces males and females who are ready to move up to the next level.
That is why talent from other promotions in the United States and beyond have become crucial to the success of this company.
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