The WWE brand extension - Some say it was a horrible move. Some say it was a great idea. I agree with the latter on this one. The WWF by about 2001 was absolutely loaded with great talent. They had just purchased WCW, and now there were even more on the way. There was no way they could contain all that talent under one company without some sort of separation. Also, with the loss of WCW, the wrestling world was dying for something out there to be an alternative to WWF, or maybe even competition. The idea was that the magic of the WCW/WWF war was gone so now they had to re-create it amongst themselves.
So on a special March 18, 2002 edition of RAW they split the company in two via a draft, with Ric Flair as on-air owner of RAW and Vince McMahon as on-air owner of Smackdown. Immediately what struck me as odd watching this new “split” was that both shows felt exactly the same. Obviously with WWF banner hovering over it, the shows would have to be somewhat similar, but we were dealing with a Ric Flair brand of wrestling vs. a Vince McMahon brand of wrestling; two polar opposites as far as pro wrestling is concerned.
Fast-forward to 2006. The year Extreme Championship Wrestling had returned under the WWF banner. For months word had been buzzing that ECW would be brought back due to the success of the reunion show -- One Night Stand -- the prior year. WWE signed former ECW wrestlers who no one ever believed would be caught dead on WWE television, such as Sabu, The Sandman, and Terry Funk. Finally it became official. On June 13, 2006 ECW debuted on the Sci-Fi channel. Now WWE had a third brand. It seemed like this was going to be that alternative WWE set out to create with the original brand split…..
Not quite. As the months grew it became very apparent this was just another WWE show, only with a different name. The ECW originals like Justin Credible were slowly disappearing. We were seeing more Smackdown and RAW guys on ECW then we were ECW guy, same type of storylines we’d see on RAW/Smackdown and ECW most nights was being broadcasted from the same arena as Smackdown.
What’s the problem here? The problem is that they’ve essentially created three different brands of the exact same product. It’s not so much that a different type of product would be better, just if you’ve got the same thing on three times a week, why should you watch it all three times? You can watch RAW at the start of the week and be done with it. You don’t need to see ECW or Smackdown because it’s exactly the same, and if you happen to be one of those people who hates the “sports entertainment” style, you’re screwed. Because that’s what all three shows cater to.
As I said the brand split was a great idea, but it was executed very poorly. Why do you think the WCW/ WWF war was so hot? It wasn’t just the difference in the talent. It was the fact that they were so different in almost every aspect. WCW, for example, was more wrestling-based and gave the Cruiserweights a chance to do their thing. WWF, at times, was the more raunchy of the two.
The brand-split was an opportunity to get some of those old WCW fans, those old ECW fans, and maybe some of those fans who stopped watching during the Attitude Era back. It was WWE’s chance to maximize on their monopoly of wrestling by drawing all different types of wrestling fans to their product and giving them the option to choose amongst it. Instead all the brand-splits done is cater to a certain type of fan and shut out the rest.
It’s even to the point now where they all have the same looking set and the wrestlers are free to go on any brand they want regardless of which they belong to. Something must change.
What I’m proposing is completely restructuring the WWE. Hold a company wide draft and create three different entities with it. Take all three brands and make them completely unique from one another.
RAW
This can be exactly the same as it is now. Wacky storylines, larger than life characters, and basically everything you’ve come to expect from a WWE show. Move guys like Big Daddy V, Festus and The Boogeyman over to RAW.
ECW
I know it’s cliché to say this, but it needs to be the ECW of old. They need to get all the originals back (RVD, Sabu, the Sandman etc.). They need to throw out the rules and start having more extreme matches, more risqué storylines. They need to break away from Smackdown and start broadcasting from smaller arenas, because honestly the people who go to Smackdown shows are going for just that – Smackdown. They’re a bunch of little kids going to a family show. If ECW is on before Smackdown, they’re not going to care very much because that’s not what they came to see, and if they show ECW after Smackdown half the people in attendance are going to leave, while the remaining portion of the audience will be too exhausted from the rest of the show. If ECW is on it’s own you’ll only get the real ECW fans, who in the original ECW were half the fun of watching it. And most importantly they need to rehire Paul Heyman. It was him who made ECW into a cult phenomenon. He’s the only one who can bring those old fans back.
Smackdown
Smackdown can be the sports/family hybrid show. A show that you know nothing graphic or embarrassing will appear on. We need to bring in the people who may have stopped watching wrestling during the Attitude Era because it had because it had become too wacky, or the people who don’t watch wrestling because it’s too phony. Smackdown could be a very realistic type of show (as realistic as pro wrestling can get anyways) that wrestling fans can watch with friends without having to worry about hearing “you watch this shit?” Set up three weight classes – Heavyweight, Middleweight, and Lightweight(or cruiserweight). Make them all equally as important as the other and rarely have people fight outside of their weight-class. Avoid things like ref-bumps and run-ins. Smackdown will just be a very basic show that focuses on the in-ring product.
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Subject: The WWE Brand-Extension 
Mon Mar 10, 2008 12:12 am
