It’s Time To Unify
Jim Ross: “No, I never see one, major champion in WWE meaning that I don’t think that the WWE/World Heavyweight titles will ever be united which essentially means that I don’t see the brand split going away any time soon.”
I respect Jim Ross a great deal and I’m sure he knows that his statement above is correct, so I’m not going to argue whether it will happen or not. However, I will definitely ask the question, “Why in the hell not?”
Monday Night Raw is now a “supershow” featuring stars from both brands while Smackdown is still expected to rely on the same guys it has been every week. The WWE Universe has had a hard enough time accepting a complete separation in talent, dating back to the inception of the “Brand Extension”, so how are we supposed to take it seriously now that half the time, both Champions will be appear on the same show once a week.
Raw is now a supershow because Triple H said it was his job to present the best WWE has to offer. He’s the COO of the entire company, right? So, wouldn’t logic make you think he’d want to offer the “best” on BOTH shows? I really don’t get it.
Smackdown is NEVER going to do better numbers than Raw. That’s why it’s the “flagship” show. That, and Vince McMahon makes sure to present it as such every chance he can. It’s also the reason the WWE Championship will always carry more weight than the World Heavyweight Championship.
Had WWE ever truly treated Raw and Smackdown as separate entities, which was the plan at the beginning, my opinions may have been different at this point. But they didn’t. And never will.
If you weigh the pros and cons of officially ending the brand split and unifying the World titles, I would imagine the pros column wins by a landslide, both creatively and financially.
Smackdown will still be treated as the “B” show, but at least it would be acknowledged as such. It would give more time to sell EVERY storyline in between pay per views and not just the main event programs, it would allow the cream of the crop to truly rise because you’re needing double the stars, and it would simply make for better programming in general.
A current WWE superstar told me a couple of months ago that despite what you may think, WWE simply doesn’t have enough “main event” talent to support two brands. I disagree. The talent is definitely there, but WWE has failed to create them. They’ve had long enough.
Don’t go half way this time. End the brand split officially, weed out the dead weight, and get back to doing what you’ve done for many decades: create stars, write television, and sell pay per views.
A credible World Champion is just one of the side effects that might take place.
Until next time, enjoy wrestling everyone!
Chris Cash can be reached via email at [email protected] or on Twitter @RealityofChris. Be sure to tune in this Sunday night, immediately following the Night of Champions broadcast, for a post-PPV edition of the Voice of Wrestling radio show, exclusively on WrestleZone.com and VOWLive.com.
