Why the WWE fans deserve a true split
Wrestling was at it's best when WWE and WCW were at each other's throats. I don't think anyone will disagree with that. Vince McMahon probably did himself the worst disservice he could when he bought WCW. Why? Because he no longer needed to innovate. He owned the competition, with Paul Heyman and ECW coming into the fold soon behind. TNA tried to become a valid competitor but fell well short. They're still around, but WWE has never had to fear them.
So what's the solution? What can WWE do to bring back that 'need to be better' spirit? A brand split.
Now I know, you're sitting there saying: "But, they've already split! They have Raw and SmackDown each with their own rosters!" And to that, I ask: "Do they?"
See, the current brand split isn't really a split, is it? I mean both sides are still WWE, and talent goes back and forth between the two all the time. Nobody truly believes they are competing with each other, and rarely do you have die-hard SmackDown fans calling out Raw fans.
That's why WWE needs to commit to a true split. Not just cutting the roster in half and leaving wrestlers on one show or the other. Raw and SmackDown need to be able to truly stand on their own. That means that Vince gives control of each show over to a successor of his choosing, (while maintaining himself as the driving force behind them of course) making each a promotion of their own.
As an example of how this would work, let's say that Triple H is given control over Raw, and Shane McMahon is given control over Smackdown. I don't mean that they are the 'Commissioner' or 'CEO' on television; I mean that they run the show. So what is their first order of business? Well, they need a roster. Much like any business, they will have their own budget to work with and will be able to offer contracts to whomever they wish. No lottery drafts, or trading, just a good old-fashioned contract negotiation.
Next would come television contracts. Just because the WWE has deals currently with USA Network, doesn't mean that as these deals come due SmackDown and Raw need to stay. And just because one does, doesn't mean the other one has to. Maybe SmackDown stays on the USA Network, and maybe Raw makes a move to, say, Spike TV.
Now that they're on different networks, they can push to go head-to-head with each other, creating a new Monday Night War (or maybe a Tuesday or Friday Night war, depending on what time slots they pick).
Then come the Pay Per Views. With the WWE Network being the broadcast platform of choice these days, that makes it a little easier for each brand to be given a monthly event. The only exception to this should be WrestleMania as brand split or not, it should equally showcase both, and Survivor Series having both promotions go head to head once a year can only be good for both sides.
Think about a world where it matters again what show a Superstar is on. Where it's huge news when John Cena goes from being on Raw to being on SmackDown because it isn't part of a storyline. A world where everyone is starting to think more creatively in order to beat the other side.
If nobody else can compete with WWE, then they owe it to the fans to compete with themselves.
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