the first ever wwf/e draft

[dalyricalbandit]

I hated the brand split

 

[VIBE]

Austin's situation sounds similar to Punk, but of course, Austin was way bigger and had more wiggle room with Vince than Punk.

I think that begs the question — why didn't Vince want to build Punk up more? I mean, there's tons of money to be made with Punk, the marks eat that shit up. His merch was selling hot as fuck, which is why he was champion for so long. If Vince could put up with Austin, why couldn't he put up with Punk?

But, anyways, back to the draft, I didn't realize it was really that complicated. SmackDown at the time was actually good, RAW wasn't much better tbh, both are WWE, so why the ego fight to stay on RAW?

I remember finally getting to the third time they did the draft and realizing that, the top guys on RAW, would never see SmackDown as a home. Didn't Triple H get drafted from RAW to SmackDown, then from SmackDown back to RAW? I know someone did and it was weird as fuck. Maybe it was Cena?

 

[IceBergTaylor]

The draft was the beginning of me losing interest in the WWF/E

I was a huge fan up until this point.

The draft ruined WWE for me.

Cant believe it was 12 years ago.

 

[DOPEdweebz]

Because Austin looks like a complete badass and sells more merch than Cena and built like a football player.

 

[jono]

When Hall decided to drink beers in the hotel bar the night before WrestleMania

Word?

 

[dalyricalbandit]

son would drink beer in the ring while wrestling shit wouldn't shock me

 

[Mally_G]

i liked the brand split, it was supposed to give the mid and low card performers a chance to shine.

RAW is the Holy Grail in the company, so if someone started to blow up on Smackdown, have them run with the title for a bit, make a chase type feud with a couple competitors, then whomever came out smelling like roses would move to RAW. Again, if someone wasn't working out on RAW, relegate them to Smackdown. At least the person who was relegated has the RAW juice dripping and could be a "big deal" on Smackdown, and then someone on Smackdown could try to wipe that aura from the recent acquisition.

When Paul E. was running Smackdown, he booked a complete wrestling show. It was a better product than RAW, and the executives knew it, that's why they removed Paul from his position as booker. RAW had the names, egos, and star power that appealed to the mainstream audience, Smackdown was the wrestling show.

That's why I say I liked the split in terms of chance for those who were always buried on RAW and never got a chance. At least with Paul E., he gave everyone a chance to make a name for themselves with their wrestling ability. But the E was more interested in him producing stars that'll appeal to Hollywood.

Sometime ago, I wrote how the E could have used ECW, WCW, Smackdown, and RAW as a tier system to promote and relegate talent.

ECW - new signed talent to the company (WWE). Internet matches. Expose them how they are doing NXT or the old Ohio Valley. Put them through tough matches, and some traditional ECW hardcore stuff to test their toughness. Here, a gimmick is established and experimented. Once the trainers feel they are in-ring ready, they graduate to WCW.

WCW - Some TV exposure on a minor scale. Evaluating talent on whether they can feud and promo. There will be talent that graduated from ECW and some from Smackdown/RAW who were relegated and new additional seasoning. If the relegated talent can't get over in WCW, after being relegated from Smackdown/RAW for maybe a gimmick overhaul or promo work, future endeavor them, or send them to ECW for more training.

Smackdown - Almost there, but the talent needs to show they can wrestle, promo, and have a bankable gimmick. Feuding skills are put to the test against relegated RAW talent, and promoted WCW talent. If the talent can't make it here, they are relegated to WCW. If the fans take to the talent after a few (not one), but a few bankable feuds, and title runs, then they graduate to RAW.

RAW - The main stage, where the big boys play. It's either play hard, win, or go home. If you don't make it here, you're relegated back down to Smackdown.

It's a simple tier system. I just wish the WWE had sense and used a proper format to make everyone a star, or at least make them appealing.

 

[5th Letter]

The NXT was what ECW was supposed to be as far as being a separate entity within the WWE umbrella. But they screwed that up. As for the brand split I hated it at first but then I grew to like it. The split had potential but it was never truly used to its maximum potential. It gave the WWE two touring rosters, they had two different shows with different rules and focus. Raw was the storyline and star studded brand. Smackdown was the inring show. This dynamic worked briefly but the WWE just got impatient.

 

[TonyDubbz]

I liked the brand split at first because it wasn't repetitive. Like we went through all the ppvs and then came survivor series where they would do Brand vs Brand and I liked that shit becaue it combined everyone again just for that competitve event. Then things just got repetitive, I looked forward to the first year after the draft so that the rosters could be shaken up again but then they did that whole both brands would have their own ppvs thing and I aint like that shit, I wanted everyone on the same ppvs because I wanted to see brands collide more often.

 

[Mally_G]

the brand split PPVs were mad boring. they jumped the gun on the idea, because the bottom and middle of the rosters weren't stable.

you almost always knew who you're main event was going to be on both brands, but the middle was unpredictable and the bottom, no one cared for.

it was best to have up to the top 12 matches/feuds/storylines going onto the PPVs to sell them.

if they built up those parts of the roster first, got good feuds started, and interesting characters, then it would have worked. but i didn't want to see Funaki vs. Brian Kendrick for the Cruiserweight title, or Rikishi vs. Goldust for the #1 contendership to the IC or US title with no build. And in having a weak low card, the main events stayed the same; JBL vs. Big Show, JBL vs. Undertaker, JBL vs. Cena on Smackdown, then on RAW it was HHH vs. Bubba Ray, HHH vs. Orton, HHH vs. Batista.

Only when Brock bloomed and Goldberg signed did things change a bit. That's when Paul E took over the books and shook things up. He forced the writers/bookers on RAW to compete with his in-ring product and the talent with egos on RAW were getting mad because Smackdown was getting great reviews from a wrestling standpoint and forced them to ratchet up their performances. And with said attitude, they shook the rosters up to the point there was no point in doing a split because feuds were extending between shows as if there was no split.

the split was a simple thing to do and could have banked if they simply didn't want to get lazy. It wasn't like the E was hurting for money. They cut out the duel travel costs and reallocated the funding for travel into a listing movie production company.

 

[jono]

I LOVED the brand extension.

The PPVs were a weakness because both brands were sort of weak at the low end but it gave a lot of people a chance to flourish and the titles meant more.

The concept of two separate brands made it more fun as they could cater to both hardcore fans (Smackdown) and casuals (raw) but when Smackdown started being treated like shit and became essentially the breeding ground for RAW they should have ended it.

It was cool to switch Cena and Batista but then RAW would just take guys that SD was doing good with and just leave them on he bench to do nothing. MVP, CM Punk, John Morrison etc were all doing great on SD and once they were moved to RAW they were basically enhancement talent.

 

[TRILLip Brooks]

After the Invasion angle, the E had too much talent and not enough space

They had to brand split. They were able to make more stars that way.