The brand extension is almost a year removed from the inaugural draft and it has proved far from successful. Raw continually chooses to replicate run-of-the-mill storylines and matches. In the past year, Kevin Owens and Chris Jericho were the only exception to the rule. The tandem rejuvenated Raw with their escapades from best friends to bitter foes. Their run legitimized Owens as a main event talent during his championship reign. When the dust settled and Owens lost to Goldberg, Owens had transformed the WWE Universal Championship into a top-tier title. The two continued an uncanny feud focused on Jericho’s United States Championship culminating into excellent matches at WrestleMania and Payback.
Owens and Jericho were pure gold having instant classics while hype for other matches failed to live up to the in-ring work of the participants. The Seth Rollins and Triple H rivalry had all the ingredients for the feud of the year. Their match was quite the superb showing at WrestleMania. The build however lacked intrigue. The rivalry was never a predominant story on weekly programming. When the two were finally about to come to blows on Raw, the WWE opted to troll fans by having Samoa Joe interfere. The attack led to the re-injuring of Rollin’s knee. The possibility to escalate that feud to another level was all but killed. The WWE assumed that their time was better spent force feeding fans less desirable wrestlers.
Speaking of Roman Reign, his victory over the Undertaker did nothing to get him over. Same for Reigns’ recent feud with Braun Strowman. Strowman brutalized Reigns and scored a rare pin-fall victory cleanly in the middle of the ring. The decimation of “The Big Dog” brought an adverse effect to the WWE plans. The WWE Universe did not rally behind Reigns in his battle with the Goliath. Instead, Strowman was greeted with gratitude for the violence he unleashed. Further evidence that the Roman Reigns experiment was dead on arrival. The WWE refuses to listen, sowing the seeds for the uninspiring match between “The Part-Timer Conqueror” and “The Man No Fan Can Stand” for the title we all but forgot.
While Raw squanders its programming, SmackDown Live gives fans a glimmer of hope. It shouted the credo “The Land of Opportunity” and has done its best to live up to it ever since. The recent pushes of Breezango and Jinder Mahal gave fans new faces to watch in the limelight. SmackDown Live however fails to validate these pushes. There is insufficient time afforded to these competitors to showcase in-ring abilities. The pushes easily chalked up to smoke and mirrors. Then the latter went onto capture the WWE Championship at Backlash seemingly confirming the brand’s doctrine. Mahal’s sudden rise to stardom is not just a story of seizing the moment. On the contrary, it may further the case that their philosophy is a secondary goal to expanding the product. It is well documented that the WWE wishes to increase their market in India. The first-ever WWE Champion of Indian descent would only further WWE chances of opening the door to the continent.
The question then becomes how long can a limited in-ring repertoire keep Mahal champion without the Singh brothers and their antics? How many ways can he insult Americans before the crowd figures out he is one dimensional. The longevity is not there for Mahal to be anything but a transitional champion. These combined elements have put SmackDown Live into a Catch-22 situation. If Mahal does not retain at Money in the Bank then it becomes clear that the motives were strictly monetary. The appeal of SmackDown Live will dwindle. Fan will not show the same investment for the next wrestler pushed up to the main event spot. If SmackDown Live wants to successfully sell their whole shtick then Mahal will retain to SummerSlam. However, a long reign from Mahal creates two evident shortcomings for SmackDown Live. The product becomes limited by his work ability both in-ring and promo wise. The legitimacy of the WWE Champion is threatened whenever a wrestler not possessing the intangibles needed to be the face of the brand is champion.
Raw and SmackDown Live agonize over their own internal conflict. Many of their faults share similarities though. The greatest casualties of both brands are the Women’s and Tag Team divisions. The separation of the best caliber wrestlers leaves much to be desired. An influx of transition champions, absentee champions and multi-title reigns within extraordinarily short time spans have devalued the competition in all divisions. The exclusion of talent by way of the brand extension hurts the overall scope of the WWE. Television content seems to be stuck on a loop for weeks and months on end. The only fix the WWE has implemented was a superstar shake-up that did little to invigorate the product.
Imagine if you will, a brand extension not only to aid a swollen roster of 125-plus wrestlers but one built on the idea of prompting competition to the next level. The idea of pitting SmackDown Live versus Raw is rather intriguing. Unifying the WWE Championship with the WWE Universal Championship while simultaneously merging the Women’s and Tag Team divisions. Wrestler competing not just to be the best of their respective brand but the best in the WWE. The champion defending their title against all challengers on both shows only returning to their exclusive brand when their reign has ended. This methodology work easily across the board for all championships.
Reduce monthly pay-per-views to a single event and make it into a cross-brand promotion to further competition. Endless options exist to determine the next crop of challengers from fatal four ways to ladder matches. Introducing wrestlers from both brands into competition with one another will elevate overall product performance as well as increase investment from fans. Modeling the brand extension as more of cross-brand battle to prove whom is better garners far more appeal. Take a look at the work being done by Ring of Honor and New Japan Pro Wrestling if you’ve never experienced the perks of their combined efforts. The brand extension will either move the WWE towards the next great era or biggest waste of one of the greatb generation of in-ring performers.
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