Okay, so there I was watching Smackdown this past Friday night, and I couldn’t help but notice the complete lack of a defined brand extension the WWE has in place! I know, I know this is nothing new right? But seriously did anyone catch what I’m talking about? The brand extension has been a debatable topic since its inception in 2002 and I for one think its a good thing to have, with the abundance of talent the company has, why not? However, it only has an effect if you truly inforce it the way it should be; and there in lies the problem.
When it came to Friday night Smackdown, I couldn’t help but notice that we had The World Tag Team Champions grace us with their presence. Now, Miz and Morrison are the World Tag Champs (from Raw) who are members of the ECW roster, who show up and also wrestle on Smackdown?! Uh, do they have “open contracts” or something? Doesn’t Smackdown have their own tag champs, who defended them on that very show?
Now, you all know I am a big time John Morrison fan, so whenever he can showcase his skills on tv I don’t mind in the least. However, I do feel that having the tag champs on one brand who already wrestle as part of the third brand, show up and compete on the “rival” show. Does this not undermine the tag champs of Smackdown Primo and Carlito? Does this not undermine the whole purpose of the brand extension?
There have of course been others as well. Most recently both Paul Birchill and Katie Lea were moved from Raw to ECW without explanation. Remember when Kelly Kelly first came to Raw? It was John Cena that asked her if Teddy Long let her out of her ECW contract; and we didn’t get an answer. It seems to happen all the time, and again the question becomes why have a brand extension if we don’t at least get any answers as to how and/or why these moves happen?
The whole purpose of the brand extension is so as much talent can be used as possible, creating more spots on tv. Yet, Miz and Morrison (as much as I like them) took up two spots on Smackdown that could have been used for other guys. Why not have MVP face Triple H in the tables match if Hunter was going to win anyway? Why not have Chavo tag with his old buddy Bam Neely one more time before you release him? See, always more questions than logical answers.
Then of course you have the big one. Once every year or two the WWE holds their “draft.” This is of course supposed to switch up the brands a little bit to create fresh fueds, etc. However, what is the need for a draft when your wrestlers can just freely go wherever anyway? Miz and Morrsion never have to be “drafted” again since they already appear on all three shows!
Well that does it for me this time around, just something I needed to get off my chest. I’ll be back shortly with another topic I want to go into more depth about. Don’t be shy to email with your comments and feedback.
****
shadyrvd@hotmail.com
~Guests are always welcome inside The Dog Pound~
Hey Tony – you make great points and this is something that I’ve been complaining about since the brand extension took place. Plus, I hate that WWE calls each show a “brand.” What exactly distinguishes the Monday, Tuesday, and Friday shows other than the day of the week they are on television? What? Their separate logos? Give me a break.
WWE is a brand. RAW, ECW, and Smackdown are their shows. If WWE really wants to create separate “brands,” then they need to first take the advice of people like you and NOT have their talent appear on various shows. Second, they need to use separate brands. Hey – they own the letters WWE, ECW, and WCW. Why would you not have WWE RAW on Monday, ECW Hardcore on Tuesday, and WCW Nitro on Friday?
In that scenario you have truly separate brands.