Possible way to end the Brand Extension?

Right, first off, I don't think the Brand Extension is near ending, this is just my thoughts, a possibility in the making, looking at the bigger picture and looking at the amount of recent sackings that have took place in the WWE the rosters are getting shorter and with a lot of guys showing up on any show these days there could possibly be a return to one brand, here is how I could see it happening if it did happen again.

Firstly I can definitely see this whole Stephanie McMahon/Shane McMahon and Vince McMahon turning into a major story for 2009 leading to another invasion storyline, I think there is still a lot of resentment in how it ended previously, many felt it could and should have been done better.

When Vince returns next week he can at first appear to be happy with Steph, his baby girl however the longer the night and the weeks pass he feels further and further pushed to the side, he would finally take issue with Stephanie who would in turn lay down the law and insist that while he may be the name associated with World Wrestling Entertainment and Monday Night RAW he is no longer calling the shots and he will have to accept that if he wishes to keep his place in Stephanie's show and backstage team, Vince can protest and over the next few weeks claim that while he accepts that he can't just regain control of RAW he can take control of SmackDown! and/or ECW.

Vince would appear on SmackDown! the next show and announce that since commitments to the WWE as a whole mean he can't focus all his attention to SmackDown! that he is placing someone in charge on his behalf, that someone will be Shane McMahon, Shane comes out and announces that while she was doing a good job, its nothing personal and Vickie Guerrero would be offered a job share GM role on ECW to once again work alongside Teddy Long, she accepts

Over the course of the months ahead we would see Shane led SmackDown! appear on RAW taking out certain guys at certain times ruining matches, on RAW while Stephanie takes the stiff upper lip and refuses to allow her boys to appear on there show which in turn might make it more watchable, which she insists she does not want to do, Shane becomes cocky, his best character in my opinion, Vince likes what he sees, however all the while behind the scenes the brains of the family Stephanie McMahon would discover a loophole in the WWE which would list RAW, SmackDown! and ECW as separate entities within the confines of World Wrestling Entertainment

To Kill off the SmackDown! challenge Stephanie announces that she is now the owner of RAW which brings out Vince to say "No matter who is in charge I still own the WWE" and while Stephanie cant deny that, she can prove to him that he does not own RAW, the WWE are simply seen as some kind of glorified sponsor of RAW now (I'm not sure how the logistics would work, better brains than me could think of that one) and a stunned Vince is shell-shocked, particularly after he gets conformation of this, Stephanie then calls out her brother and the WWE, US and Tag Champs of SmackDown! who she had personally invited to the RAW show that week, all of them come down together, while not breakign character they would be fighting the same fight regardless if they are heels or faces, Stephanie would say she has better and bigger news than just buying RAW, she is now the owner of SmackDown! as well and her first act as there boss is stripping every SD! champion of there titles, now this wouldn't happen until around early October

There could be a mass strike from the SmackDown! locker room, who claim there is no point being there if there is no titles to go after, in that time more and more RAW guys will be going on SD to compete because Stephanie wants to showcase all her talents in her main two TV shows and the SD guys will either not feature much, or will job to the guys on RAW, something that some of the bigger names could break kayfabe about and do a 'shoot' style interview and they could claim that if there is no incentive to stay and most of them have signed a SmackDown! contract, then they are legally eligible to quit the WWE and move on to other organisations, some could then claim losing guys like this before nearly put the 'World Wrestling Federation' out of business

Stephanie would win the war over her Dad and Brother however the stars of SmackDown! want a pay off match, they want to be treated as equally as there RAW counterparts however Stephanie is not interested after they tried to kill RAW by hijacking shows and invading shows and interrupting big RAW matches earlier on in the year however she is willing to play Devils Advocate, while she is not happy with those guys from the blue brand, she knows that it would be bad for business to just see them quit and go to a rival company, so Stephanie tells them that if they can prove there worth and win a Survivor Series match against the best RAW has to offer then the slate will be wiped clean the brands combined and everyone will be treated the same and given the same opportunity, if they can't beat the best RAW has to offer then they would be allowed to quit if they wanted, if they couldn't beat RAW then they hold no real competition anyway!

So the Main Event for Survivor Series 09 would be something similar to this

RAW

Chris Jericho
Randy Orton
John Cena
Batista
Shawn Michaels

vs

SmackDown!

Triple H
Edge
Christian Cage
Jeff Hardy
The Undertaker

Obviously the Original SmackDown! guys would win and be given the same respect Stephanie allows her RAW superstars, it would allow Stephanie who does appear to be in the mood to run things again on RAW a big win, it would also make RAW look strong because they would have all the titles as SD would be stripped of the titles, and it would make SmackDown! guys look strong because they won there main event pay off match at Survivor Series

With Shawn and The Undertaker looking like there time main eventing may be nearing an end and Batista not getting any younger fitter or more mobile then there could be a serious dearth in main event talent come the end of the year particularly on RAW, JBL is never a legit main event guy either, although he is the future boss of RAW when the time comes for the McMahons to take an on screen break again!

With a combined roster there could be a main event scene that looks like

Christian Cage, Edge, Chris Jericho, Randy Orton, John Cena, Jeff Hardy and Triple H

I still believe Shawn and Taker will be around, but they are at a stage where they don't need to main event and I am only classing legitimate title contenders in that main event scene

Upper card

MVP, Mr Kennedy, John Morrison, CM Punk, The Miz, Ted DiBiase Jr

I think in doing this and using SD and RAW for the one combined brand it could reinvigorate the IC/US title division, whatever one they choose to keep, the tag team division could also be boosted as well, I think people seriously under estimate how over the IC and Tag team titles where in the WWF, highly prestigious, the IC title was known as the working mans title and the tag team belts where the explosion of the show

I like the idea, but surely the roster is too big for only one show a week? Or are you proposing two or three shows a week for one brand?

I'm not really a fan of big storylines like this where there is only one big storyline and a lot of people are stuck in the mix.

Umm, I don't really know what to say.

It's a good idea and you have covered all the bases. The only problem I can see with this is that after Stephanie reveals that she now owns SD and RAW, will Triple H and Taker be willing to job to the RAW superstars however many times? I know you have said the SD guys may not even feature that much, but again will the likes and HHH and Taker be happy with not being on the show and lower down the card most weeks?

I'm sure I'm about to get proved wrong but I just want to start some debate.

That would be a great Survivor Series main event and we will not see the usual heel squash (cough Team DX cough) that we see far too often nowadays.

Also would they keep the WHC and WWE titles seperate or would they merge the two together?

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surely the roster is too big for only one show a week?

It would return to the original concept for me, one roster, two shows per week with ECW being kept totally separate and also given some extra workers

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I'm not really a fan of big storylines like this where there is only one big storyline and a lot of people are stuck in the mix.

It would be a big storyline, however it wouldn't be the only storyline, there would be WHC storylines, IC storylines Legacy storylines, over on SD there would be WWE storylines, US stories, Tag stories, Undertaker stories Triple H stories

It would be a huge story but one that can be played on the back burner at times admist the match style stories going with it

Look at the Jericho Shawn programme from last year, it was by far the best in the WWE and it was because it had time to simmer, time to unfold and it allowed the story to be told in front of our eyes

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The only problem I can see with this is that after Stephanie reveals that she now owns SD and RAW, will Triple H and Taker be willing to job to the RAW superstars however many times?

Who knows, maybe not often, however I am sure if Triple H is allowed to contiunue his promos where he panders to the smarks then he could let them know he is going to job later on in the night, Taker I don't think would have a problem, maybe have him 'breaking kayfabe' by just Tombstoning his opponent and the referee then looking shocked and finding a way to DQ them same goes for Helmsley

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I know you have said the SD guys may not even feature that much, but again will the likes and HHH and Taker be happy with not being on the show and lower down the card most weeks?

Again it wouldn't be long term, thats why I said around November, so it would be a 6 week programme where Steph owned both shows, I think the fans could see why they would be lower down the card, not through ability but because she is punishing them for invading RAW, the main players of SD could attack the RAW guys when they did show up on SmackDown! to continue to keep them looking strong

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Also would they keep the WHC and WWE titles seperate or would they merge the two together?

Well as Stephanie stripped all the holders on SD of there titles then she could reinstate them the night of Survivor Series and have all champions face off in a unification match

Womans champ v Diva Champ
World Tag Champs vs WWE Tag Champs
IC Champ vs US Champ
ECW Title match (just because it should be defended on PPV)

Thats five matches, I think it would be realistic to give the main event an hour with the amount of talent on show

The WHC vs The WWE title would be decided with the winners of the SD v RAW match, that brands winners title gets to stay

Through time possibly for the next WrestleMania a new World Title could be introduced

I like big stories and this was a good read, you applied to be a consultant for creative yet?

they need a slap somtimes

Also I think a lot of workers particuarly on the older way up won't really want to do two shows a week, but will want to be in big storylines. I can't see WWE just saying tough to them especially if there valued members of the company.

invincibleILeak wrote:

Also I think a lot of workers particuarly on the older way up won't really want to do two shows a week, but will want to be in big storylines. I can't see WWE just saying tough to them especially if there valued members of the company.

Leak these guys work about 4 days a week anyway doing house shows, only one show is shown on TV but its not the only show they do, it would make no difference, even guys like the Undertaker work 2 to 3 nights a week, Michaels even works 2 nights a week, these same guys also don't need to appear every show either, the World Champion doesn't need to show up on SD on certain nights and the show could end with a big IC title match or a big Tag Team title match

Fair enough, I always forget about house shows, I guess it's because I don't see them.

last weeks smackdown was a good show and there was quite a few people who are normally on missing.

also makes it a bit fresher aslong as there is a little promo video to remind you people still hate eachother, and right now, they show raw promo videos anyway to show what happened etc.

Not saying the shows will be booked this way, but just for instance, say Edge is the Champion of the World, he is out boasting about how good he is, he opens up RAW with a 10 minute promo to which Shawn Michaels comes out, says if he is as good as he says he is he will defend his title to him right here tonight, Kane comes out, askes Shawn why thinks he is the number 1 contender. then the GM would come out, make a No1 contender match between Kane and Michaels, the winner would face Edge on SD later on in the week, thats it, thats Edges work done for the night, the loser of the No1 contender match doesn't even have to be at SD

John Cena and Batista could be in a mini fued with Morrison and Miz, they could use there show to humiliate them, there you go you have a show for there promo say SD then it would lead to a Tag Team Title match on RAW as the main event

With a combined roster we could see big feuds between -

Undertaker vs Jericho
Edge vs Cena
Michaels vs Cage
Edge vs Michaels
Cage vs Michaels
Triple H vs Batista
Cage vs Batista
Cena vs Cage
Triple H vs Cage
Undertaker vs Michaels
Undertaker vs Cena
Undertaker vs Cage

These guys could take time to get into there feuds, they could be placed on slow burners because the roster would be bigger, there would be no need to rush through them because there is the potential to have many other top fueds

the-gaffer wrote:

These guys could take time to get into there feuds, they could be placed on slow burners because the roster would be bigger, there would be no need to rush through them because there is the potential to have many other top fueds

in essence, how it was when it was good.

would be so much better than the new, must be in main event tag match to get the 2 rivalries up to speed before the next rushed PPV.

not everything has to climax every PPV or 2 things can cross over so there isnt a point where nothing is happening because big fueds have finished.

come on vince lol

I have loads of ideas that obviously everyone wouldn't like, but I get the feeling that the WWE is only producing things that Vince wants, which isn't productive at all, Vince is so out of touch with real wrestling fans its unbelievable

the-gaffer wrote:

I have loads of ideas that obviously everyone wouldn't like, but I get the feeling that the WWE is only producing things that Vince wants, which isn't productive at all, Vince is so out of touch with real wrestling fans its unbelievable

the mcmahon-helmsly ego show, is what it really could turn into, think he needs to re discover his passion for the business, hopefully the new stars coming through may help this

Well I am hoping that Jericho is going to play a big role in whatever direction this goes in, I also think there could be big plans for Jericho for Mania maybe with the Undertaker so this could be a way of getting him onto SmackDown for a while

Think Haitch would be happy with that, the sexual tension in that ring last night between Jericho and Stephanie was obvious, I was embarrassed for him and I was sitting in the living room alone at 2am!