William Regal and Triple H with (in order): Bayley, Sasha Banks, Finn Balor, and Enzo and Cas. The future of WWE
So the WWE draft is this week. Like most of you I’m eager to see who ends up on what show. I am also scared. I’m scared because splitting the roster in the name of “unpredictability” could ruin two divisions just when they’ve started to rebuild: the Women’s division and the Tag Team division. My solution, give the women to RAW and the Tag Team’s to SMACKDOWN. Here’s why?
Both the Women’s and Tag Team divisions have an incredible amount of talent. The problem is there isn’t much depth.
On the main roster, the Women’s Division has Champion Charlotte, Paige, Sasha Banks, Becky Lynch, Summer Rae, Dane Brooke, Emma, The Bellas, Eva Marie, Natalya, Naomi, Tamina, and Rosa Mendes. There are 14 women on the main roster. If you split them between shows, that makes 7 each. There is not a lot of opportunity for character growth,unique matches, or feuds by doing that.
For the Tag Teams we have: Enzo and Cas, New Day, The Wyatts, The Usos, Vaudevillains, The Wyatts, Lucha Dragons, the Ascension, Dudley Boyz, Golden Truth, and Tyler Breeze and Fandango. 11 teams. Split that in half, according to the Draft rules, you have 6 for RAW and 5 for SMACKDOWN. Same problem the Women have.
Sure, you can call up people from NXT but that is not the solution to the problem. The solution is to keep the Women together on one show, the Tag Teams on another. This will work for a number of reasons.
First, it’ll make RAW and SMACKDOWN unique. Fans will have to tune into RAW to see the Women and SMACKDOWN to see the Tag Teams. It will allow each show to be different from the other.
Second, it’ll increase ratings. The casual fan who only watches RAW will have to watch SMACKDOWN to see Tag Team Wrestling. This will help SMACKDOWN, which to be honest has been viewed as a B show where nothing of substance happens.If SMACKDOWN has something RAW doesn’t, more interest will be generated.
Third, from a creative standpoint it’s a no brainer. Having a division that is fourteen people/teams deep is much better then seven people/teams deep. It’ll lead to more matches, more stories and more stories with depth. Sasha and Charlotte can and (if given proper booking) will have the feud of the year. But, will it reach that level if Sasha and Charlotte fight every week? No, people will get bored. But, having Sasha work her way up to challenging Charlotte by defeating a unique opponent in the Women’s division for a title shot is an exciting story that can play out for weeks and have a pay off at a PPV. You can have Sasha’s opponent have to beat someone else for the opportunity to face Sasha. This allows you to have character development not only for Sasha but for the other women on the roster. With a 14 woman division this can be done, with 7 not so much. Same scenario can be applied to the Tag Team division.
Next, there is NXT. NXT is a developmental division. It is also the reason I am subscribed to WWE Network. Raiding NXT to fill out your split tag team/women’s rosters is counter productive. The talent may not be ready, it’ll hurt talent’s ability to develop a following, and talent may get lost in the shuffle. Look at Apollo Crews. Crews is a physical specimen who has a good personality. But, he’s stuck in a feud with Sheamus because he has no depth. Imagine Crews chasing Samoa Joe for the NXT title. What would that bring out in him? What aspect of himself could be revealed that creative could emphasize had he been put in that situation? How would people react to him debuting on the main roster if he was the one dethrone Samoa Joe? Look at Bayley. She was your best friend. Her feud with Sasha took her to the next level. Bayley showed us that a kind hearted person can be an ass kicker if given the right circumstance. It’s why people can’t wait to see her debut on the main roster. Pulling up talent prematurely not only hurts NXT, it hurts your main roster because the audience won’t have a personal connection with the talent.
Finally, there’s TV time. With the singles roster being split, something’s got to fill 3 hours for RAW and 2 hours for SMACKDOWN. Putting the Women’s and Tag Team divisions on separate shows will allow creative to focus their stories. By allowing the creative teams to focus specifically on the Women or Tag Team division will allow them to get to know the talent better, figure out who works best with who, and keep continuity. The creative team for RAW will not have to worry that their story on RAW will contradict or be similar to one on SMACKDOWN. Once again, each show will be unique. Which is what this is all about.
Those are my thoughts and I’m sticking to it. Looking forward to the draft this Tuesday.
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Todd Matthy.com
WWE Draft: Put Tag Teams and Women on Separate Shows
Posted: July 18, 2016 in Commentary, Entertainment, Professional Wrestling, Sports, TV, WWETags: Bayley, Becky Lynch, Bret Hart, Charlotte, Chris Jericho, Divas, John Cena, Monday Night Raw, Natalya Neidhart, Professional Wrestling, Randy Orton, RAW, Ric Flair, Sasha Banks, Shane McMahon, Sheamus, Smackdown, Stephanie McMahon, Sting, the Bella Twins, the Miz, the Undertaker, Triple H, Vince McMahon, WWE
William Regal and Triple H with (in order): Bayley, Sasha Banks, Finn Balor, and Enzo and Cas. The future of WWE
So the WWE draft is this week. Like most of you I’m eager to see who ends up on what show. I am also scared. I’m scared because splitting the roster in the name of “unpredictability” could ruin two divisions just when they’ve started to rebuild: the Women’s division and the Tag Team division. My solution, give the women to RAW and the Tag Team’s to SMACKDOWN. Here’s why?
Both the Women’s and Tag Team divisions have an incredible amount of talent. The problem is there isn’t much depth.
On the main roster, the Women’s Division has Champion Charlotte, Paige, Sasha Banks, Becky Lynch, Summer Rae, Dane Brooke, Emma, The Bellas, Eva Marie, Natalya, Naomi, Tamina, and Rosa Mendes. There are 14 women on the main roster. If you split them between shows, that makes 7 each. There is not a lot of opportunity for character growth,unique matches, or feuds by doing that.
For the Tag Teams we have: Enzo and Cas, New Day, The Wyatts, The Usos, Vaudevillains, The Wyatts, Lucha Dragons, the Ascension, Dudley Boyz, Golden Truth, and Tyler Breeze and Fandango. 11 teams. Split that in half, according to the Draft rules, you have 6 for RAW and 5 for SMACKDOWN. Same problem the Women have.
Sure, you can call up people from NXT but that is not the solution to the problem. The solution is to keep the Women together on one show, the Tag Teams on another. This will work for a number of reasons.
First, it’ll make RAW and SMACKDOWN unique. Fans will have to tune into RAW to see the Women and SMACKDOWN to see the Tag Teams. It will allow each show to be different from the other.
Second, it’ll increase ratings. The casual fan who only watches RAW will have to watch SMACKDOWN to see Tag Team Wrestling. This will help SMACKDOWN, which to be honest has been viewed as a B show where nothing of substance happens.If SMACKDOWN has something RAW doesn’t, more interest will be generated.
Third, from a creative standpoint it’s a no brainer. Having a division that is fourteen people/teams deep is much better then seven people/teams deep. It’ll lead to more matches, more stories and more stories with depth. Sasha and Charlotte can and (if given proper booking) will have the feud of the year. But, will it reach that level if Sasha and Charlotte fight every week? No, people will get bored. But, having Sasha work her way up to challenging Charlotte by defeating a unique opponent in the Women’s division for a title shot is an exciting story that can play out for weeks and have a pay off at a PPV. You can have Sasha’s opponent have to beat someone else for the opportunity to face Sasha. This allows you to have character development not only for Sasha but for the other women on the roster. With a 14 woman division this can be done, with 7 not so much. Same scenario can be applied to the Tag Team division.
Next, there is NXT. NXT is a developmental division. It is also the reason I am subscribed to WWE Network. Raiding NXT to fill out your split tag team/women’s rosters is counter productive. The talent may not be ready, it’ll hurt talent’s ability to develop a following, and talent may get lost in the shuffle. Look at Apollo Crews. Crews is a physical specimen who has a good personality. But, he’s stuck in a feud with Sheamus because he has no depth. Imagine Crews chasing Samoa Joe for the NXT title. What would that bring out in him? What aspect of himself could be revealed that creative could emphasize had he been put in that situation? How would people react to him debuting on the main roster if he was the one dethrone Samoa Joe? Look at Bayley. She was your best friend. Her feud with Sasha took her to the next level. Bayley showed us that a kind hearted person can be an ass kicker if given the right circumstance. It’s why people can’t wait to see her debut on the main roster. Pulling up talent prematurely not only hurts NXT, it hurts your main roster because the audience won’t have a personal connection with the talent.
Finally, there’s TV time. With the singles roster being split, something’s got to fill 3 hours for RAW and 2 hours for SMACKDOWN. Putting the Women’s and Tag Team divisions on separate shows will allow creative to focus their stories. By allowing the creative teams to focus specifically on the Women or Tag Team division will allow them to get to know the talent better, figure out who works best with who, and keep continuity. The creative team for RAW will not have to worry that their story on RAW will contradict or be similar to one on SMACKDOWN. Once again, each show will be unique. Which is what this is all about.
Those are my thoughts and I’m sticking to it. Looking forward to the draft this Tuesday.
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