In April of 2002, following the the Invasion storyline (which involved talent from the absorbed ECW and WCW rosters interacting in WWF storylines), WWE was faced with an overabundance of good wrestlers. The decision was made to split the rosters into the two shows, which came to be known as the WWE brand extension.
I hated this idea when it was first introduced, but it was tolerable as there was enough talent to produce two competent shows. This is no longer the case. Therefore, I propose that the RAW and SMACKDOWN rosters are once again combined, having the full roster wrestle and engage in storylines on both shows, as was the case during the Attitude Era.
The complete roster of kept wrestlers would look something like this (ignoring Divas):
RAW wrestlers kept: Carlito, Charlie Haas, Chris Masters, Edge, Jeff Hardy, John Cena, Johnny Nitro, JTG, Kenny, Randy Orton, Ric Flair, Shad, Shawn Michaels, Shelton Benjamin, Stone Cold, Super Crazy, Triple H, and Umaga.
RAW wrestlers cut (i.e.: 90s hold-outs and gimmicks gone wrong): Eugene, Hacksaw Jim Duggan, Lance Cade, Robbie McAllister, Rory McAllister, The Great Khali, Trevor Murdoch, Val Venis, Viscera
SMACKDOWN wrestlers kept: Batista, Brian Kendrick, Chris Benoit, Finlay, Gregory Helms, JBL, Kane, Matt Hardy, The Miz, Mr. Kennedy, MVP, Paul London, Rey Mysterio, Shannon Moore, Undertaker
SMACKDOWN wrestlers cut: Boogeyman, Chavo Guerrero, Daivari, Funaki, Jamie Noble, Jimmy Wang Yang, King Booker, Mark Henry, Scotty 2 Hotty, William Regal
When the higher powers that be at WWE imagined their "overabundance of talent," I doubt they envisioned Daivari and Funaki taking on Eugene and Val Venis. With this roster combination in place, the WWE would smartly rid itself of all extra baggage and set itself up for some great matches. Imagine having HBK, HHH, Benoit, and Taker all on the same roster. Consider the possibilities in the Intercontinental division with Jeff Hardy, Shelton Benjamin, Johnny Nitro, Carlito, Matt Hardy, and Gregory Helms all battling one another. And finally, think about the opportunity this would provide the WWE to create, for the first time in a decade, a Tag Team division worth talking about. They could have the Hardy Boys, Team Rated RKO, DX, Kane and Taker, and Cryme Tyme all fighting for the gold. Truly this would be worth watching.
One question remains...what to do with ECW? I suggest keeping it as its own brand, but making a number of cuts there as well, and re-instituting the hardcore image which made it so popular in the first place.
ECW wrestlers kept: Balls Mahoney, CM Punk, Hardcore Holly, Kevin Thorn, RVD, Sabu, Sandman, Tazz, Tommy Dreamer
ECW wrestlers cut: Elijah Burke, Little Guido, Matt Striker, Mike Knox, Snitsky, Stevie Richards
ECW wrestlers moved to the main roster: Bobby Lashley, Marcus Cor Von (to team with MVP)
Main roster wrestlers moved to ECW: Super Crazy, The Miz
Finally, it is obvious to me that Paul Heyman needs to be begged back in order to run ECW properly. Also, it may be time for Vince to begin to step aside, letting Shane take the reins. From what I understand, Shane is top writer and one of the strongest creative forces in the WWE. It may take a change of leadership to restore the WWE to where it was before the split was instituted.
Maybe I'm an optimist, but I'm encouraged by WWE's decision to combine its individual RAW and SMACKDOWN magazines into one publication. Magazines one day, brands the next...
Thursday, March 29, 2007
The Invasion Is Dead
Wednesday, March 28, 2007
I Feel Bad For Frank Trigg
Poor Frank Trigg. He enters the UFC as one of the most decorated and respected wrestlers in the country. The four time wrestling All-American and Olympic finalist draws Matt Hughes for his first fight and has the champ beat...before giving up his back and submitting to a rear naked choke. After a brutal win over Renato Verissimo, he gets another shot at Hughes. This time around, he beats Hughes even worse, to the point where a referee stoppage would have been more than justified. Trigg then proceeds to lock in a rear naked choke on Hughes, the very move which did him in during his last fight! Of course, Hughes reverses this and submits Trigg...to a rear naked choke. Trigg's next fight, a mere two events later? Georges St. Pierre, the current champion. St. Pierre, of course, beats Trigg...with a rear naked choke. What can we take away from this? Well, other than the fact that Trigg was booked the hardest 4 fight stretch in UFC history, we can see that if he learned to defend the rear naked choke, just once...he'd probably be a UFC legend. Instead, as recently as 2005, Trigg appeared as a contestant on the VH1 reality television program "Kept" trying to win the affections of former supermodel Jerry Hall (Mick Jagger's ex) and to become Jerry's kept man. Trigg was eliminated in 10th place out of 12 contestants. From UFC immortality to losing a reality television program...such is the luck of one Frank Trigg.
Tuesday, March 27, 2007
Extreme Expose
After watching ECW tonight, I've come to a few realizations.
First, the extreme expose is neither extreme nor is it an expose. At least it used to be intertwined with a story line with Mike Knox or something. Now it's just dancing...or something. And it used to be just a minute or two of a rap song, now it's the entire song. It's absurd at best.
Second, Snitsky is a joke. Do the writers think we really forget that he was on RAW two months ago fighting Eugene? They're trying to turn him into some sort of Psycho Sid type character, but it just isn't selling. I cringed tonight after hearing Joey Styles (whom I love) utter the phrase "Snitsky can take you down at any time!" Those words should be reserved for The Undertaker, The Big Show, and maybe The Great Khali, if he promises to take a lesson from a high school wrestling coach.
Third, they made a Lashley t-shirt. If anyone other than Lashley's mother buys it, I am going to cut off my hand.
Fourth, Tazz just called the Money in the Bank match "the greatest concept the WWE has ever come up with." Not the idea for The Rock, not the Attitude Era, not the TLC match, not Hell in a Cell...but a briefcase Ladder Match. I'm convinced now more than ever that Tazz has writers.
Finally, it is clear that ECW isn't really ECW. It's become a third brand, SMACKDOWN's retarded little brother, if you will. I know, I thought SMACKDOWN was the retard too. Turns out that they could do worse...and they have.
UFC acquires Pride FC
After years of Dana White calling the Japanese "too difficult to work with," UFC has officially bought Pride FC.
Drew tells me that UFC made somewhere in the neighborhood of 200 million last year from PPVs, so purchasing some of the world's biggest fighters along with the rights to the only major rival for a little under 70 million puts this deal among the pantheon of bargains along with Seward's folly and the Louisiana Purchase.
It is unknown whether UFC and Pride will remain separate and hold cross-promotional events a few times a year or if UFC will drain the Pride roster, moving all of its stars to UFC. This would essentially relegate Pride to some sort of minor league MMA.
What we do know is that this move immediately makes the Heavyweight and Light Heavyweight divisions more interesting than they have ever been. The Heavyweight division now consists of the new Champ Randy Couture, a still-dangerous Tim Sylvia, Mirko "Cro Cop", Andrei Arlovski, and of course, Fedor Emelianenko. Fedor is widely regarded as the most dangerous fighter in the world and he would probably destroy any of these other contenders, but it will be interesting to see how it all gets booked following the expected Couture-Cro Cop fight. I'd like to see the winner of that get Fedor, while the newly-bearded Arlovski might have enough momentum to win an epic fourth fight with Sylvia.
In the Light Heavyweight division, interest will rise soon with the booking of Chuck Liddell and Rampage Jackson for UFC 71. Rampage is Liddell's only unavenged fight and promises to be a greater challenge than Ortiz has ever been. Hopefully, Liddell will retain, setting the UFC up to make a killing on the rubber match. Let's not forget about Tito Ortiz, who is expected to fight at UFC 72. He could take on Pride superstar Wanderlei Silva who was lined up for a Liddell bout before it fell through early last year. Depending on who wins those matchups, we could be seeing the Liddell-Silva fight in a couple of months. I wouldn't complain over a Rampage-Ortiz fight either.
With this new acquisition, the next few PPVs could look something like this:
UFC 71-Liddell-Rampage
UFC 73-Hughes-St. Pierre III, Couture-Cro Cop
UFC 74-Fedor-Sylvia/Arlovski
UFC 75-Silva-Ortiz
UFC 76-Couture/Cro Cop winner-Fedor/Sylvia/Arlovski winner
UFC 78-Liddell/Rampage winner-Silva/Ortiz winner (providing this wouldn't force a UFC 66 rematch)
