Thoughts From The Top Rope 04.23.08: The Brand Extension

The plan was to take a good six-month break. I needed the time to sort out some personal stuff, and then knuckle down and get myself some good exam grades in the summer. I didn’t intend to return until September when I would be settled into a new chapter of my life, a new part of my education and overall be in a much better, securer place.

Turns out, education is overrated and there are some things that I can’t give up without wild cravings to come back a few months later; this column is apparently one of those things.

I can’t believe it’s only been two months since I told Larry Csonka I needed an indefinite break. Not just because a bunch of stuff has gone down personally, but the wrestling world seems to have changed a whole lot since the last time I got behind the keyboard and busted out one of these bad boys for you, the readers. Arguably the greatest wrestler that ever lived has retired and in the process, put me and millions of fans through an emotional rollercoaster of a weekend – think how emotional that must’ve been for Ric. On top of that, Samoa Joe is finally TNA World Champion, Jeff Hardy’s career and home have gone up in smoke, TNA somewhere started not sucking so much, and WWE produced one of the best WrestleMania extravaganzas in a long time.

And yet, no matter how much things change, they always stay the same. John Cena and Triple H are contenders for the WWE Championship, Batista is still dressing like a fag and TNA still makes no sense (I think it’s suffering from the “so bad, it’s good” complex).

There is a plethora of things I’m enjoying in both WWE and TNA at the moment, but most of those things seem to be lurking in the mid-card. Chris Jericho is still a highlight of every show he is on. MVP, John Morrison, Miz and Matt Hardy are still bringing the goods in the ring. Santino manages to nail a couple of good lines each and every week. And hey, no Vince McMahon! So why does shit seem so damn stale?

I give WWE credit for mixing things up. Michaels/Batista has been a very refreshing feud. We’ve got a couple of fresh main-eventers too and by all accounts there are a few face/heel turns on the horizon. But how long will it take me and the majority of the wrestling audience to get bored of Triple H’s heel shtick? My money’s on “not long.” And even though the likes of The Game, Cena, Edge, Taker, Joe and Angle are all very capable of putting on fantastic matches, there’s something about the majority of the biggest names in the business that I’m just not feeling. Maybe it has something to do with the fact that Edge and Taker have been feuding for the best part of a year. And some combination of Orton, Cena and Triple H have been feuding since last summer and Joe and Angle have been feuding since 2006.

Meanwhile, I’m marking out on Monday night Raw because I get the chance to see MVP vs. Chris Jericho and CM Punk vs. William Regal. That doesn’t quite seem right, does it? Surely I should be more pumped about the Elimination Four-Way this Sunday than the US Championship match that has got pretty much no advertising leading up to the show and yet, I really don’t find myself bothered about the big titles matches at Backlash because there’s no doubt in my mind that both world champs will be retaining their gold.

I’m as big a John Cena as you will see on this website. My views on him are pretty well documented and provoked something of a verbal war on the comments section just before my break. And yet I find myself not caring when “The Time Is Now” blares through over the PA, though through no fault of Cena’s own. The same can be said for Triple H, although he comes out to “The Game”, not “The Time Is Now.” And when Taker’s music hits? Piss break, ‘cause I know he’ll only just be emerging from the smokescreen by the time I get back down the stairs. Don’t get me wrong, none of these guys are stale. It’s creative that’s stale.

Everything that comes from WWE’s main event scene is so damn cookie-cutter and it is making me not care about the guys at the top of the card. Creative needs a shot in the ass. It seems to me that creative are so piss-poor that nothing they do is going to change the quality of the product because they don’t know how to think outside the box, a box which apparently only contains typical “I deserve my title shot” promos and weak number one contender tournaments. Storylines behind title programs? Don’t be silly. Hell, how often was it mentioned since Cena’s return that Orton kicked the guy’s dad in the head. Not many. The frustrating part is that this all so easy. The shit basically writes itself and yet these creative guys can’t come up with anything original.

From where I’m sitting, there’s only one thing that would vastly improve the quality of the TV product. And though it’ll not happen any time soon, it sure is fun to think about.

Thoughts From The Top Rope: End The Brand Extension

If there’s one thing that would really help to improve the quality of WWE television, it is the demise of the brand extension. While the brand extension, first introduced in 2002, has helped to give opportunities to many young stars and been key in the rise of the likes of Edge, John Cena, Randy Orton, Rey Mysterio and Batista, it has come to a point where separating WWE’s talent into multiple brands has become more of a hindrance than a help.

To appreciate what I am trying to get across here, you need to understand that I am not suggesting that ending the brand extension would be a wise business decision for WWE. It might well be, but I’d like to think WWE knows that better than I do and if they don’t think the extension should be ended, then it shouldn’t be. But as a wrestling fan, the only thing I am concerned with is how entertained I am by watching Raw, SmackDown and ECW week in week out. Surely, what’s “good for business” is the best product possible?

Trim The Fat
By dropping the brand extension, WWE would have to cut a whole bunch of wrestlers. Just browsing the Superstar pages, there are a bunch of people who would improve the product by not being a part of it.

Balls Mahoney
Big Daddy V
Boogeyman
Mike Knox
Stevie Richards
Tommy Dreamer (give him a backstage job)
Chuck Palumbo
Dave Taylor
Deuce
Domino
Mark Henry
Charlie Haas
Hardcore Holly
Jim Duggan
Rory McAllister
Robbie McAllister
Snitsky

None of those guys add anything to the product. They’re all either not over (despite numerous attempts), too old or too injury prone to deserve a place on the roster with or without a brand extension.

Strength In Depth
I don’t think Raw or SmackDown has much depth throughout the card. Well Raw has a stacked main event scene, their mid card is shocking whereas SmackDown has potential for a decent mid card but have only had three or four guys in the main event scene since Batista dethroned King Booker at Survivor Series 2006.

Now without the brand extension, you’d have Finlay, Jericho, Punk, Benjamin, MVP, Matt Hardy, and Mr. Kennedy as all potential IC/US title holders while three or four of those guys can easily make the shift up to the main event. Speaking of which, you’re top title contenders would be Triple H, John Cena, Randy Orton, Undertaker, Edge, Big Show, Batista, Shawn Michaels and Jeff Hardy. And again, a couple of those guys could drop down and feud with some mid-card guys. They may sound like the usual subjects, but there’s some really possibilities for great feuds there.

Furthermore, look at what you’ve got left to make a tag team division. Morrison and Miz are the best team going right now. London and Kendrick feuding with those guys would be tremendous. Then you have Moore and Yang, Jesse and Festus and Cryme Tyme as solid face teams, with Cade and Murdoch, and Santino and Carlito filling out the heels. And with three shows to put them on, tag teams could actually get some TV time. People can talk about this tag team renaissance all they want, but it’s not happening when the teams are still only having 3/4 minute matches.

And then you have the women’s division filled with actual women’s wrestlers like Mickie, Beth, Natalya, Melina, Jillian and Victoria. The likes of Maria and Ashley are always going to have a spot on the show because sex sells, but it doesn’t have to be as active wrestlers. Remember the lost art of the valet, anyone?

And then you have a lower card consisting of guys like Jamie Noble, Colin Delaney, Elijah Burke, Kofi Kingston, Cody Rhodes and more. They’re all very talented and could all do well in other positions on the card.

No More Injury Crisis
This is pretty much an expansion of the last point and pretty self-explanatory. There have been plenty of times in the past couple of years where handfuls of big names have gone down through injury or suspension or whatever other reasons and those absences have left gaping holes in the roster. We’ve had whole pay-per-view cards altered due to injuries and world titles be forfeited because of injuries. Hell, Great Khali is going down in history as a former World Heavyweight Champion alongside names like Undertaker, Shawn Michaels, Triple H and Chris Benoit, uh, Randy Orton.

If any of the top level guys go out, it’s not a problem simply due to the sheer mass of big names there at the top of the card and the numerous more already on the brink of main event status. And if guys needed time to heel up or take a break from the ring, then it wouldn’t be an issue.

An Element of Surprise
One of the things that the IWC likes to complain about the most is the lack of any sort of surprise element in today’s wrestling. Of course, that is largely due to the fact that they’re reading spoilers and are aware of all the inside info, but it’s still a blame that they place upon the product instead of themselves. Go figure. But with three shows and such a big roster, you wouldn’t have to showcase all the talent on all of the shows and so you never know when a particular talent will show up on what show. This can help to advance angles and give performers a break from being on the road for an extra day or two.

Feel the Freshness
Another self-explanatory one here. With no brand extension, everything feels fresh. There are more performers for guys to work with so we don’t get the same matches happening week in and week out like we have seen in the past. And just think of some of the potentially huge feuds possible with a lack of brand extension;

Triple H vs. Taker
Cena vs. Batista
Taker vs. Cena
Edge vs. Triple H
HBK vs. Taker
MVP vs. Cena
Hardy vs. Edge

And that’s just in the main event. The possibilities are pretty much endless.

Better Ratings Across The Board
If any selection of John Cena, Undertaker, Randy Orton, Triple H or Shawn Michaels are likely to appear on an episode of ECW, then ECW is going to be scoring 2.0s and upwards. SmackDown is going to be competing with Raw and Raw is going to be hitting those 4.0s again. Unpredictability creates interest.

Less Is More
Here, I am referring to title belts. One world title, one mid-card title, one set of tag belts and a women’s title are all that is needed. If everyone in the main event is competing over one belt instead of two, that one belt means a hell of a lot more. Don’t believe me, ask Jim Ross.

I wonder if ending the brand extension would in fact cost Vince & co. financially. As I said, a better product surely results in more income. But then of course, there are some things I haven’t taken into consideration like the fact that they’d be running less house shows and such. So maybe it would and maybe it wouldn’t hurt WWE financially, but then again, maybe Vince just thinks it is too big a risk.

And I’m done for today. Having only confirmed my return late Monday night, I didn’t have much time to put this together for today, but expect a fuller column next week.

Wrestling is not the only place where I’m back in business. The Greatest Rock News Report is up now over at 411Music, as is my review of (*hangs head in shame*) Bittersweet World by Ashlee Simpson.

I should also be back in the Sports Zone this weekend for any soccer fans out there.

Be sure to check out all the other columns around 411Wrestling today including the Piledriver Report, the Happy-Go-Sucky News and Ask411.

That’s me done for today. Be sure to leave a comment so I know that coming back early was worth it. Until next week…