What WWE’s Brand Extension Means For Wrestling

WELCOME: Hey all, it’s me again. So we had the news break on Wednesday that Smackdown is moving to Tuesdays, is going live and that the brand extension is back. I wrote about WWE getting the brand extension right, and I want to thank all of you that read and commented on that column. When I closed out that column, I briefly speculated on what this could mean to more than WWE, as the announcement and actual implementation of the plan could cause a ripple effect across the industry. That is what I would like to discuss today…

For TNA: TNA is obviously the first place we need to look. For TNA, the obvious situation is that as of now, they will be head to head with Smackdown from 9PM-10PM ET on Tuesday nights. Historically, TNA hasn’t done well against WWE when they go head to head, which may mean a night change for Impact. TNA has been in an audience downfall since the final days of Spike TV, going from 1.3 million to around a million when they left, to roughly 350,000 average on Destination America to now averaging around 255,000 viewers on POP TV. Network changes and night changes haven’t helped them, and there is an obvious fear that another move could hurt them. On top of that, we have to look at talent. TNA is “reportedly” trying to lock in top names to more exclusive deals. In the past WWE had stayed away from a lot of TNA talent, but recently has been open to bringing them in. With the WWE needing to bring in more talent to load up the rosters, WWE will be looking for not only quality talent, but talent that is TV ready. Guys like Roode and Young, initially brought in to bolster the NXT touring brand, may make their way to WWE TV sooner rather than later, due to the fact that they are seasoned performers with years of experience working live and taped TV. TNA talents like Ethan Carter III and Drew Galloway, who have come into their own post WWE, could be back on the radar, which would be damaging to TNA as they are two of their top guys.

For Ring of Honor: Next we have to look at Ring of Honor. There have been several rumblings of talent not being happy with the booking of the company, how they are being used and things of that nature. Cedric Alexander recently left the company, and is rumored for the Cruiserweight Classic. Coming up shortly, Moose and Roderick Strong are two talents that have contracts that are going to expire. These are prime candidates for WWE to acquire, initially to help replenish the NXT brand, which they will pull from to help with the roster expansion. Between June and September, several ROH talents have deals that will reportedly expire. Several of these men have a lot of wresting experience, and experience working on TV. While WWE will always look to hire people without experience to develop in hopes that they become stars, they will always look for talents like this in order to bolster the NXT TV and touring brand, as well as to work with the less experienced performers. Make no mistake, WWE will raid talent and they will stock up on as much as they can, ROH and TNA will be hit if and when possible.

For Evolve: Evolve has what is constantly referred too as a “loose” relationship with WWE, but make no mistake, they work together and it is obvious. They hosted two Cruiserweight Classic qualifiers, trainers are attending Evolve tryout camps, they have signed several talents that previously were featured there, William Regal, Sami Zayn and others have made appearances for the promotion and Evolve changes start times to not conflict with WWE events in the same area. In some ways, they feel like a developmental to NXT, and that’s not a horrible thing. Evolve’s profile has grown due to the association, they are selling more tickets and iPPVs than they ever had and more guys, that previously wouldn’t have gotten a look, have gotten chance to work NXT. I have a strong feeling that with the launch of the new brand extension that the Evolve and WWE relationship will grow. We may never know the full extent as far as financials and such, but I have a feeling that several Evolve regulars will become NXT regulars, because while this brand extension will impact ROH, TNA and Evolve, it will also have implications as far as the NXT brand goes.

For NXT: And now we come to NXT, Triple H’s baby, which while technically a developmental, has received rave reviews for their Takeover events and some of the touring shows have done just as well if not better than the main roster touring shows. The NXT brand is ripe with talent that is ready to be called up and used on the main roster; Joe, Nakamura, Balor, Bayley, Asuka, American Alpha, The Revival and more. But you cannot raid the cookie jar and not buy a new bag, and that folds back into the previous points. WWE will take more NXT stars, ones they have conditioned to work in their style of TV environment, and move them up and they will have to be replaced. And that is when WWE will go to ROH, TNA, Evolve, hell even Mexico and or Japan to pick up more talent. It’s a new day in WWE, it started last year with guys appearing in NXT that we never thought would and has continued into this year. Back in the day, this speculation was only a dream for many, and then we got Cesaro, Zayn, Owens, AJ, Joe, Balor, Doc, Karl and so many others that we never thought we’d see under the WWE umbrella. For as much as the main roster may change, and how it may impact these other companies, the NXT roster will also change (possibly very drastically), and that is not a bad thing because so many are ready to move on and show their true worth to the company.

But will it work is the real question? Will this just end up being a big angle for Shane and Stephanie and nothing else? Will Vince McMahon go guns a blazing for three months and they just do whatever he wants because fuck you that’s why? Can they set rules and actually follow them? Will they book the shows as equally important, or will we go through the Raw is good and Smackdown sucks, and then it changes while neither really becomes as good as they could be? I do not know, but I certainly have my doubts, and that is because I have been through this brand extension before, and watched a great idea be poorly executed. They have a ton of talent under contract, they have a lot of smart people that work there, and there is a lot of talent to bring in. Can this be the start of something big that is well done, or will it be more of the same? I hope that they can, but I no longer subscribe to “wait and see with optimism” when it comes to WWE. They will have to prove it because I have been burnt way too many times over the years. I hope that it works, I hope that more men and women get good paying jobs and I hope that it leads to more opportunities outside WWE for other talents that need the break but haven’t received it because ROH and TNA haven’t been able to get the chance.

Interesting times are ahead…