|
Mr Hootington posted:Maybe that will change under the HHH booking? Idk how long he has been in control of that. They'll get notions sometimes that the draft is a real, actual thing, and there'll be a period where Raw and Smackdown are generally separated. The period following the first draft in '02, and the '16 draft that lead into the Smackdown Live era are the most notable examples of this. For a time, the two shows did feel, if not unique, then at least somewhat different. Generally once a year they have a BRAND VERSUS BRAND show, in which Raw Smackdown, and depending on the timeframe, ECW/NXT wrestlers would fight for the pretty meaningless Brand Supremacy. That did lead to a pretty fun Survivor Series match in, i think 2016, but historically, theres been little motivation to root for one brand over another. The problem also was that Vince's booking was erratic at best, so a Smackdown guy might show up on Raw, cause why not, or the brand split won't matter this week, this month, or Wrestlemania is just around the corner so guys show up wherever, or times where Smackdown definitely had a B show feeling, and the main guys would show up on Raw anyway, and the draft would be rendered kinda of moot. Plus, when you were watching since that first draft, there were only so many times you could see RANDY ORTON IS HEADING TO SMACKDOWN!!! before it stopped being fresh. At the least, you should probably get a few things you haven't seen in a while (or if you're new, you haven't seen before, at all. Drew on Smackdown! Pretty Deadly on Raw! An NXT guy on either! Things of about that level!) out of the draft, the real question is, will it matter much even 6 months down the road? The answer there is historically, it probably won't stop an injured Raw guy from returning as a Smackdown Superstar and vice versa
|
#
?
Apr 15, 2024 16:47
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 16, 2024 17:16 |
|
|
Quantum of Phallus posted:It's not a dig at anyone in particular. I just don't get the mental loops some people here and elsewhere have to jump through when they vociferously hate on WWE and everyone in it, and then at the same time praise ex-Fed wrestlers in AEW who worked there for most of their careers. Or Danielson, who is my favorite wrestler ever, who had the worst response i’ve seen to the Vince crimes. Personally I forgive him but there’s definitely mental loops involved for certain posters who don’t even mention it but when Cody gives a tepid response or Seth gives a good one they are “pieces of poo poo”.
|
|
#
?
Apr 15, 2024 17:03
|
|
|
The Draft is super simple to understand: You get "Drafted" by one of the Fake Brands that make up the company that wants everyone to think it's a League when it's not, and from then on you can ONLY appear on that Brand's show UNLESS you're a big enough draw that they need you to show up wherever they need you to pop a rating OR the company sees so little value in you that they don't even bother drafting you to any of the three shows at which point you can go wherever they need you to eat a pin....BUT there's also the Wild Card Rule which means you're allowed to cross brands BUT ONLY three times per month unless you're Lars Sullivan who can do it four times a month BUT if you try to show up on the wrong show more than that.....something happens....BUT ALSO there's Survivor Series which is the ONE TIME A YEAR you're allowed to fight someone from another show. EASY.
|
|
#
?
Apr 15, 2024 17:10
|
|
|
Eat My Fuc posted:Or Danielson, who is my favorite wrestler ever, who had the worst response i’ve seen to the Vince crimes. Personally I forgive him but there’s definitely mental loops involved for certain posters who don’t even mention it but when Cody gives a tepid response or Seth gives a good one they are “pieces of poo poo”. people are going to give you a hard time for this but you're right
|
|
#
?
Apr 15, 2024 17:11
|
|
|
projecthalaxy posted:are you the real victim here Turns out the real victim here is actually Cody.
|
|
#
?
Apr 15, 2024 17:18
|
|
|
Frankly I’d prefer there be no draft at all. With competition like AEW and NJPW there’s just no need to split their roster to create the illusion of two territories.
|
|
#
?
Apr 15, 2024 17:21
|
|
|
I wonder if the brand split will get harder when one show is on TV and the other on Netflix. I guess probably not because it was pretty porous between Fox and USA.
|
|
#
?
Apr 15, 2024 17:24
|
|
|
real baby vibe in thread of late. making noise dont knowe what to do
|
|
#
?
Apr 15, 2024 17:31
|
|
|
do you think new viewers (haha) are going to go back and be really loving confused by black and gold NXT and how it was presented as the most important thing edit: and subsequently even more confused by game show NXT
|
|
#
?
Apr 15, 2024 17:32
|
|
|
The D in Detroit posted:do you think new viewers (haha) are going to go back No
|
|
#
?
Apr 15, 2024 17:35
|
|
|
Mr Hootington posted:How does the WWE draft work? Do those wrestlers only wrestle on the show they are drafted onto? I've seen a number of wrestlers who are supposed to be a specific shows but they appear on the opposite show quite frequently. there have been a few periods where they stuck very hard to the 'you only wrestle on the show you're drafted to' angle, and even a couple periods where they had branded pay-per-views with only the big 4 (rumble, survivor series, summerslam, and wrestlemania) being cross-promotional, but they inevitably get bored and start having main eventers show up on each other's shows to pop a rating, and then gently caress it we've got nothing else to do here's yoshi tatsu vs evan bourne. is yoshi tatsu on raw or smackdown. who even cares. the neon genesis evangelion of the pacific rim. they just keep doing the draft anyway because, gently caress it i guess.
|
|
#
?
Apr 15, 2024 17:40
|
|
|
the draft is literally just there to pop a rating, nobody remembers it after a week. best not to think about it
|
|
#
?
Apr 15, 2024 17:45
|
|
|
The draft is basically WWE's rankings.
|
|
#
?
Apr 15, 2024 17:48
|
|
|
MJeff posted:The draft is basically WWE's rankings. Controversial...but brave.
|
|
#
?
Apr 15, 2024 17:50
|
|
|
They kinda have to have a brand split at this point so they can have 2 sets of people going for similar titles and not have to cut many people. There would be so many “main eventers” - there are like 70 more wrestlers signed than there were before the brand splits
|
|
#
?
Apr 15, 2024 17:54
|
|
|
I was pretty much out of wrestling during the period they'd have Raw and Smackdown exclusive PPVs and that poo poo sounds exhausting to sit through.
|
|
#
?
Apr 15, 2024 17:54
|
|
|
the secret was to just watch all the smackdown pay per views becasue thats where all the good wrestlers were and dont bother with the raw ones
|
|
#
?
Apr 15, 2024 18:05
|
|
|
MJeff posted:The draft is basically WWE's rankings. Remember that time Smackdown had a top 10 list for 2 weeks just so Randy Orton could feud with Jinder Mahal
|
|
#
?
Apr 15, 2024 18:08
|
|
|
Endorph posted:the secret was to just watch all the smackdown pay per views becasue thats where all the good wrestlers were and dont bother with the raw ones Watching classics PPVs like Great American Bash 2004 with *checks notes* Kenzo Suzuki/Billy Gunn and Mordecai/Hardcore Holly
|
|
#
?
Apr 15, 2024 18:09
|
|
|
look would you rather watch that or the era of raw ppvs where steiner and test wrestled on seemingly every show
|
|
#
?
Apr 15, 2024 18:11
|
|
|
Rarity posted:Kenzo Suzuki/Billy Gunn 
|
|
#
?
Apr 15, 2024 18:12
|
|
|
For a like to like comparison, the RAW ppv 3 weeks after GAB 04 Tag Team Match Rhyno & Tajiri defeat Garrison Cade & Jonathan Coachman (7:29) Singles Match Batista defeats Chris Jericho (12:19) World Tag Team Title Match La Resistance (Rob Conway & Sylvain Grenier) (c) defeat Eugene & Ric Flair by DQ (12:28) No Disqualification Match Matt Hardy Version 1.0 defeats Kane (10:29) Intercontinental Title Match Edge defeats Randy Orton (c) (26:36) - TITLE CHANGE !!! World Women's Title #1 Contendership Match Victoria defeats Molly Holly (6:15) World Heavyweight Title Match Chris Benoit (c) defeats Triple H (29:03)
|
|
#
?
Apr 15, 2024 18:15
|
|
|
ill level i was mostly thinking of the one where eddie and lesnar went like half an hour
|
|
#
?
Apr 15, 2024 18:18
|
|
|
I love Survivor Series, the one time per year WWE Raw and Smackdown Superstars face off in a battle for brand supremacy! I also love when they draft people who aren't actively on any roster and only technically signed. Gable Steveson will be making his mark on Raw any day now!
|
|
#
?
Apr 15, 2024 18:21
|
|
|
Eat My Fuc posted:Or Danielson, who is my favorite wrestler ever, who had the worst response i’ve seen to the Vince crimes. Personally I forgive him but there’s definitely mental loops involved for certain posters who don’t even mention it but when Cody gives a tepid response or Seth gives a good one they are “pieces of poo poo”. Two of the four people being mentioned here are currently drawing paychecks from the place that did the crimes that everyone is so fired up about One of them called out some of the people who were involved in said sex crimes immediately after he won the world title and then hugged them You are leaving out some pretty major additional factors in the conversation when you just say “Cody had a tepid take”
|
|
#
?
Apr 15, 2024 18:30
|
|
|
Was it December to Dismember that killed the concept of brand-exclusive PPVs? I feel like that's what I read ages ago. Either way, I feel like the branding was amongst the least of that show's problems.
|
|
#
?
Apr 15, 2024 18:33
|
|
|
The last brand exclusive PPV was Fastlane 2018 Rusev vs. Shinsuke Nakamura US Title Match - Randy Orton vs. Bobby Roode Natalya/Carmella vs. Becky Lynch/Naomi Smackdown Tag Team Title Match - The New Day vs. The Usos Smackdown Women's Title Match - Ruby Riott vs. Charlotte WWE Title Match - Baron Corbin vs. Dolph Ziggler vs. Kevin Owens vs. Sami Zayn vs. John Cena vs. AJ Styles
|
|
#
?
Apr 15, 2024 18:43
|
|
|
Rarity posted:The last brand exclusive PPV was Fastlane 2018 looks deece tbh
|
|
#
?
Apr 15, 2024 19:15
|
|
|
Rarity posted:The last brand exclusive PPV was Fastlane 2018 That was the last WWE show I ever attended. It was an extremely mediocre PPV.
|
|
#
?
Apr 15, 2024 19:30
|
|
|
PWInsider is reporting Rhea got injured in the backstage segment last week and may have to vacate the title.
|
|
#
?
Apr 15, 2024 19:34
|
|
|
Pylons posted:PWInsider is reporting Rhea got injured in the backstage segment last week and may have to vacate the title. maybe hold on to that chair a little tighter next time, liv. https://twitter.com/WrestleOps/status/1777511230074151391#m
|
|
#
?
Apr 15, 2024 19:45
|
|
|
Mr Hootington posted:Then why even do it? Seems like the perfect mechanism to setup/reset storylines or throw unforeseen wrenches in the path of wrestlers. They were pretty strict about having wrestlers stick to their brand for a few years after the initial split, so it was a big deal when you had "inter-brand matches". The problem was, they really failed at getting anyone new over outside of a few top guys, so when the top stars on a brand got injured, left, or sadly died, the brand-specific PPVs got loving dire. poo poo like John Cena vs Jesus (not that one), Undertaker vs The Dudleys, Big Show vs Bradshaw in top-of-the-card matches. It wasn't for a lack of talent either, just the usual Vince stuff. pushing charisma-less bodybuilders, saddling potential stars with joke gimmicks, and treating women's wrestling like... well, like how he treats women in general. Anyway they stopped doing brand-specific PPVs then eventually combined the belts, then repeated the cycle a few more times idk I stopped paying close attention in the 2010's
|
|
#
?
Apr 15, 2024 20:00
|
|
|
the whole idea of the draft is dumb too bc afaik no combat sports have drafts lol
|
|
#
?
Apr 15, 2024 20:05
|
|
|
Remember that one draft where they kept cutting to the "network executives" in board rooms marking out cause they got Dana Brooke or whatever?
|
|
#
?
Apr 15, 2024 20:13
|
|
|
Drakkel posted:Remember that one draft where they kept cutting to the "network executives" in board rooms marking out cause they got Dana Brooke or whatever? Who could forget Cleatus marking out?
|
|
#
?
Apr 15, 2024 20:16
|
|
|
My favorite moment in the draft is when Triple H got drafted to Raw and demanded to be traded back. Apparently Triple is worth two Dudley Boys and a Booker T.
|
|
#
?
Apr 15, 2024 20:26
|
|
|
Drakkel posted:Remember that one draft where they kept cutting to the "network executives" in board rooms marking out cause they got Dana Brooke or whatever? The draft was fantastic for letting everyone know who WWE cared about and who the geeks and loser fuckfaces were. They wouldn't go crazy over drafting Dana Brooke, they'd draft her along with five others to drive the point home that these idiots were only worth 1/4th Triple H.
|
|
#
?
Apr 15, 2024 20:26
|
|
|
The only good one I remember was the year they had a single new wrestler showing up each show and it lasted 5 weeks.
|
|
#
?
Apr 15, 2024 20:30
|
|
|
Rarity posted:Who could forget Cleatus marking out? That was the football robot on Fox, right I thought that was cool as hell
|
|
#
?
Apr 15, 2024 20:31
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 16, 2024 17:16 |
|
|
The 2007 one was probably the most noteworthy. The setup was that they would do inter-promotional matches where the winning show would get a random draft pick. That included ECW Champion Bobby Lashley vs. SmackDown's Chris Benoit. Lashley won and the random pick to ECW ended up being Benoit. Later in the night, Lashley was drafted to Raw, meaning he had to vacate his brand-specific title. Also, Vince's limo exploded in the final segment. So the ECW title was vacated and a four-man tournament was thrown together to crown a new champ, which included new ECW guy Chris Benoit. And we know how that ended up...
|
|
#
?
Apr 15, 2024 20:45
|
|
