the roster split

[Guest HBK WILL ROT IN HELL]

We all no that this will be happening very soon do you think it will be good or bad for the WWF and give reasons. Thanks

[Guest RetroRob215]

The split is the only reason why I'm still watching the WWF.  I have been a fan for 8 years, but now it's harder to stay interested.  I CAN"T WAIT until March 18, the Raw following WM.   Hopefully they will start the split angle that night.

[Guest Wheat Cracker Experience]

Well, there's plenty of potential:

 

Potential for elevation of the people who simply can't get on for lck of time--Hurricane, Lance Storm, etc.

 

Potential for having one "Sports Entertainment Show" and one "In-ring Work" show.

 

Potential for an on-screen rivalry that may bring back the magic of the Monday Night Wars.

 

Potential for an off-screen rivalry as to which roster is better which makes people (wrestlers and writers) work harder.

 

But there's also:

 

Potential for another crappy "invasion" angle.

 

Potential for McMahons aplenty.

 

Potential for complete burial or complete overuse of gimmick divisions (hardcore, women's, cruiserwight).

 

 

So:

 

If it's handled right, it could help and provide another few months of interesting programming, but it's not the answer to all their problems--they still need new writers, or at least a new goal in writing, they need their edge back (not Adam Copeland, the thing they had in 2000).

[Guest The Vanilla Midget]

from 411:

 

iN DEMAND has posted a description for the WWF Backlash PPV which will air in April. It reads as follows:

 

"Be there as the NEW RAW franchise helmed by Vince McMahon takes on the warriors of its new competitor NEW Shakedown, headed by Ric Flair. It's sure to be history in the making."

 

Obviously this seems to indicate that the roster will be split by Bachlash and the two seperate factions will be called RAW and Shakedown (or possibly Smackdown, Shakedown may be a typo).

 

 

 

take this for what you will, though i personally think the roster will be good and bad.  it will give more opportunities to wrestlers as the *big* names wont be hogging tv on both shows.  it will also suck though, because you run the chance of one promotion getting more over than the other, which would essentially kill the second one, resulting in something like an invasion angle to get it back over.  and we all know how angles like that generally turn out...

[Guest Tony149]

I'm looking forward to the split. Shakedown? I just hope that was a typo and it's really Smackdown. The bad side of the split is the current writing both shows.

[Guest goodhelmet]

It really depends on if how they split up the two groups. If one group really does focus more on wrestling inside the ring then I'll be a happy camper. If both shows are dishing out the same stale storylines with 2 minute matches than what's the point?

 

I agree with Midget that the potential for a horrible Invasion storyline is there but I sincerely hope that they both do similar ratings so that the two don't interfere. If one side was going to be more successful, I pray it will be the workrate intensive side.

[Guest The Vanilla Midget]

as much as i wish it were true, i cant really see one side being really workrate orientated.  its not really the wwf way, and would probably not rate well with casual fans, as workrate appreciation is a difficult thing to *get* straight away.  and i hate saying this, cos it makes me sound like an ass, but if you really wanna see workrate, watch puro, but if you want *sportz entertainment* watch wwf.  i think it will fail though, because they will need heavy cross-promotion to hype their major joint ppv's, and in order to do that, the situation would probably be similar to what we have now. also, the business would be heavily intensive on selling the crossover ppv's, as the smaller ones would *probably* do lower buyrates as there are less "big name" stars appearing on each show, thus less incentive to order the show.

[Guest goodhelmet]

"and i hate saying this, cos it makes me sound like an ass, but if you really wanna see workrate, watch puro, but if you want *sportz entertainment* watch wwf"

 

i disagree totally. What were Angle, Benoit, Trips, Austin, Jericho, Rock, and the rest giving us through 2000-2001....workrate! It just happened to be the reason I stuck around when the Invasion angle crashed and burned and also the reason I made sure to not miss any ppv's the last 2 years. The WWF has proven they can excel with solid wrestling and decent storylines working side by side,

 

but two men fighting over shampoo? a divorce angle with little to no intrigue? the escort service? That's just shit. Hey, if the goal of the WWF is entertainment than they better start making their shows a little more compelling because they aren't even enjoyable from a sports entertainment perspective right now. To make it worse, the wrestling has fallen flat too. now the workrate fanboys (myself included) and the SE supporters are both disappointed. Hell, even the SE NWOites are upset with how the NWO has been handled.

 

So why should I go buy another puro tape if the WWF has proven they can produce in the ring while entertaining me?

[Guest Tony149]

If Vince is smart, Smackdown is more wrestling based, while Raw has the Sports Entertainment. From what I've read, that's the plan.

[Guest The Vanilla Midget]

good points, but if the roster is split, putting the majority of the guys who can put on a good match on one side is absolute suicide.  while workrate is not the top priority in the wwf (i know im contradicting my last post), it is still an important element, and we have seen that many of the top stars have both good workrate and other skills.  to be successful, they need an even split and then go from there.  to create one side with a view to be anything is suicidal and doomed to failure.  they should just split and let the promotions naturally develop, not force them to be something they may not be naturally.

 

and yeah, those were awesome matches, and all your points are right, but with the wwf it is always entertainment first, workrate and other things come a distant second.  thats all i meant by the statement, and with the possible exception of the angle-benoit series, none of those matches were probably created with the intention of putting out a great match.

[Guest The Electrifyer]

I think the split will be a good thing. We will be able to see all of the WWF talent and they wont be crammed on one roster. And finally, we will at least have another wrestling organization on TV we can turn to. The only question is, will the fans watch and will 2 feds succeed??

[Guest The Vanilla Midget]

we wont really have another wrestling organisation, as both will have the WWF brand attached, or would probably be doomed to fail from the start.  also, if they want fans to watch, they need to keep them similar but not the same, and have hot fueds running concurrently in each promotion, not just the title fued over both promotions.

[Guest Tony149]

From what I read the roster will be divided evenly. Both sides would get "stars".

[Guest The Vanilla Midget]

yeah, thats what i mean, they need to be even, otherwise the thing is doomed from the start and one of the shows becomes the equivalent of heat and jakked.

[Guest Mole]

I think the split is a good idea. Anything that will bring back the cruiserweight division is a good idea.

[Guest Brian]

Obviously, once you stack one side with the cruiserweight division, then there's not going to be as much room. Angle, HHH, (Rhyno later) and Rock should be on the SE side. Jericho, RVD, (Benoit later) and Austin on the other. At least that's how I'd start out, but the NWO changed my whole view of it.