CM Punk & Wrestling's Best Storyline in Years...

[blastmaster]

Living in Charlotte for the last 10 years, I feel like I have enough first hand Flair stories to fill an hour TV show. This should be awesome.

[alpha]

Balor coming soon? After tonight's raw.

[battlecatmeowstab212]

Woooooooooooooooooo

[blastmaster]

Brand Split confirmed. Separate writing team for Smackdown confirmed. Should be interesting. I'm a fan of shaking things up and getting to see more quality matches.

[Brougham33]

Smackdown going live too, all in all a good move, so much talent on the roster it had to be done. Wonder who they build Smackdown around, Rollins, Owens, Styles, Cena?

[battlecatmeowstab212]

Hope they have just the one world champion with obligations to both brands again. Thought that was one of the coolest elements of the original brand split.

Hope the inevitable draft is done by people who've actually seen a draft this time and they snake the choices.

[GUCCI CONDOMS]

I'm in favor of the brand split and I don't think anyone can argue against smackdown going live. All and all, this should be an interesting summer.

[blastmaster]

I just read that they do have plans for a second "big" belt, with the US and IC both being secondary to each brand. I hope they add cruiser weights to Smackdown.

[GUCCI CONDOMS]

I just read that they do have plans for a second "big" belt, with the US and IC both being secondary to each brand. I hope they add cruiser weights to Smackdown.

I'm def hoping they bring back the NWA/WCW big gold belt. Without a doubt the best championship belt in the history of any sport.

[blastmaster]

I just read that they do have plans for a second "big" belt, with the US and IC both being secondary to each brand. I hope they add cruiser weights to Smackdown.

I'm def hoping they bring back the NWA/WCW big gold belt. Without a doubt the best championship belt in the history of any sport.

Same. I'm willing to bet they just use the same belt as Raw, just with blue accents though. I bet Vince isn't done burying WCW.

[BigCat8]

And people who would've benefited from the brand split just departed the company. Cody Rhodes would've had a better chance of getting TV time, Ryback would've had an upper-card position available to him, and Wade Barrett likely would've had a reduced schedule.

Do we think this'll mean a lot of call-ups? Or will they need to fill a three-hour Raw with half as many people, when three hours is already too much?

[battlecatmeowstab212]

I'm in favor of the brand split and I don't think anyone can argue against smackdown going live. All and all, this should be an interesting summer.

At the risk of sounding like a contrarian, I actually prefer the dynamic of one-live one-taped show, especially with how Raw and Smackdown largely are right now.

Raw is the storyline-heavy show that, being live, has to cut matches down on the fly to fit in the next developments.

Smackdown is the actual wrasslin' show that, being taped, can re-do and pre-tape any major segments without it affecting the in-ring entertainment. Case in point, the Kidd-Cesaro-Zigger IC title match from Smackdown we all fawned over. They could edit and trim the show, as well as time the commercial breaks, all after the fact when these guys completely cut loose and gave us a modern classic. On Raw, they would have had to follow a stricter time pattern and the presentation of somethign that fast-paced would have potential suffered from the limitations of a live show.

Still, I'm excited for the brand split. It's unfortunate that Cody and Barrett won't be a part of it, but the more that comes out about the reasons for their departures I feel bodes better for their value once they return, rather than continuing to be stuck in limbo had they stayed.

What do you think happens to the women's division? Exclusive to one "brand" or separate rosters with one champion having obligations to both shows?

[blastmaster]

I would like the see the women stay on Raw and get cruiser weights on Smackdown.

[GUCCI CONDOMS]

I'm in favor of the brand split and I don't think anyone can argue against smackdown going live. All and all, this should be an interesting summer.

At the risk of sounding like a contrarian, I actually prefer the dynamic of one-live one-taped show, especially with how Raw and Smackdown largely are right now.

Raw is the storyline-heavy show that, being live, has to cut matches down on the fly to fit in the next developments.

Smackdown is the actual wrasslin' show that, being taped, can re-do and pre-tape any major segments without it affecting the in-ring entertainment. Case in point, the Kidd-Cesaro-Zigger IC title match from Smackdown we all fawned over. They could edit and trim the show, as well as time the commercial breaks, all after the fact when these guys completely cut loose and gave us a modern classic. On Raw, they would have had to follow a stricter time pattern and the presentation of somethign that fast-paced would have potential suffered from the limitations of a live show.

Still, I'm excited for the brand split. It's unfortunate that Cody and Barrett won't be a part of it, but the more that comes out about the reasons for their departures I feel bodes better for their value once they return, rather than continuing to be stuck in limbo had they stayed.

What do you think happens to the women's division? Exclusive to one "brand" or separate rosters with one champion having obligations to both shows?

You make a decent point, but nothing beats live TV. It's pretty rare these days, and it's the only appointment television left...

[Pizon]

Yeah, I couldn't get into taped Smackdown. The obvious edits/added crowd noise/etc. ruined it for me.

[battlecatmeowstab212]

I'm in favor of the brand split and I don't think anyone can argue against smackdown going live. All and all, this should be an interesting summer.

At the risk of sounding like a contrarian, I actually prefer the dynamic of one-live one-taped show, especially with how Raw and Smackdown largely are right now.

Raw is the storyline-heavy show that, being live, has to cut matches down on the fly to fit in the next developments.

Smackdown is the actual wrasslin' show that, being taped, can re-do and pre-tape any major segments without it affecting the in-ring entertainment. Case in point, the Kidd-Cesaro-Zigger IC title match from Smackdown we all fawned over. They could edit and trim the show, as well as time the commercial breaks, all after the fact when these guys completely cut loose and gave us a modern classic. On Raw, they would have had to follow a stricter time pattern and the presentation of somethign that fast-paced would have potential suffered from the limitations of a live show.

Still, I'm excited for the brand split. It's unfortunate that Cody and Barrett won't be a part of it, but the more that comes out about the reasons for their departures I feel bodes better for their value once they return, rather than continuing to be stuck in limbo had they stayed.

What do you think happens to the women's division? Exclusive to one "brand" or separate rosters with one champion having obligations to both shows?

You make a decent point, but nothing beats live TV. It's pretty rare these days, and it's the only appointment television left...

Touché

[tehgiftofgab]

I'm in favor of the brand split and I don't think anyone can argue against smackdown going live. All and all, this should be an interesting summer.

At the risk of sounding like a contrarian, I actually prefer the dynamic of one-live one-taped show, especially with how Raw and Smackdown largely are right now.

Raw is the storyline-heavy show that, being live, has to cut matches down on the fly to fit in the next developments.

Smackdown is the actual wrasslin' show that, being taped, can re-do and pre-tape any major segments without it affecting the in-ring entertainment. Case in point, the Kidd-Cesaro-Zigger IC title match from Smackdown we all fawned over. They could edit and trim the show, as well as time the commercial breaks, all after the fact when these guys completely cut loose and gave us a modern classic. On Raw, they would have had to follow a stricter time pattern and the presentation of somethign that fast-paced would have potential suffered from the limitations of a live show.

Still, I'm excited for the brand split. It's unfortunate that Cody and Barrett won't be a part of it, but the more that comes out about the reasons for their departures I feel bodes better for their value once they return, rather than continuing to be stuck in limbo had they stayed.

What do you think happens to the women's division? Exclusive to one "brand" or separate rosters with one champion having obligations to both shows?

You make a decent point, but nothing beats live TV. It's pretty rare these days, and it's the only appointment television left...

Touché

This point is so true for me, I legit have cable and specifically TiVo so I can use it for raw and smackdown

[battlecatmeowstab212]

Anyone else caught completely off-guard with AJ's turn?

[907]

Anyone else caught completely off-guard with AJ's turn?

Just finished raw and came here to say the same thing. Shit was late WCW levels of bad.

[Brougham33]

It didn't make much sense, and it seems like they're pissing away money with how over AJ is as a face...but goddamn I'm all in on watching the 2016 versions of Cena and Styles go at it.

[GUCCI CONDOMS]

Anyone else caught completely off-guard with AJ's turn?

Just finished raw and came here to say the same thing. Shit was late WCW levels of bad.

It's just another casualty of Vince being too stubborn to turn Cena heel

[blastmaster]

Lol so now where does Balor fit in?

[tehgiftofgab]

He'll debut after he split for sure

[tehgiftofgab]

Holy shit Brock lesnar officially confirmed to be fighting at ufc 200....

[battlecatmeowstab212]

Holy shit Brock lesnar officially confirmed to be fighting at ufc 200....

While there's no way he's fighting Punk, I'd love to see him face Lashley.

Seriously though, the announcement also quietly confirmed him for Summerslam. Will Rousey be there too?

UFC vs WWE Invasion?

"You know who I am, but you don't know why I'm here. Or, you don't know who I am, and I don't know why I'm here. Definitely one of those two." - Tank Abbott

[GUCCI CONDOMS]

Holy shit Brock lesnar officially confirmed to be fighting at ufc 200....

While there's no way he's fighting Punk, I'd love to see him face Lashley.

Seriously though, the announcement also quietly confirmed him for Summerslam. Will Rousey be there too?

UFC vs WWE Invasion?

"You know who I am, but you don't know why I'm here. Or, you don't know who I am, and I don't know why I'm here. Definitely one of those two." - Tank Abbott

Def wondering if there is any cross promotion deal going on here between vince and dana white...

[BigCat8]

Went to ROH in Columbus last night. Pretty decent little card, with nothing really actively bad save for maybe Stevie Richards vs. Mark Briscoe. Adam Cole and Lio Rush had a really really good match, and Jay Lethal vs. Adam Page was pretty good as well.

[battlecatmeowstab212]

Richards-Briscoe wasn't good?

[BigCat8]

Richards-Briscoe wasn't good?

It definitely wasn't actively good. Maybe not actively bad either, but they couldn't seem to get on the same page. They blew an arm drag sequence early on and recovered nicely, but had a few other miscommunications that they didn't cover quite as well.

[battlecatmeowstab212]

Strange, sorry to hear that. I like both a lot, especially their recent work. Maybe they're just two guys who for whatever reason can't mesh.