After the second United Kingdom Championship tournament and two-night special, we have learned that WWE will be branching out even more and launching the NXT UK brand. As cool as this is, I almost wish they simply called it something else without the NXT name attached to it so it could be it's own thing. It's going to be NXT's sister brand based in the UK. Since the inaugural tournament, wrestlers like Pete Dunne, Tyler Bate, Trent Seven, and Wolfgang, among others, have made names for themselves beyond the UK. I'd maybe even call it United Kingdom Wrestling, or UKW for short. They could even get fans to chant UKW, UKW! However, it is in fact its own brand, something that has been discussed since the first tournament. They're also introducing a Women's Championship and a Tag Team Championship for the brand, so it's the real deal. They have shows set up sporadically through the rest of the year. With the success of NXT, perhaps the UK brand will one day be a weekly program on the WWE Network. Speaking of the Network, I truly hope NXT stays on and does not go to cable. I feel it might ruin the flow and structure of the show, which I quite enjoy.
I don't want to come off as a hypocrite because I've stated on several blogs that I don't particularly care for the brand split, at least as far as multiple Championships that are supposed to be on the same level. However, there is one exception for me, which I will soon get to. The first brand split occurred in 2002, not long after both WCW and ECW closed their doors. It was called the brand extension and the rosters were split between Raw and Smackdown with General Managers eventually running each one, after the Vince McMahon/Ric Flair co-owner story came to a close. The problem is, however, that Vince McMahon and many fans will always see Raw as the top brand and even though there were a few years that Smackdown was the better show, Raw will always be seen as superior. If the rosters are not even, why bother? Although, the attempt to make the shows seem even explain why there have been two sets of each Championship, which I despise wholeheartedly.
Another reason I dislike the brand split is that one brand competing with the other while still ultimately under the WWE umbrella, just doesn't work or make sense. Humor me, please! At least give us the illusion that one brand is not affiliated with WWE. That's how I wanted WCW to work after it was purchased by McMahon. They did eventually bring ECW back as a brand but they strayed away from the concept far too early and it ultimately failed. That's not to say it was a complete disaster! It turned into another brand that had good wrestling and entertaining television sometimes. The ECW name did wear out it's welcome, though! After the ECW brand ended in early 2010, WWE began NXT, which originally started as a game show of sorts. Eventually, NXT broke off and became a developmental brand. However, once it started appearing on the WWE Network in 2014, it grew to become the phenomenon it is today. With that said, NXT has not only become it's own brand, it's completely different from Raw and Smackdown. Even though NXT is under the WWE umbrella, it's different enough to be looked at as its own entity.
TNA has essentially become simply known as Impact, with various name changes and owners over the years. Somehow, it has not died! I don't watch Impact anymore and haven't for quite some time. Let me get one thing perfectly clear, though! It was never about the talent, but more about the way it was handled or mishandled by management. There were some very good years. From it's initial launch in 2002 through around 2005, it was fantastic! The wrestling was always top notch, especially once the likes of Samoa Joe came on board. In 2006, wrestlers like Christian, the Dudley Boys, and Kurt Angle came over and helped make TNA something special. Jeff Jarrett was at the helm but talent like AJ Styles, Christopher Daniels, Bobby Roode, tag teams like America's Most Wanted and LAX, and many others, helped shape it. It wasn't until Hulk Hogan and Eric Bischoff came on board that it started to fall apart slightly. To be clear, I'm not blaming these men at all. When AJ Styles left, that was a big moment that I feel TNA never recovered fully from. It got good again with things like the Main Event Mafia and such, but losing a talent like AJ really hurt them. TNA gave Matt Hardy a platform for his "Broken Universe" to succeed and it was one of the few shining stars the company had left. After the Hardys left, I stopped watching completely! Every once in a while, I'll come across it and not recognize nearly anyone in the company. Partnering with Global Force and having joint specials with Lucha Underground has helped a little, though. For instance, Pentagon Jr. had recently been given mainstream notice.
If you really pay attention, you'll notice WWE now employs many former TNA talents. AJ Styles, Samoa Joe, Bobby Roode, and Eric Young are some of the TNA originals. Other names of former stars of the company are such notables as Kurt Angle, Matt Hardy, Jeff Hardy, and EC3. There's also Drew McIntyre, British superstar Mark Andrews, Rhino, R-Truth, Bobby Lashley, Mike Kanellis, TJP, and Xavier Woods. In fact, WWE brought in the former Rockstar Spud, who now presides as the GM of 205 Live under the name Drake Maverick. I just listed 16 former TNA wrestlers! Of course, after Jeff Jarrett's recent Hall of Fame induction, as well as the Dudley Boys, you never know when they may show up for a segment.
Over the years, there have been rumors of negotiations for WWE to purchase the TNA library. I'm still not sure the exact logistics of the situation! It is not longer affiliated with Jeff Jarrett, Jerry Jarrett, Dixie Carter, Panda Energy, or even Billy Corgan. Impact lives on but lately, a lot of mention of TNA has been made on WWE television and the Network. Jarrett mentioned it several times during his Hall of Fame induction, you'll hear wrestlers talk about it on shows like Table for 3, and even Bruce Prichard's podcast had an episode dedicated to it. Here's what I'm ultimately getting at! Baring any legal problems, could anyone see TNA become it's own brand in the WWE? Smackdown could remain but it could be TNA Smackdown, disassociating itself, at least in a kayfabe perspective, from WWE. Raw will be WWE's flagship show but WWE could be operated like the once glorious NWA did long ago. Get rid of the Universal Title and once again make the WWE Title the premier Championship. Raw will also merge the Tag Team Titles with Smackdown's, as well as the Women's Titles, maybe even making room for a possible Women's Tag Team Championship. The US Title could be kept on Smackdown under the guise of TNA with the Intercontinental Title reigning as WWE's mid-card Championship. WWE will oversee everything but in kayfabe, TNA, NXT, and the UK could be seen as separately affiliated brands. WWE would be like the NWA once was, with regional territories around. Each main Title of the brands not named Raw could be called Heavyweight Titles, but looked at slightly less meaningful than the ultimate prize, the WWE Title, such as the NWA World' Heavyweight Title was once looked at as.
WWE owns many tape libraries, names and likenesses, and could resurrect almost any former Territory, but I chose TNA due to it not being as old and having many of it's former superstars residing in WWE currently. Using WWE as the new Territory system in wrestling could be good and a way I'd be able to support split brands. WWE is expanding rapidly and will only continue to grow. Another idea I had was to possibly get rid of 205 Live as a brand and the Cruiserweight Title in general. In a way, it pigeonholes wrestlers. Though it could be Hideo Itami's saving grace, I look at it as a demotion. You simply can't compare today's Cruiserweights with WCW's glory days with superstars like Rey Misterio, Psicosis, Juventud Guerrera, Ultimo Dragon, Chris Jericho, Eddie Guerrero, and Dean Malenko. For instance, while it seems ideal for someone like Lio Rush, I hope we don't see Ricochet join in. He's just too great of a talent to relegate to the Cruiserweight division. I also feel Cedric Alexander is too good for it, as are people like Roderick Strong, Adam Cole, and Johnny Gargano. In fact, I'd even go so far as to say it was a mistake to put Austin Aries there. Aries was well known and in my opinion, better than the Cruiserweight division. Another idea is to rechristen it as TNA's next X-Division, although that might be difficult with the original X-Division Title still active in Impact's current form.
Who knows where WWE will go in the future? As great as this kind of thing can be for the company, at some point it might be overkill so they have to tread lightly. For instance, I'm still an advocate for Raw to go back to two hours. Three is simply too much, especially if the company would like fans to tune in to the other shows and brands. With the UK brand starting, that's a big reason to get rid of 205 Live. I don't want an all women's show, as I think they should be spread out, celebrated, and treated correctly everywhere. I can see someone like Drew McIntyre fitting into any brand. To me, he's good enough to headline on Raw and one day become WWE Champion. However, with ties to both NXT and TNA, he could travel to either. He's also Scottish, so he could make his way to the UK brand as well. If Neville is still around, he could join the UK brand, as well as wrestlers like Finn Balor, Becky Lynch, Killian Dane. The Territory System was good for attractions like Andre the Giant, Dusty Rhodes, Abdullah the Butcher, and Bruiser Brody. A change of pace every so often was a good thing. Back in the day, the NWA World Heavyweight Champion, mostly Ric Flair, would travel to a different Territory and defend his Championship. Today, it would be a nice shot in the arm once in a while for the WWE Champion to have a Title defense in one of the other brands. The WWE Champion defending the Title against an NXT performer would be amazing.
While I don't necessarily think competing head to head with New Japan is something WWE would want to do, I wouldn't rule out a Territory and brand in Japan. I know Shinsuke Nakamura and Asuka, for instance, could make it a big deal. Mexico is another area I could potentially see a WWE brand, as well as Canada. Speaking of Canada, Stampede Wrestling could be brought back and run by Bret Hart. Several current WWE superstars are Canadian and I'm sure would enjoy making an appearance and having a short stay there, including; Chris Jericho, Kevin Owens, Sami Zayn, Bobby Roode, Eric Young, Tye Dillinger, and Tyler Breeze. Natalya could potentially show up and win a Women's Championship there as well. NXT would be considered the Florida Territory and should they use TNA, it could be located somewhere specific as well. These Territories don't necessarily need to be specifically geographic regions either. Minnesota could be used as a place for a new AWA Territory, whereas Mid-South could potentially be used. The options are almost limitless. Those could be to come but that will probably be a long time from now. It's important to take one thing at a time. I'm curious to see what people think about this topic so please let me know.
While I don't necessarily think competing head to head with New Japan is something WWE would want to do, I wouldn't rule out a Territory and brand in Japan. I know Shinsuke Nakamura and Asuka, for instance, could make it a big deal. Mexico is another area I could potentially see a WWE brand, as well as Canada. Speaking of Canada, Stampede Wrestling could be brought back and run by Bret Hart. Several current WWE superstars are Canadian and I'm sure would enjoy making an appearance and having a short stay there, including; Chris Jericho, Kevin Owens, Sami Zayn, Bobby Roode, Eric Young, Tye Dillinger, and Tyler Breeze. Natalya could potentially show up and win a Women's Championship there as well. NXT would be considered the Florida Territory and should they use TNA, it could be located somewhere specific as well. These Territories don't necessarily need to be specifically geographic regions either. Minnesota could be used as a place for a new AWA Territory, whereas Mid-South could potentially be used. The options are almost limitless. Those could be to come but that will probably be a long time from now. It's important to take one thing at a time. I'm curious to see what people think about this topic so please let me know.
If you have any further thoughts on this topic, let me know in comments. Heck, let us all know on The WAR Report podcast, every Tuesday at 7PM EST on YouTube, brought to you by tagmeadate.com, the first and only dating site for wrestling fans. Go to askthewarreport@gmail.com or #askthewarreport. For TagMeADate members, our Android and Apple apps are vastly approaching so stay tuned!
https://tagmeadate.com/
https://tagmeadate.com/
No comments:
Post a Comment