Credit: WWE.com
The company recently announced the end of single-branded pay-per-views as all events, starting with Backlash in May, will feature matches from both Raw and SmackDown. Another notable change is that there will only be 12 PPVs in 2018, which is down from 16 in 2017 and the 14 WWE had planned on having this year. Although WWE's brand extension will still remain in effect, the end of brand-specific PPVs is just the latest sign WWE will soon end the brand split altogether.
Indeed, it has not even been two years since the brand split returned in July 2016, but in a lot of ways, the brand split has exposed WWE's biggest flaws. The quality of programming on both Raw and SmackDown has been woefully inconsistent since the reincarnation of the brand extension, and like it or not, the end of single-brand PPVs is essentially WWE's way of admitting that the brand split has, at least partially, already failed.
Reports indicate that WWE reverted back to dual-branded PPVs to fix issues with low ticket sales and stale storylines while it's believed that the flat-lining WWE Network subscriber count was another contributing factor. These are just two of many reasons why WWE should go beyond simply scrapping single-brand PPVs and scrap the brand extension altogether.
Dual-Brand PPVs Won't Lead To Better Feuds And Rivalries
Credit: WWE.com
The return to dual-brand PPVs is WWE's way of saying that the brand split isn't really working but that the company still is unwilling to go the full mile and end it altogether.
Of course, dual-brand PPVs will feature superstars from Raw and SmackDown, so why not take it one step further and end the brand split completely? With the end of brand-specific PPVs, superstars from both brands will be under the same roof for every PPV going forward, and yet, they will likely have little to no interaction because the brand split is technically still in effect. Essentially, WWE is telling fans that brand-specific matches aren't a big enough draw in and of themselves but they are when they're combined with brand-specific matches from the other brand.
That really doesn't solve perhaps the biggest problem with the brand split: A lack of fresh matchups, which reportedly is one of the reasons why single-brand PPVs are ending in the first place. Ultimately, SmackDown stars will still be feuding with other stars from the blue brand while Raw stars will still have rivalries and matches with other stars from the red brand, limiting the amount of new matchups and feuds that could be created by the actual end of the brand split.
In essence, WWE is putting a Band-Aid on this problem by reverting to dual-brand PPVs, which should result in better overall cards but still doesn't solve the issue of improving individual brand-specific rivalries and feuds. In other words, we'll still be getting lackluster micard, lower card and tag team rivalries on both Raw and SmackDown that simply won't be featured on PPV. But in a world without a brand split, that wouldn't be the case.
Interest In WWE Peaks With Dual-Brand PPVs
Credit: Google Trends
A look at Google Trends data for WWE shows that the highest peaks in interest come around the time of WWE's "Big Four" pay-per-views: Royal Rumble, WrestleMania, SummerSlam and Survivor Series.
It's obviously not a coincidence that fan interest in WWE programming climaxes at those times, given that three of those PPVs (Royal Rumble, WrestleMania and Survivor Series) typically feature rare in-ring interaction, in the form of actual wrestling, between superstars from Raw and SmackDown.
At this year's Royal Rumble, for example, the 30-man Royal Rumble match came down to Roman Reigns and Shinsuke Nakamura battling it out in a mini-match for the right to go on to WrestleMania. Meanwhile, Survivor Series 2017 revolved entirely around a "battle of the brands" that featured Raw's Universal Champion Brock Lesnar taking on SmackDown's WWE Champion AJ Styles, while WrestleMania has featured the inter-brand Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal each year since 2014 .
No one should be surprised that fans are more interested in the WWE product when there are more major stars performing under one roof and doing so against each other. Fans want to see the very best product possible at all times, and one of the best ways for WWE to ensure that the product is at its best is to load up its PPVs with as much star power as possible. That is something that the end of the brand split would accomplish because it would result in fresher matches and better overall star power, which ideally would result in more WWE Network subscribers.
">WWE has already taken one giant leap toward the end of the brand split.
Credit: WWE.com
The company recently announced the end of single-branded pay-per-views as all events, starting with Backlash in May, will feature matches from both Raw and SmackDown. Another notable change is that there will only be 12 PPVs in 2018, which is down from 16 in 2017 and the 14 WWE had planned on having this year. Although WWE's brand extension will still remain in effect, the end of brand-specific PPVs is just the latest sign WWE will soon end the brand split altogether.
Indeed, it has not even been two years since the brand split returned in July 2016, but in a lot of ways, the brand split has exposed WWE's biggest flaws. The quality of programming on both Raw and SmackDown has been woefully inconsistent since the reincarnation of the brand extension, and like it or not, the end of single-brand PPVs is essentially WWE's way of admitting that the brand split has, at least partially, already failed.
Reports indicate that WWE reverted back to dual-branded PPVs to fix issues with low ticket sales and stale storylines while it's believed that the flat-lining WWE Network subscriber count was another contributing factor. These are just two of many reasons why WWE should go beyond simply scrapping single-brand PPVs and scrap the brand extension altogether.
Dual-Brand PPVs Won't Lead To Better Feuds And Rivalries
Credit: WWE.com
The return to dual-brand PPVs is WWE's way of saying that the brand split isn't really working but that the company still is unwilling to go the full mile and end it altogether.
Of course, dual-brand PPVs will feature superstars from Raw and SmackDown, so why not take it one step further and end the brand split completely? With the end of brand-specific PPVs, superstars from both brands will be under the same roof for every PPV going forward, and yet, they will likely have little to no interaction because the brand split is technically still in effect. Essentially, WWE is telling fans that brand-specific matches aren't a big enough draw in and of themselves but they are when they're combined with brand-specific matches from the other brand.
That really doesn't solve perhaps the biggest problem with the brand split: A lack of fresh matchups, which reportedly is one of the reasons why single-brand PPVs are ending in the first place. Ultimately, SmackDown stars will still be feuding with other stars from the blue brand while Raw stars will still have rivalries and matches with other stars from the red brand, limiting the amount of new matchups and feuds that could be created by the actual end of the brand split.
In essence, WWE is putting a Band-Aid on this problem by reverting to dual-brand PPVs, which should result in better overall cards but still doesn't solve the issue of improving individual brand-specific rivalries and feuds. In other words, we'll still be getting lackluster micard, lower card and tag team rivalries on both Raw and SmackDown that simply won't be featured on PPV. But in a world without a brand split, that wouldn't be the case.
Interest In WWE Peaks With Dual-Brand PPVs
Credit: Google Trends
A look at Google Trends data for WWE shows that the highest peaks in interest come around the time of WWE's "Big Four" pay-per-views: Royal Rumble, WrestleMania, SummerSlam and Survivor Series.
It's obviously not a coincidence that fan interest in WWE programming climaxes at those times, given that three of those PPVs (Royal Rumble, WrestleMania and Survivor Series) typically feature rare in-ring interaction, in the form of actual wrestling, between superstars from Raw and SmackDown.
At this year's Royal Rumble, for example, the 30-man Royal Rumble match came down to Roman Reigns and Shinsuke Nakamura battling it out in a mini-match for the right to go on to WrestleMania. Meanwhile, Survivor Series 2017 revolved entirely around a "battle of the brands" that featured Raw's Universal Champion Brock Lesnar taking on SmackDown's WWE Champion AJ Styles, while WrestleMania has featured the inter-brand Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal each year since 2014 .
No one should be surprised that fans are more interested in the WWE product when there are more major stars performing under one roof and doing so against each other. Fans want to see the very best product possible at all times, and one of the best ways for WWE to ensure that the product is at its best is to load up its PPVs with as much star power as possible. That is something that the end of the brand split would accomplish because it would result in fresher matches and better overall star power, which ideally would result in more WWE Network subscribers.
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