Consolidation: The Gift and The Curse

From Velvet Jones: So here we are months into WWE's brand extension part Deux. There was excitement abound when we heard of how ...

From Velvet Jones:

So here we are months into WWE's brand extension part Deux. There was excitement abound when we heard of how exclusive these brands would become. Each brand would have its own major champion, secondary, tag team, and Women's champion. Plus, RAW would be the home of the Cruiserweight division.

Thus far, this incarnation of the brand extension does not have the special feeling surrounding the first incarnation of this concept. What is the reason for this? One word:

Consolidation.

Lemme break it down for ya.

The initial version of the brand extension centered around consolidation. With the folding or both WCW and ECW, WWE had established a major monopoly on pro wrestling in the United States. The band members of years gone by were tooting their horns to the tune of outright bitterness as a result of this. However, WWE found a way to make it work.. ...briefly.

RAW and SmackDown at the time were truly different. They were on different networks. The presentation of each show was different. Most importantly, the consolidation of WWE as a whole brought truly different wrestlers from truly different companies together under one banner. So while WWE was holding all of the cards, the unique qualities of each wrestler still remained. Ultimately, it gave these wrestlers an opportunity to establish themselves under one of the greatest collective rosters in the history of pro wrestling. It laid the groundwork for many of the dream matches that many thought would never happen because of organizational and political boundaries to become a reality. A few great tag teams and stables were formed as well. Finally, the championships were different not only in name, but appearance as well.

Take a look at this incarnation. Nearly 15 years after the inception of this device, we see just how much wrestling has changed. Most of the stars from the WCW and ECW are all so far removed from the sport. The machine has gotten mileage out of nearly every possible dream match they could have had. Today, the closest thing to a dream match you'll get in a WWE ring is a surprise call-up from NXT. That's it with the the exception of AJ Styles debut earlier this year in the Royal Rumble. RAW and SmackDown are now both on the USA Network. WWE has four singles championships that look the same. At three hours of running time, RAW has become network-TV saturation at its best.

What was once a gift in the form of world-class wrestlers and an unlimited library of content has now gotten stale. Triple-H has been quoted as saying that NXT was the “guaranteed future of the WWE”. In a sport that people are now more interested in trying to figure out than enjoy and be entertained by, the future has become pretty damn predictable. The surprises aren't that much of a surprise any more. However, this version of the brand extension is still in its infancy. Let's give it a year and see what happens after it truly starts to walk. Hopefully, we won't be subjected to those live RAW/SmackDown Supershows again.

Dammit, consolidation.......