Daniel Bryan Says WWE Smackdown Live To Go Head-To-Head With WWE Raw?
When the WWE chose to split up its roster into two brands, the idea was for WWE Raw to go head to head with WWE Smackdown. So far, everything appears to be going great as the matches seem fresh and new stars are getting a chance to shine. However, in an interview with The Bear Hug It Out Wrestling Podcast, Daniel Bryan said that not all the WWE superstars are happy.
According to Bryan, the travel and time of the road have remained the same for the wrestlers, but since they are only appearing on either WWE Raw or WWE Smackdown, they are losing money. Daniel said that they have to pay for their own travel but only get paid when they are working. Since Smackdown wrestlers are no longer on Raw, they are losing money.
However, what Daniel Bryan said next is something that seems to have just slipped by most people.
“Pretty soon, we’re going to start doing SmackDown live events on Monday nights, the same night as RAW, so then that’s going to even out a bit. And I think that extra day on the road at home makes a huge difference.”
That is a pretty huge statement. At first glance, it almost looked like WWE Smackdown would be going head-to-head with WWE Raw on Monday nights, bringing back memories of the Monday Night Wars between the WWE and WCW. However, with both shows on the USA Network, that isn’t possible.
When thinking about it, what Daniel Bryan said makes sense. WWE Raw airs live on Monday nights and is seen worldwide on the USA Network. However, while WWE Raw is airing live, Smackdown Live can run house show events in another city. They are theoretically competing with Raw, but not really. Fans can choose to go to see Smackdown Live in person and DVR the episode of Raw. The only thing the competition would show is the live numbers of Raw.
Likewise, WWE Raw could then run house shows on Tuesday nights while WWE Smackdown Live is airing on the USA Network. It would be fun to see the attendance numbers for the live events and how they affect the television live numbers, but that is the only real competition there.
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That isn’t to say that there isn’t really any competition between WWE Raw and WWE Smackdown. Sure, the storylines show that Stephanie McMahon and Shane McMahon are competing with each other, but that is just a storyline.
The real competition when it comes to the brand split is between the wrestlers. Dean Ambrose is on WWE Smackdown as the world champion and surely wants people to tune into his brand so that could raise his level of in-ring competition to make people want to choose WWE Smackdown over WWE Raw. The same is true for guys like Seth Rollins and Finn Balor. Some fans will want to choose one brand to follow religiously and the competition is between the wrestlers to put on the best shows possible to keep fans watching their show.
This week, WWE.com reported that both Randy Orton and Brock Lesnar invaded the opposing brand, but that will possibly just be for this inter-promotional match. If WWE Smackdown starts to run shows in competition with the live WWE Raw broadcast, that likely won’t happen much more in the future.
[Image via WWE]
