Dean Ambrose’s victory last night left the WWE World Championship on The new Smackdown brand. Where do the WWE and their Flagship RAW programme go from here? There are safe storylines moving forward and risky, but which one is best for business to steal a phrase?
The easy way
Raw tonight opens with Stephanie and Mick Foley announcing the return of the World Heavyweight Championship. They will either have a bracket and tournament or most likely, one match between Reigns and Rollins. This is by far the expected approach and most likely. The big gold belt with all the tradition will be reactivated and there will be a definite split in the brands. Rollins will likely win and feud with Balor, Reigns and whoever else makes a name for themselves in the coming weeks.
The New Era Approach
They bring out a completely new belt. It won’t have the storied history or prestige of the classic title but will allow Rollins to ‘run with the ball’. It will be a new belt and as such he will use the prestige of being the first to wear it to expand on his heel persona like Charlotte has done with the Women’s version. With the new branding of Raw and Smackdown, this is possible but I would still say the first option is more likely.
The Risky Approach
Have no World Champion. Use Rusev’s US title or another belt like a new Television champion as the de facto number one contender belt and have RAW be about the battle for it, Then at PPV’s have the number one contender ‘champion’ get a shot at the WWE title no matter which brand it is on. The losing brand then has the Contender title to fight for. Although complicated and risky it would truly allow for something fresh and allow a battle between the brands at the monthly show.
What do you think will happen over the next few weeks?
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