WWE News: Al Snow Discusses Problems With Current Brand Split
Paul Heyman and Eric Bischoff were recently named the executive directors of Monday Night Raw and SmackDown Live, respectively, but their impact has yet to be truly felt. As The Inquisitr reported earlier this week, Vince McMahon has been rewriting WWE shows at the last minute, meaning that the company’s creative agenda is still very much in the hands of a chairman who’s known for being hands-on.
As such, Heyman and Bischoff are still finding their groove, but Al Snow thinks they should be given more access to their respective shows.
The former WWE Hardcore Champion worked with Heyman during his time in Extreme Championship Wrestling, where he developed the popular “Head” gimmick. He also worked under Bischoff in Total Nonstop Action, where he served as an agent and part-time wrestler after leaving WWE.
It goes without saying that he knows both men quite well, and in an interview with Wrestling Inc., he discussed how WWE’s recent executive director hires can be used effectively — if Vince is willing to step aside and let them do their thing.
“I think it’s a great idea, but I think they should have let Paul strictly on Raw and allowed Eric Bischoff to stay on SmackDown. There’s no point in having two different brands if they don’t have a feeling of two different artistic visions. That’s why the two different brands idea has never really taken off because it’s still under the helm of one person in Vince McMahon.”
Snow believes that by giving each of them more leeway to implement their own ideas, WWE will breathe fresh life and energy into its shows. After all, Bischoff and Heyman were behind two very distinctive companies back in the day and have different ideas about what constitutes an entertaining product.
Al Snow Says Vince McMahon Needs To Step Aside Creatively For WWE Brand Split To Work https://t.co/rsClwnQUuv pic.twitter.com/DK1066AHIj
— WrestlingINC.com (@WrestlingInc) August 1, 2019
The current iteration of the brand split is muddled, to say the least. Ever since WWE introduced the concept during the Ruthless Aggression era, crossovers between both shows have been common. However, it’s never been more evident than it is at the moment.
The recent introduction of the “Wild Card Rule” — which sees a certain amount of superstars from the opposite brand allowed to appear on each show — has arguably caused Monday Night Raw and SmackDown Live to lose their individual identities.
A change could be on the horizon, though. The Inquisitr reported that the company is on the verge of scrapping the rule in the near future. It remains to be seen if that’s the case, but with SmackDown Live set to debut on FOX, we can expect some big changes on WWE television.
