The WWE needs to end the roster split.
This is the first time in the almost two year history of the
split that I have made this comment. I am going to use this
column to explain both why the split has run its course and
what should be done in the absence of the two rosters or brands
or whatever you want to call them.

First let’s take a look at the two rosters:

RAW:

AL SNOW
BATISTA
BOOKER T
BUBBA RAY DUDLEY
CHRIS BENOIT
CHRIS JERICHO
CHRIS NOWINSKI
CHRISTIAN
D-VON DUDLEY
ERIC BISCHOFF
GAIL KIM
GARRISON CADE
GOLDBERG
IVORY
JACQUELINE
JAZZ
JERRY LAWLER
JIM ROSS
JON HEIDENREICH
JONATHAN COACHMAN
KANE
LANCE STORM
LILIAN GARCIA
LITA
MARK HENRY
MARK JINDRAK
MATT HARDY
MAVEN
MICK FOLEY
MISS JACKIE
MOLLY HOLLY
RANDY ORTON
RENE DUPREE
RIC FLAIR
RICO
ROB CONWAY
ROB VAN DAM
RODNEY MACK
ROSEY
SCOTT STEINER
SHANE MCMAHON
SHAWN MICHAELS
SPIKE DUDLEY
STACY KEIBLER
STEVEN RICHARDS
STONE COLD STEVE AUSTIN
SYLVAN GRENIER
TERRI
TEST
THE HURRICANE
THE ROCK
THEODORE LONG
TOMMY DREAMER
TRISH STRATUS
TRIPLE H
VAL VENIS
VICTORIA
WILLIAM REGAL

And SmackDown!:

A-TRAIN
AKIO
BIG SHOW
BILL DeMOTT
BILLY GUNN
BILLY KIDMAN
BRADSHAW
BROCK LESNAR
CHARLIE HAAS
CHAVO GUERRERO
CHUCK PALUMBO
DANNY BASHAM
DAWN MARIE
DOUG BASHAM
EDDIE GUERRERO
EDGE
ERNEST THE CAT MILLER
FAAROOQ
FUNAKI
HARDCORE HOLLY
JAMIE NOBLE
JOHN CENA
JOHNNY STAMBOLI
KANYON
KURT ANGLE
MATT MORGAN
MICHAEL COLE
MR. MCMAHON
NIDIA
NUNZIO
ORLANDO JORDAN
PAUL HEYMAN
PAUL LONDON
REY MYSTERIO
RHYNO
RIKISHI
SABLE
SAKODA
SCOTTY 2 HOTTY
SEAN O’HAIRE
SHANIQUA
SHANNON MOORE
SHELTON BENJAMIN
TAJIRI
TAZZ
TORRIE WILSON
ULTIMO DRAGON
UNDERTAKER
ZACH GOWEN

Didn’t realize they were that big, did
you? With a total roster of this size it impossible to not
have a little dead weightt isn’t it? So before we get to ending
the roster split we are going to trim off a bunch of dead
weight. The following workers will be fired
upon my hypothetical takeover of the WWE.

There we have just trimmed eighteen workers
from the roster that have either always sucked, suck now,
or have for whatever reason outlived their usefulness. I have
a feeling most people will not disagree with the cuts here.

Now that the load is a little lighter
it is maybe possible to have only one roster. Oh wait, there
are still almost ninety workers; I guess some more cuts have
to be made. These cuts may have to be explained a bit more.
Instead of doing that I am just going to talk about the workers
that I would keep.

From Raw: Batista, Booker T, Chris Benoit,
Chris Jericho, Christian, Bischoff, JR, The King, Kane, Lance
Storm, Lillian, Lita, Matt Hardy, Mick Foley, Molly, Randy
Orton, Ric Flair, Rob Van Dam, Shawn Michaels, Stone Cold,
The Hurricane, The Rock, Trish Stratus, Triple H, and Victoria.

From Smackdown!: Akio, Big Show, Brock
Lesnar, Charlie Haas, Chavo, Eddie, Edge, Jamie Noble, John
Cena, Kurt Angle, Michael Cole, Tazz, Rey, Rhyno, Shelton
Benjamin. Tajiri, Ultimo Dragon, Torrie Wilson, Dawn Marie,
and the Undertaker.

That would bring the entire roster down
to a much more manageable size of 45 workers, including the
announcers so that brings it down to an even lesser number
of 41. There are a few notables that I left out of this mix
and I plan on explaining at least the most surprising of the
eliminations.

The Dudley Boyz: They have done pretty
much all they can do and their lackluster matches as of late
are only serving to tarnish their image as a once great tag
team. Their cut, along with several others, would provide
a huge boom for the indies, most notably TNA. TNA needs the
names like these to provide some sort of viable competition
for the behemoth WWE.

Goldberg: I don’t like him at all, and
he is probably going to quit anyway.

The rest: Most of these guys really have
no place in the WWE, or rather the McMahon’s have not given
them a place. Paul London can continue wowing the independent
crowds. Kanyon can be used as a near main eventer in TNA and
other such promotions, and a lot of the younger or newer guys
are for the most part too green to be worthwhile at this stage
(see La Resistance, Jindrak and Cade, Matt Morgan, and a few
others).

There are also at least two surprises
that I kept. The Big Show and Triple H. The Big Show has proven
time and time again that when he is booked right or put in
the right situation he can get over and draw money. Triple
H is a great talent and can put on great matches if he wants
to. Of course, if he tries to politic his way through jobbing
he can be sent to the unemployment line just like that.

Now here is a breakdown of what the card
would look like given the new smaller roster.

Main Event: Brock, Triple H, Benoit,
Angle, Michaels, Jericho

Upper Midcard: Kane, ‘Taker, RVD, Cena,
Big Show, Eddie, Edge,

Mid Card: Storm, Benjamin, Haas, Orton,
Hardy, Christian, Batista, Booker, Rhyno

Cruisers: Rey, Noble, Tajiri, Hurricane,
Chavo, Ultimo, Akio

Divas: Trish, Molly, Victoria, Dawn Marie,
Torrie, Lillian, Lita

Non-Wrestlers: Stone Cold, The Rock, Bischoff,
Ric Flair, Mick Foley

The McMahons can also stick around provided
that they only appear on TV sparingly when the storyline absolutely
needs it, not one of their egos. Now the WWE wouldn’t be put
in a bind that requires them to trade workers or anything
like that. They would have one roster that most fans would
absolutely love and there would be more than enough big names
out there to actually create some viable competition which
as we have seen in the past has only made business on the
whole better.

I am not saying by any stretch would fix
all of the problems in wrestling. The brand extension has
certainly severely diluted the talent pool and has run its
course as a source of interesting television. Last week I
said that I think that the WWE should start focusing on the
smaller workers and look what happened. Benoit won the Rumble
and Eddie is going to main event No Way Out. Maybe the WWE
will listen to me for the second week in a row. I sincerely
doubt it this time, but maybe four or five months from now
there will be a ton of WWE firings to make for a better all
around wrestling world.

If
you have any questions, comments, or concerns,
feel free to e-mail me at andymac@whrwfm.org
or spin back on the moodspins message
boards.

Last 5 posts by Big Andy Mac

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