Steve Austin On Brand Split, If There Should Be Two World Titles, WWE Not Having "Incredible Depth"
On episode 328 of The Steve Austin Show, WWE Hall Of Famer, 'Stone Cold' Steve Austin talked about WWE's upcoming brand split. During the podcast, Austin contested Vince McMahon's assertion that WWE's talent roster is very deep. Austin claimed that WWE SmackDown must be presented on equal footing as WWE Monday Night RAW. Also, Austin said that he is in favor of having the WWE World Heavyweight Champion appear on both television programs.
In the press release that announced SmackDown would be going live on Tuesday nights, McMahon indicated that part of the rationale for the change is WWE taking advantage of its deep talent roster. According to Austin, there is a difference between having a deep talent pool and having many performers under contract.
"I'm quoting Vince from the SmackDown stuff. It says, 'WWE's flagship programs will both leverage the incredible depth of our talent roster, distinct storylines, and the unpredictable nature of live TV.' Okay, lets go back to the 'incredible depth' of the talent roster. I don't see 'incredible depth'." Austin continued, "it is a lot of bodies, a lot of people, and talented people, but I don't think you can say your roster's necessarily deep. But you do have a lot of players or people they're going to try out and we'll see how they do. Are they going to make the all-star team by getting over or are they just going to be bodies that go out there and occupy time on the television screen?"
'The Texas Rattlesnake' stated that SmackDown cannot be presented as a secondary show if it is going to be successful. Austin noted that SmackDown may even become the more popular show because RAW is too long.
"The SmackDown roster can't be the minor leagues. It can't be the NXT of the big leagues." Austin said, "SmackDown could become the hotter show just because it takes less time to watch it, and, man, you know everybody has attention deficit these days, so I don't know. To me, it could have the makings of making SmackDown the hotter, more popular show."
Finally, Austin professed that the WWE World Heavyweight Champion should appear on both shows. This suggests that Austin is of the belief that the title should not be bifurcated back into the WWE Championship and the World Heavyweight Championship.
"I absolutely think that the world champion ought to travel back and forth [between RAW and SmackDown]." Austin added, "if the champion is on RAW, Reigns, who has the championship, goes to SmackDown, to me, that in and of itself creates something that I want to see."
Additionally, on the podcast, Austin discussed Cody Rhodes' future, Charlotte's RAW promo, and much more. Click here to check out the show. If you use any of the quotes from this article, please credit The Steve Austin Show with an H/T to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.
Source: The Steve Austin Show