10 HUGE Problems With WWE's Raw Vs SmackDown Survivor Series Concept
3. Fan Loyalty
'What's up Milwaukee', said an unrepentant Shane McMahon in his first address on SmackDown Live! following the devastation caused by his charges on Monday Night Raw.
The crowd cheered. Milwaukee, like most other places WWE select to tour, like getting to see the product in the flesh and broadly respond well to 'Shane-O-Mac' himself. The same would have been the case if Kurt Angle had introduced Monday Night Raw there 24 hours earlier.
WWE fans (as carefully trained by WWE) are not Raw fans or SmackDown fans. They will go to the show that visits their town. In cases such as in the UK, where both brands go back-to-back in one city, many fans will attend both in order to enjoy the festival of action. Fans simply do not (nor should they) loyally follow only one show at the furious expense of another. It's an absurd way to ask audiences to behave, and a trait that passes on to talent too.
Kurt Angle will probably request and receive sympathy from the crowd on next week's Raw, but he'll get it because he's a babyface and a bonafide industry legend. Imagine Stephanie McMahon begging for similar love. Wrestling is (and always will be) about good guys and bad guys, not red ones and blue ones. Supporters should be partisan, yet this storyline forces the exact opposite.