SmackDown to become the A Show?

[AttitudeChild]

The WWE posted an article on their website today hyping the SuperSmackDown Live this Tuesday. You can read it at this link. http://www.wwe.com/shows/smackdown/25031740 .

This entire article is about Teddy Long hoping to keep SmackDown live on Tuesdays and maybe become the WWEs flagship show. It really paints the picture that Teddy Long is moving in for a full take over on the top spot in WWE television. Now I know that SmackDown will never pass RAW as the A Show because of the unrelenting support the RAW Die-Hards have , but I do think that this is the WWEs way of keeping SmackDown on the same level as RAW. No more A and B show, just two great shows with equal quality.

I for one have always preferred SmackDown to Raw and am really looking forward to this Tuesday. But what about the rest of the fans. Do you believe that SmackDown could possible surpass RAW and become the A Show. Or do you think both shows will be on the same level with no real flagship show. Or is this SuperSmackDown special just a one time thing and it will be back on Friday nights next week.

 

[TWJC: The Beginning]

No. Raw has more name recognition, is on a more watched TV channel at a more watched time on a more watched night. It'd be economically stupid for WWE to seriously consider making SD their flagship.

Smackdown can subjectively be better and can be billed as being the same, but to actually put your resources into making Smackdown the best show would be like having a Lamborghini but putting 100,000 dollars into trying to make your Lincoln Towncar faster.

 

[AttitudeChild]

No. Raw has more name recognition,

I'm going to have to disagree with you slightly on that statement. RAW has more name recognition when it comes to the fans. To the WWE Universe, RAW will forever be number one, no matter how bad the show gets. But to the people that don't really watch WWE or are just to the casual fans, SmackDown is the more familiar name. If you were talking to some one who doesn't watch wrestling and told them you were going to go watch RAW, they wouldn't fully know what you meant. But if you were to tell that person you were going to go watch SmackDown, they'd know exactly what you were talking about. Just the word SmackDown is more mainstream and more associated with professional wrestling than the word raw is. In that sense, I would have to say that SmackDown becoming to A-Show is not that far fetched.

 

[harrythem]

I'm going to have to disagree with you slightly on that statement. RAW has more name recognition when it comes to the fans. To the WWE Universe, RAW will forever be number one, no matter how bad the show gets. But to the people that don't really watch WWE or are just to the casual fans, SmackDown is the more familiar name. If you were talking to some one who doesn't watch wrestling and told them you were going to go watch RAW, they wouldn't fully know what you meant. But if you were to tell that person you were going to go watch SmackDown, they'd know exactly what you were talking about. Just the word SmackDown is more mainstream and more associated with professional wrestling than the word raw is. In that sense, I would have to say that SmackDown becoming to A-Show is not that far fetched.

You mean all those casual fans that were watching WWE during the attitude era and, without fail, resulted in raw having a higher rating than smackdown every week?

Smackdown will never be the A show for many reasons, one being because it's on a worse network.

Smackdown is a good show, more the wrestling show, but it'd take a complete revamp of the entire WWE to make it the A show. Hell, even when they gave SD Triple H, Jim Ross, Jeff Hardy et al it never came close to being as big as Raw

 

[Roodey]

I don't know that his analogy is accurate but i'll agree with TWJC that it would take a lot of investment to reverse those roles. The network and night of the week being two key issues.

I'm surprised that you think Smackdown is better recognized than RAW... I'm certain that it's the complete opposite. That would be an interesting survey to do I suppose.

 

[crippler]

Smackdown The A show would be great but 1st it would have to move networks and air live it loses alot of viewers cuz its taped and the spoilers. The stars on that show are more entertaining than most on Raw (except CM Punk and The Miz). They would have to do a play by play change to get the fans into the show I say get rid of Booker T bring back JBL and keep cole only on smackdown and make him lose his heel personality its not working. They have line up that would make it work but still have to do alot of changes for it to happen.

 

[Bill.]

I don't think SD will become the "A show", but I sense that this article is going to be part of a brand warfare storyline. I always loved those. The one from 2005 was great to me.

 

[The Future Rises]

I don't think Smackdown can ever be the A show especially with the way Orton has been carrying it as the top face. It's just that nowadays everytime I watch him he just bores me to sleep. Orton doesn't really work as a brand's top babyface. But he can do a hell of a job when he's the brand's top heel. I remember watching his heel Viper character on Raw 2009 he was so much more entertaining than he is now.

Now I'm not complaining and saying he needs a heel turn. I'm just saying Smackdown needs another top babyface to take it to the next level.

Chris Jericho returning with his babyface character on Smackdown would not only boost the ratings. But it would also mean that Smackdown's main event picture is finally watchable again. A Chris Jericho Vs Christian feud for the world title would be gold in my opinion. Especially if their past history gets mentioned and hell you can even get Trish Stratus a role in the feud that would be good too.

 

[Jack-Hammer]

I don't think it's likely to happen at all. It's just Teddy Long hyping the blue brand like he's supposed to.

Raw is always going to be the "A show" in the collective consciousness of people because it's been around the longest. That's all the reason that it needs. Raw has generally been the show that's gotten all the attention because it's the show that most people have associated with WWE. That has a lot to do with the fact that Raw has often aired live as opposed to SmackDown! being taped.

If SmackDown! were to move to Tuesdays and start airing live on a regular basis, it'd probably still be thought of as a "B show" due to airing on Syfy. Raw has been a consistent powerhouse on USA and USA is the highest rated cable network on television. USA is just a much stronger and overall more prestigious network than Syfy, even though they're both owned by NBC Universal.

 

[XXJJ]

Raw will always be the premier show. They are on the better channel and day. They even spend one or two segments recapping Raw on Smackdown.

I think SD a lot of times have the better wrestling matches. Raw has the more interesting storylines. SD is missing a lot of star power too. They just have Orton right now.

They could do some stuff to make SD better. Better storylines (like they used to have), make it live on Tuesday, and use some of the underutilized guys on Raw. But I dont think it will ever overtake Raw. They are on freakin scyfy lol.

 

[poppycock]

Aslong as both shows continue to grow on an entertainment level I don't personally view either as the A or B show.. just the early days of what will hopefully once again be anticipating edge of your seat pro wrestling entertainment that the WWE do better than anybody else. I like aspects of both Raw and Smackdown just as I dislike certain things about both shows. Both shows have great potential in roster form and I look foward to seeing how each will develop.

Saying that though for many reasons Raw is the flagship show and I can't see that changing anytime soon.

 

[Dolph Ziggler]

wwe needs to devolop another top face and make randy orton heel! cmon heel orton > cm punk many ways! but there isn't any other wrestler who can carry the face role other then christian

 

[KitInaka]

I see this as others have said as evening the shows. Live is always gonna get more viewership then taped. Also, I think that the superstar work better when the show is live. With a taped show if something goes wrong it can be edited and fixed later, with a live show however, everything has to be spot on. With that in the back of your head, it make a person want to preform at double the level.

 

[Mr.Fortuna]

With some roster tweeks and the show moving live it could very well work out. I think Miz, rtruth and Morrison should all move to SD

 

[Hunted-RKO]

Its unlikely that it will ever become the A-Show due to the network its on which RAW is on a more watched network,even if SD! does have the better wrestling matches it will never surpass RAW.Well anytime soon anyway.WWE are actually seeing how well SD goes and if it goes well with ratings then they might move the SD spot to tuesdays and they will go live aswell.But there on SYFY which lowers there ratings and take in the fact that RAW is more entertaining to watch because of its more edgyness programes going on,compare to SD where its normally the same stuff going on.RAW has more starpower aswell.But if they are both doing well then I don't consider any brand the A Or B Show,they should be a equal level.

 

[WZ's Apprentice]

Not likely that Smackdown will become the A show so to speak, or even go live every week for that matter. Although i would love to see it go live on a weekly basis and it would lead to me and many others to watch it on a more regular basis. Its something about a pre-taped show that yells lame to me. Back around 2003-2004 i enjoyed Smackdown as much or more so then Raw. So live vs taped isn't really the issue for me, its more about substance. I watch Smack Down 1-2 times a month and watch Raw on a regular basis as well as many others do. Its not set in stone that Raw is the main show but it does have a hold on that title that wouldn't be easy to break.

 

[Dagger Dias]

Smackdown has had specials before so this is really nothing new. It will never surpass Raw as the flagship brand because it will never catch up to Raw in terms of prestige or historical moments. Fans prefer the red brand even though Smackdown has the better roster and has delivered consistently better shows for a couple of years now. Super Smackdown is not going to change Smackdown into the flagship brand. However it could be a test run to see if the show might move to a live format on tuesdays. Most fans would enjoy that. It will continue to be the B show for a while though.

 

[4realpeoples]

In my opinion SmackDown provides the better product when it comes to wrestling. If I want to see great matches I'd pick SmackDown over Raw any day of the week. Raw is where WWE puts most of their focus and time. Raw is the program where they put their biggest names on (John Cena, CM Punk, Triple H) and the only reason Orton is on SmackDown is because he asked to be there. Raw is the program that WWE promotes more and says that it is the "flagship show". I don't hold either show above the other and I don't believe in the "A-show"/"B-show" idea but when it comes to the WWE, Raw has been, is, and will always be their top priority. SmackDown will just have to continie to take the backseat to Raw.

 

[Jessie Lynn DivaGirl]

I like this idea actually. It's neat. Besides, if we have two A shows then the WWE will be able to show off more wrestlers.

I think. Haven't been on in a while. Out of the groove of good thinking.

I dislike having Raw as the show to watch because they show off the same people every single week (but I like the new tag champs; go Evan!!) where as Smackdown kind of does the same thing but they have more talent. Which is weird because they have the smaller roster. Let's just see how this Super Smackdwn goes and take it from there.

*starts to pop the popcorn*