Calling All Talent: Smackdown

[GI Cake]

It's no surprise that Smackdown normally gets the short end of the stick when it comes to the roster. And its fine, the show doesn't get the ratings Monday Night Raw does. So naturally you want to put your star power on the flagship show. But the WWE make sure Smackdown still has plenty of talent to help put over the younger talent. Currently the top stars are the Heavyweight champion, Daniel Bryan, Randy Orton, Cody Rhodes, Sheamus, Big Show, and Mark Henry. But other than that, the show has absolutely no talent breaking through to become a star. Even the top dogs like Randy Orton and Mark Henry are injured and can't compete in of the biggest PPV's the Chamber.

Just take a look at the guys currently in the Chamber if you need further evidence the Smackdown Roster is short handed, you have Santino replacing Randy Orton in the chamber, and you have The Great Kahli. Then you have the IC Champ, Cody Rhodes. He wants to bring the title back to its former glory, but since their isn't enough talent to fill the chamber, you need to put Rhodes in. But that goes without saying on how much of talent Rhodes is. Than you have Wade Barrett, he is still a decent mid-card heel, but he lost way to much heat since his days as the Nexus leader. Smack down needs more talent. weather it be returning guys like Christian, and Randy Orton.

How would you solve the Superstar problem in Smackdown:

 

[JVel]

Bringing the Miz over to Smackdown in the next draft would be a great addition to the roster while also breathing some new life into his character. Christian is expected to be back at any point would put some much needed star power back on the SD roster. There's also Drew Mcintyre that could be on the receiving end of the push once his losing streak angle ends. Then there's the possible soon to debut Ryback which could be a fit on either show...

Smackdown is weak right now due to injuries and such but I think it will be a whole lot stronger in the next few months, esp once we get Christian and Mcintyre back into the picture and the draft occuring.

 

[#BestInTheWorld]

Smackdown is very weak right now, especially for faces. Off the top of my head, the only active faces I can think of are Sheamus, and the Big Show, Randy Orton of course, but really, there's no other big face.

I think Christian should be a face when he returns, purely because of the sheer amount of heels already on Smackdown, but apart from him, who else could be a good face? Justin Gabriel is probably the next best idea, or Alex Riley, i've always liked this kid, he seems to have the right look about him, just needs a decent gimmick, nothing crazy, just something to move him away from everyone else, along with some time on the mic.

In star power overall the roster is weak, Randy Orton, the second or third biggest face of the WWE depending where you put CM Punk. I think The Miz should move over, because he's been stuck lately, or maybe R-Truth, because another face that's over with the crowd is definitely needed.

 

[The Hardcore Kid]

Well, I think your'e way off base saying Wade Barrett has lost steam and is just a mid-card heel. The dude is money, and will be a huge part of the WWE for years and years to come. I easily buy him as a top level talent.

You're also forgetting Christian. He'll be back very soon and is a top veteran for SmackDown. Once he comes back I think it will open up a lot of doors for feuds and storylines.

As for what I'd do...I think it seems pretty obvious that The Miz is sort of lost in the shuffle on RAW right now. I think moving him to SmackDown would give SD some star power and another major player, while rejuvenating Miz's career. He can be great given the right tools, and on SmackDown I think he could really shine.

 

[Str8Edge]

I agree on everything you said except for one thing. Barrett has definitely gained more heat than before. He took the ball and ran with it. Sure he might not be a main event superstar just yet but he's not far. Randy has been a big reason for his push to the moon. Moreover, they have the talent but when you have guys like Christian, Randy, Henry, Rey, Del Rio (hate him or love him), and Sin Cara getting injured you'll see that gap in their roster. They have Sheamus, Rhodes, Barrett, Show, Bryan who are healthy. They have some mediocre wrestlers in Drew, Ryback, those two guys from fcw who are soon to debut, Dibiase, etc but they don't even utilize them to their fullest who would be a way better replacement than Khali or Santino.

 

[Syborgg]

Just one more reason to end the brand extention. Since Raw has been using the "Supershow" concept I've been hoping that they will slowly fade out the brand extention and just have one big WWE roster again. I realize people are going to say that ending the brand split means that we'll see even more of Cena and what not, but that doesn't have to be the case. Since Raw is always live and it's considered the 'A' show, then Raw should focus on the main event scene and the fueds surrounding it. That leaves Smackdown to focus on the mid-card and hopefully give some more exposure to the tag-team scene. Kind of the way WCW ran Nitro and Thunder respectively.

End the brand extention and unify the WHC and WWE championships. This would garner more importance for the U.S. and I.C. titles and solve the imbalance in the rosters at the same time.

 

[kidmetal24]

Alot of the big discussions and statements are to move guys in the draft like Miz and Truth to Smackdown. I think SD! needs to utilize the talent they have. Time to take Drew Mcntyre and turn him face. We need to step up Justin Gabriel and make him an upper mid card/ main event transitional champion too. Kinda like Smackdown's version of Kofi Kingston. Cody needs to be in the main event picture soon and Wade Barrett and Sheamus are long over due to be main event PPV contenders. Now I agree with the Sheamus Royal Rumble win, but it was only to curve what we all expected to be Jericho or Orton to win and not because it was planned. Time to step up Trent Baretta and drop the dead weight such as Jinder Mahal, Kahli, and Big Zeke. There are so many FCW guys who can step up and do a way better job than those hacks. Lastly for god sake, PLEASE QUIT TRYING TO PUT SANTINO MORELLA IN MAIN EVENT PPV MATCHS. There is other Smackdown talent waiting for their time.

 

[Khaosom]

SmackDown needs more appeal. They have no one right now worth watching. Bryan sucks as a heel, Wade Barrett will end up becoming another version or William Regal within the year. There is no one on the roster worth a push except maybe Rhodes, Dibiase, and McIntyre. As for Christian returning to the roster, honestly with the angles he's good at working that's not a good thing, bring in some FCW/RoH blood, revamp the roster to where it's the proving ground for young competitors, make the tag titles more a title instead of a mockery, and face it bring in some real wrestling women.

 

[dotty_84]

How do you solve the superstar problem on Smackdown?

Simple, get creative to write and come up with good storylines for upcoming talent, having these guys get over established guys or come close enough without winning that makes them look great. If WWE put as much effort into every other belt as they do like when they create story lines for Cena PPV buys would get better. I'm not hating on Cena it's just this piss poor perspective WWE have, thank god Punk had his chance to shine last year or WWE would be a hell of a lot worse than it is now.

 

[undyinglylty]

it is such a shame that smackdown has so much talent on their brand that is being wasted right now.smackdown needs to up the anty when it comes to their roster. right now, the top contenders on sd is bryan,show,barrett,sheamus,rhodes,and of course, orton.wat they need to do is to PUSH some superstars, such as, justin gabriel,ted dibiase,turn trent baretta and tyson kidd into a tag team for all i know.wat they should also do is that since they have a few cruiserweights,they should bring back the cruiserweight championship,bring in some real ass wrestling women,and focus on the young talent that they have,because if this keeps up, then the younger talent won't be able to shine.

 

[XXJJ]

They been hit hard with injuries. They lost the face of SD (Orton) and the two top heels (Christian & Henry). Its a thin roster so when you lose those 3 it hurts. If you replace Khalil/Santino with Orton/Christian you get a completely different chamber match.

They need to improve storylines. Look at Gabriel vs Swagger tonight. They heard crickets at the elimination chamber because they had no storyline. Every match on a ppv should have some sort of storyline. If fans dont have some vested interest in the match these midcarders will never get over.

If they gave some of these midcarders better storylines that could potentially fix some of smackdown's problems. Another thing they should do is try to build up the tag division on Smackdown. Since they dont have time on Raw for that, have Smackdown feature tag team wrestling.

 

[IHW]

I think i disagree. Smackdown has all kinds of great main event talent.
Rhodes, Christian, Henry, Orton, Barret, Sheamus, Big Show, Daniel Bryan (Technically Taker is on the SD! Roster.)

Then you have McIntyre, Zeke, Gabriel, Ted. D., Cara, Hunico, and others holding the mid card.

I think Del Rio and Miz both need to be drafted to SD! and then send a few SD! heels to Raw to shake things up. But i like the SD! roster.

 

[keith hall]

Del Rio and Miz are raw's greatest heels right now...I mean who would't want to give Miz a chance to brag about lasting longest in a major match 2 PPV's in a row...

But last night was something different from Del Rio...did you notice that he was in a segment filled with SMACKDOWN superstars...(John Laryngitis was there too...but remember he was trying to GM both shows so...)...any way Del Rio obviously is trying to hint at something there...

 

[Da Solo]

The problem isn't really a lack of talent. It's a lack of booking strategies. There's been a lot of injuries that almost crippled the brand. Orton, the brands top face arguably, has been constantly injured in 2011. Christian, the biggest heel of SD! until Mark Henry and DBD, has been out for a lengthy amount of time too. Henry is still on air, but significantly slowing down. And Sin Cara (love him or hate him) is probably the biggest midcard face on the brand, so injuring him really put the IC title scene in a frenzy.

WWE should have used this time to build up some more stars, and they did with Bryan, Santino and the tag champs, but their midcard scene is atrocious. There is no big midcard face to dethrone Rhodes and let him go ME, which is why he's just floating around the ME with the title anyway. The only midcard faces that are even relevant at all are Dibiase, Zeke, and Gabriel, yet Rhodes beat all of them already. Hunico is getting there, but he's a heel, and I don't think WWE even wants to attempt to turn either face or do the heel/heel rivalry. My top choice was Brodus Clay, but they took him off TV for whatever reason, and plus I think he's really on RAW (but you can never tell with the Supershows nowadays).

 

[Jack-Hammer]

For a long time, SmackDown! has generally been seen as sort of a training ground for Raw. You'll notice that, eventually, every guy who makes it big over on SD! is moved over to Raw. At the same time, however, the brand extension exists in name only right now as stars from both brands frequently pop up on the other show.

CM Punk, The Miz, Del Rio, Kofi Kingston, Dolph Ziggler, etc. are all guys who really made their names on SD! first before heading over to Raw. Sometimes, big stars will be moved from Raw to SD! to give the show some star power or as a means of providing a fresh start. Take a look at Randy Orton, Sheamus, Big Show & Mark Henry for examples of that happening.

Some Raw talent will be heading to SD! during the Draft. I'd say that Miz & Del Rio will both head back to the blue brand as both of them are in need of a fresh start. Like them or not, they're big stars.

Also, I have to address how SmackDown! isn't using young guys properly. Exactly how do Bryan & Rhodes not qualify as young guys? Bryan is only 31 years old, Cody Rhodes is just 26 and both of them are hot heel champions right now. Wade Barrett is only in his very early 30s also and they've generally gotten back on track with him over on SD!. They've used a veteran like Big Show to help get Daniel Bryan over as a heel in a short span of time. Randy Orton has had an interesting feud with Barrett in which Barrett has walked away with some decisive victories. More of the same old whining and complaining, meaning the WWE isn't doing what you think they should do.

 

[Ithil]

I think i disagree. Smackdown has all kinds of great main event talent.
Rhodes, Christian, Henry, Orton, Barret, Sheamus, Big Show, Daniel Bryan (Technically Taker is on the SD! Roster.)

Then you have McIntyre, Zeke, Gabriel, Ted. D., Cara, Hunico, and others holding the mid card.

I think Del Rio and Miz both need to be drafted to SD! and then send a few SD! heels to Raw to shake things up. But i like the SD! roster.

But they aren't holding the mid card. That's the problem. McIntyre, Zeke and Gabriel are jobbers, Sin Cara is injured. That leaves your entire mid card as Ted DiBiase and Hunico (and it shows, they've been having endless matches for over a month now).

It's going to be absolute disaster over the course of this year as the last of the rising mid carders head to the main event (that being Sheamus, Cody, Barrett and Bryan) permanently, and some will go to RAW. When that happens, the mid card is going to collapse. I think they've gotten wind of that at long last recently, and are scrambling to have DiBiase, Hunico and Gabriel on TV more, but even then they're obviously panicking as the likes of Gabriel just lose all the time and DiBiase and Hunico have no one to face but each other.

Their hope now is to take the next six months and really try to build up the low card guys like Gabriel as credible mid carders, take some talent from RAW, and of course, get some of the great talent they have waiting in FCW right now. If they don't do something about it now, the mid card will be a black hole come summer.