Last Night's Live SD!: Why It Won't Go Live Regularly

[Jack-Hammer]

Generally speaking, last night's episode of SD! wasn't that great. Aside from the Orton vs. Henry match & Piper's Pit segment, there just wasn't really anything of particular note going on. It wasn't as bad as the live SD! that took place around Valentine's Day, but I think most people would agree that last night's show was still disappointing. Both Raw & SD! were overall lackluster this week except for a couple of segments, I'm thinking it's because WWE wanted to give the talent a bit of a breather after an exhausting WM season and upcoming European tour.

The early numbers for last night's show are in and they're not good. The show drew an average of 2,248,000 viewers, making it the least watched episode of SD! in a very long while, certainly since they came to Syfy and is somewhere around 750,000-800,000 less than what the show has been drawing overall since late last summer. With the exception of the first live SD! special on Syfy, the taped episodes that are shown on Fridays have either drawn as well or outdrawn the live episodes. Shows like Deadliest Catch, Justified, episodes of The Big Bang Theory on TBS and shows like Sons of Anarchy returning this fall are extremely heavy competition for SD!. With Raw being so lackluster this week, it probably also hurt the SD! audience this week too.

I've just read a lot of posts asking why WWE doesn't put SD! on live as it does with Raw and I think the numbers have explained why. WWE can run SD! taped on Fridays cheaper than it can live on Tuesdays and usually draws a significantly higher viewership. Also, in my view, WWE puts too much emphasis on whatever theme is scheduled for the live SD! specials. During the Christmas holidays, for example, there was way too much focus put on the "holiday party" backstage, Santa Claus and various holiday related comedy. Same thing with the Valentine's Day episode and, overall, sorta the same with the legends last night. In my opinion, SD! does just fine when they focus on putting out good promo segments, good storyline progression & good matches.

 

[2Sweet_4Life]

WHY WON'T IT GO LIVE?
After last night im not sure how many people would care much for it because i wouldn't, last night was something they would give to prisoners as punishment.

 

[2Sweet_4Life]

I mean WTF was i watching? I was sitting there watching guys who retired before SD! even begun. If it was old school SD! Why was it the same stage. Last night had to be the WORST wrestling show i have EVER seen.

 

[bittermang]

One thing to consider is the matter of regularity, and getting the word out.

If you keep flip flopping what time of the week your show is on, people won't be able to find it. That will lead directly to a decrease in ratings, across the board. Fortunately when they do air a live Smackdown, they air the replay in its normal time slot so people who were caught unaware don't miss it completely that week.

The only notice I saw of a Live Smackdown was the commercials on Raw on Monday. If I had missed Raw, I'd never know.

 

[TBK]

To be fair, this is easily one of the worst advertised live Smackdowns ever. They didn't announce it until RAW went on, it was only mentioned once and the RAW itself it was shown on didn't do that well of a rating anyways. WWE's marketers are the ones to blame for this one.

 

[remyx]

Not to mention the fact that what usually goes on over on superstars and NXT is better than smack down anyways. Back in the early 2000's they had a roster the same size and seemed to get double the amount of people on a show and have something to do... now they can't even scrape two weeks worth of original content together. Its just rehashed matches, stalled story lines, no character development and no real effort. They wonder why they don't get anywhere near the ratings they used to... as much as id like to place blame on the whole 'new media' rubbish.. its simply because its not as good.

AND IT CAN BE!

 

[Skairipa Matrix]

i had high hopes for "old school" smackdown as old school raw was pretty good but this was just bad the ONLY thing i liked from last night was kane laying out orton and cowboy bob backstage as it could actullay add something more to their fued with orton being pissed about kane taking out his father....i missed pipers pit so maybe that was good but i cant judge i missed the segment but those numbers seem horrible and from what i saw...smackdown was too

 

[WWEIsLife2]

To be fair, this is easily one of the worst advertised live Smackdowns ever. They didn't announce it until RAW went on, it was only mentioned once and the RAW itself it was shown on didn't do that well of a rating anyways. WWE's marketers are the ones to blame for this one.

Actually they did mention on last week's Smackdown so your wrong on that. Last night was fine and it was cool seeing the Legends come back for another night. Somebody said most of them they had retired before SD even began,well most of them had retired as well before RAW began so whats your point? And some of them were on the Old School RAW also.

I also really get tired of people always comparing the Late 90s-Early 2000s Roster to today's sometimes. Oh the Roster was stacked back then but today its not,just stop already. They still have plenty of people to fill out a 2Hr Show from what ive seen.

 

[#BabyFace]

I like many of you were dissappointed at Last Nights show.

My first thing is why as it called SUPER SmackDown? There were NO RAW superstars as I was dissapointed.

The show just felt like a reunion for the past superstars and it felt like the writers were more like a thank you show and remembering the past.

But hey, when criticizing a show, I always like to point out the good in it too.

-We got A fantastic promo is the Piper's Pit by Daniel Bryan and of course Rowdy Roddy Piper (Piper is one legend I dont mind seeing because he is one of the best on the mic and doesnt take time from the show, instead furthers fueds with great promos)

-Mark Henry got another cheap win but still got the win and I feel like something big is happening with Henry. What if he DOES win the title on raw? Unlikely? Yes. But many of us didnt think he would win the World Title from Orton.

- We also got a good part in the fued of Kane/Orton with the use of Bob Orton.

 

[DeathClutch]

Last nights Smackdown failed because expectations where high for old school and WWE pretty much gave us a normal edition of SD with a handful of legends, when they did old school RAW they went out all the way to make it authetic and last night was nothing of the sort.

 

[IHW]

SD! cannot go live because WWE doesn't put enough time into it.

If they would have cared more about the Super SmackDown Live then it would have been good. It had potential.

I think they need to capitalize on guys like Daniel Bryan, Cody Rhodes, and Sheamus, but at the same time keep some focus on more established guys like Orton, Kane, and Henry. They need to find a happy medium between current stars and future stars.

 

[Leviticus]

I don't really see a need for it to go live. I like having the shows spread out through the week. Unless they put the amount of effort into smack down as they do raw im perfectly fine with it staying on Friday nights.

 

[OneTooManyPunts]

From a cost perspective alone, it's smarter to keep taping Smackdown, then it would be to air it live.

The biggest problem WWE would have now, is that Smackdown has become an established program for Friday nights. Friday night is usually known as the 'death slot' for a lot of networks to send shows they want to cancel, or try to phase out without much notice. Smackdown to the contrary, is a show WWE has been able to establish on Friday nights, and while the ratings are far from spectacular when compared to Raw, it's still far about much of what is out there on other networks during the time slot(s).

Being able to have a show that can pull in lower ratings, yet still be considered a success is a blessing, not even so much in disguise for WWE, and keeping it pre-taped only adds to the benefits.

Also, the live Smackdowns, in my opinon, have almost always seemed to fail to deliver when it comes to quality, this past Tuesday's being a prime example. Too often it's saddled by a gimmick or theme, and the entire episode simply feels disposable. Going live, on a different night, is risky enough given the major network competiton, but trying to lure in new viewers, or convince existing viewers to tune in when they may be used to watching something else, but adding in a episode that is lackluster, or not in the general canon of the brand is worse. It insults loyal fans, and keeps pedestrian fans at arms length. Fans that may not watch now, but did when they were younger probably aren't going to be too enthused. Seeing visibly aged talent from the years ago when they may have watched makes the WWE as a whole seem like a promotion that hasn't progressed at all in 10-20 years.

This weeks live Smackdown was really the worst live edition I've seen since the move to Syfy. Coming off of Wrestlemania, and an extremely hot Raw the week before, it simply felt out of place. Fans want to see where things are leading in to Extreme Rules, not Gene Okerlund in a match with Sheamus. It demeans Sheamus as a threatening or credible champion, and makes the brand as a whole seem more like a two hour comedy routine gone bad.

If WWE wants to make the investment needed to ever go full on live with Smackdown every week, they need to end the Raw Supershow concept, re-establish the concept of established brands, and give Smackdown the weight it should have. Until then, it's best left on Friday nights, where it can benefit from the marvels of the editing room, and the benefits of a night and time slot that sees little in the way of strong competition.

 

[Charlesworth]

I mean WTF was i watching? I was sitting there watching guys who retired before SD! even begun. If it was old school SD! Why was it the same stage. Last night had to be the WORST wrestling show i have EVER seen.

Think calm blue ocean, calm blue ocean, calm blue ocean.


Smackdown needs to be legit. They need to make it legit. I think it should be moved to Wednesdays, and the USA Network and made live everyweek. You would take Smackdown so much more seriously. Now with Teddy out and Johnny in they need to take advantage on the interest in Smackdown.

 

[Isaac Kaye]

I thought this was an average episode, but fairly entertaining all the same. I think the whole live idea could work perfectly well if they actually put a bit more effort into promoting it. I seriously didn't know it was a legends show until it started!

I like the fact the crowd reaction was genuine. All the layered heat they put over the taped episodes is horrendous - in fact it seriously insults the viewer. (same for Superstars) I thought the wrestling was average, although Henry and Orton put on another good match, but suffered from another crappy non-finish. Surely somebody got counted out first?

The use of Legends was pretty good. Rhodes and Piper did a great job of getting more heat on Cody and Bryan respectively, and they furthered their feuds to some extent. The Pipers Pit wasn't amazing but I thought they all cut good promos. AJ is really underrated and does a terrific job of selling a storyline. I could have done without the Hacksaw and Slaughter segment with Hunico and Camacho. Michael Cole tore into legends all night with cheap geriatric jokes which weren't all that funny.

I see no reason why the live show can't work. I'm not sure Tuesday is the best, the day after RAW - and a days worth of advertising is not sufficient. They should definitely insert a title match, or something similar that will attract more viewers. Something like the Pipers Pit should be plugged heavily, and at least a week in advance.

Quite frankly, it doesn't seem like E care too much about SD anyway, or they would be placing much more emphasis in relation to RAW. With this whole RAW Supershow the brand split has turned into a bit of a farce anyway.

 

[HWFchamp02]

It was terrible! I was actually excited though at first. I had heard that a good portion of the roster had gone to Russia for some live events and thought that we would get a few legend v legend matches. Maybe some special surprises along the way. Instead it was really bad. Maybe one of the worst I have seen in a long time. I think the draft will help SD! a lot this year, but they have to stop doing all this BS like having The 3 Stooges and Legends as special guests. It is hurting the product and turning off a lot of fans.

 

[brockrockomglol]

It was a terrible show like everyone said! Besides, with it out of the blue being a legends throwback night, we all kinda knew what to expect. Does anyone else get the feeling they have these shows just to feed the ego of these legends and keep them from leaving backstage? Also, it's always the same people. Mae Young, Slaughter, Hackshaw, Piper. Hell, we see piper more than we see HHH and undertaker combined it feels like. All in all, i blame this particular show as being the reason the ratings are low, and not on the time slot/day. Give us sufficient advertising for it, some build to it perhaps, and let's see if it doesn't do better. I think it would.