Mirror Mirror on the...Creative Team?

[klunderbunker]

Raw gets a new heel stable, Smackdown gets a new heel stable.

Raw's top face gets beaten down before the title match, Smackdown's top face gets beaten down before the title match.

Raw has a gimmick match for the world title on free TV, Smackdown has a gimmick match for the world title on free TV.

These are just a few current examples of things that are the same on Raw and the same on Smackdown but with different people doing them. This has been the situation for years on and off and my question is this: does having the same story on both shows make things boring, or is it a good thing?

 

[Ferbian]

I really think it comes down to how it's handled, as well as how often it's handled.

Let's look at the gimmick matches - The last man standing match on Smackdown was pretty highly praised as one of the better ones in a long period of time. And on the other hand the RAW falls counts anywhere match wasn't considered bad by many people either.

The Nexus storyline on RAW right now is the one with the most potential, and I think it's where the primary focus will be lying, however I cannot say that I'm not gonna be intrigued by the whole idea of having Wade, Slater and Gabriel on Smackdown, especially if there's a returning Skip Sheffield in the mixture.

Overall I think it's been handled fairly well to the extend that it's something I would consider passable, and therefore not something I would consider boring, or lazy booking or what not. Because right now it seems to be working out fine for WWE creative, there's hardly any signs of something bad coming out of this. But of course we can't really judge properly.. Yet. Because let's not forget that the "Blue Nexus" still needs to actually make a proper impact before it can be considered anything noteworthy. As well as the fact that obviously on the surface it just screams to be one big duplication of storylines - Yet there's no saying that it actually will end up like that.

For now, I'm a little torn whether it's a good thing or a bad thing, but I'd say I'm still intrigued by it all, and interested in what's to come.

 

[Miss DFW]

Was at the taping for Smackdown tonight here in Tulsa. And I don't know why its always smackdown coming to town, but it was one of the most disappointing live shows I've ever been to. Doing a double Nexus is just being lazy,,but better than the leprechaun BS. Rather spent the 30 bucks for a good burger and a couple pints of Guinness, and ran threw a bad show on my dvr in 15 min.

 

[Hulk Hogan's Brother]

It certainly does not become boring if only the storylines on both the show are the same. It depends on how each individual show is handled. That is the same case now. I feel that Raw has been excellently booked while Smackdown has been rather poorly booked.

On Raw the main storyline is a very refreshing and unique one. The heel who proclaims himself as the epitome of perfection is questioning the morals of the guy who is questioning the morals of the man whom the crowd proclaims as the epitome of perfection. The formation of the Punk led Nexus might have been unneccesary but its an interesting developement nonetheless. The Miz/ Orton storyline makes sense as well despite it being nothing out of the ordinary. The Miz/Morrison match was, in my opinion, better than the last man standing match and a great way to start of the new year.

On Smackdown, its just Dolph Ziggler winning a No 1 contenders match to challenge Edge for the championship. No intriguing storyline here. The "Blue" Nexus attacked Big Show only to make an impact, just like every other stable in pro wrestling history. The Del Rio/ Mysterio feud is not something out of this world either.

So the booking might be similar but Raw is far more interesting than Smackdown currently.

 

[MizterColemine]

Not to mention, those episodes of Raw and Smackdown the other weeked that had a similar pattern was merely a PPV-type TV week in order to reshuffle some rivalries, have an optimal broadcast to attract fans for the new year in WWE, and to hold us over until Royal Rumble which isn't until the end of the month. It's been done before, nothing new or really special, just some extra. Nothing to fuss about.

 

[The Raven's Epitaph]

This has been the situation for years on and off and my question is this: does having the same story on both shows make things boring, or is it a good thing?

It's a 50/50 situation really. As usual in the Wrestling, you can't cater to everybody, so there's always going to be one person that disagrees with the programming in one way or another.

Personally, I think having the same generic layout for both shows isn't really a good idea. Everybody has their personal favor of both Raw and Smackdown, so when you watch one of them, and hope for something different on the other, it just doesn't happen because of the same show scheme. I understand that it's not going to be completely identical to the other show, what with different superstars etc. But it's still there.

I don't think it's a good idea. But like I say, it's 50/50.

I mean, wasn't the whole concept of the brand extension to have two brands compete against eachother for brand supremacy? Or did they just scrap that concept to add Bragging Rights, another pointless pay per view to the already clustered calander?

 

[RicSpade]

Think about it this way ladies and gentlemen, Vince has had some poor ratings for Smackdown since coming to SYFY, so why not give them a little free PPV-TV? Honestly I was hoping that JOMO and Miz would be the main event at Rumble instead of Miz and Orton, but the WWE is trying to tread on safe water here by keeping atleast one main event star left on the main event. But in essence break this down they need heels bad on Smackdown, Vickie is the most over heel on either show, so why not push Dolph as a springboard?

Then you have New Nexus forming on RAW and the whatever the hell Wade Barrett is calling his group. I don't think this was lazy, people felt the new members of Nexus weren't getting put over I mean I haven't really seen Husky or Mcgullicutty have a match except for the tag team bout with John Cena. So why not put them under Punk and move Barrett? Slater and Gabriel were really the only members of Nexus doing anything, Otunga just ran his mouth, so why not keep them with Barrett and give Barrett new muscle. Now if you want to get to lazy if these 4 men come out with shirts with Big Squares with another letter in them, then yeah I will call this one lazy because well thats just not creative.

As far as your Face gets beaten down theory think about this when it comes to the world title pictures, what options do you really have to build a match between 2 guys? Promos, Matches, Run Ins, Beat downs, and Failed Run ins and beat downs I mean when you think about it you are either guaranteed to see one if not all of these going into a match or a feud sometimes its coincidental that it happens that way on both shows, sometimes its not but regardless in the wrestling world rarely do you find another way to think out of the box for this. I mean personally I would like to see them say one time hey your main event for the ppv will be _____ vs _____ and have no build for the match what so ever between two guys, I think the only time that ever happened Morrison took on Punk because of Benoit not coming to the PPV....

So yeah sometimes it mirrors out that way, but really I think its a matter of drawing those in of "Man that was a good show, I wonder if they have anything like that on Smackdown" and having to live up to the last shows expectations, as opposed to "hey I feel like I seen this on Raw on Monday"

 

[Jack-Hammer]

As others have said, I think a lot of it depends upon how the situation is handled and who exactly is involved with what.

On Raw, CM Punk being in charge of Nexus is a good thing in my view. He's reenergized the group and lends a degree of credibility that Wade Barrett simply can't match at this time. I also think that there's at least a possibility that the current members of the group have a better chance of being elevated themselves with Punk as leader instead of Barrett.

On SmackDown!, Barrett's faction has a lot of people asking questions and the debut of the group was really well done. All four members contribute something unique to the small, fledgling group and, to me, it potentially can be an overall more well rounded group than Nexus has been. Of course, it's still extremely early but the interest is high at the moment.

On Raw, you have possibly the most talked about WWE Champion to come about in a long time in The Miz. Whether you like him or hate him, he's generated a lot of renewed interest in the Raw main event scene and that's always a good thing.

On SmackDown!, you have a young & talented guy like Dolph Ziggler become #1 contender for the World Heavyweight Championship. Is it as intriguing as the two major storylines on Raw right now? Not really, but it's always very refreshing to see a young talent like Ziggler get pushed into a big time feud with a legit main eventer.

It hasn't struck me as examples of lazy booking or anything because everything just feels fresh to me. It has me interested in seeing what's going to happen next and, realistically speaking, I think that's the best that can really be hoped for or expected. Not everything has to have an epic feel to it or be "groundbreaking" in order for it to be entertaining and being entertained is what's most important to me as a fan.

 

[MizterColemine]

It hasn't struck me as examples of lazy booking or anything because everything just feels fresh to me. It has me interested in seeing what's going to happen next and, realistically speaking, I think that's the best that can really be hoped for or expected. Not everything has to have an epic feel to it or be "groundbreaking" in order for it to be entertaining and being entertained is what's most important to me as a fan.

Agree with this person, for he is correct (IMO of course).
I think another related argument in the case of these sporadic pushes of rookies and mid-carders is that WWE is taking a formula and applying it to every legitimate variable. Legitimate variable meaning the new guys/mid carders with optimum potential and formula meaning push. Belts have been changing hands over the past year or more and new main eventers have come (Sheamus), and gone (Swagger). They're searching for the guys that will be the go-to guys to back up Cena and Orton when the Attitude Era Alumni are gone. In the words of Jack-Hammer, they're going for fresh. So this is an exciting time for WWE and it should be for its fans, because we get to see who is going to work (Morrison? Ziggler?) and who is going to back to the mid card (or straight up canned) in the next year or so... So we should give the benefit of the doubt when it comes to issues of one show mirroring the other, because WWE has been in a transitional phase.
On the other hand, the point I made in my last post to this thread still applies, about the WWE conducting PPV-like broadcasts at the midway point between two PPVs that are far apart, and leading to a major show like RR. Not to mention it was the first full week of the year and they wanted to do it big.