Press Release: SmackDown! To Air Live 8-30-11

[Jack-Hammer]

http://www.gerweck.net/2011/08/18/live-smackdown-special-announced/

The title and the link pretty much say it all. On August 30th, which is a Tuesday, Syfy will air a special episode of SmackDown! live for the first time. The event is being called "Super SmackDown! Live" and will originate from the Intrust Bank Arena in Wichita, Kansas.

I'm not really sure why they're airing a live special but it could be a lot of fun as long as it doesn't turn into a show where Raw stars come on and ultimately wind up dominating the show.

 

[mr.ready]

Wichita, Kansas? What the hell. That crowd is going to be dead but I'm looking foward to it. I have been an advocate of Smackdown going live for a long time. I would be interested to see how a live crowd reacts to these young guys (Bryan, Rhodes, Mahal, McTongacutty, Usos, Kidd, Gabriel, Jackson, Ryder)

 

[The Crock]

As much as I'd like it to not turn into a "Supershow" type of deal, I'm sure it will be. The WWE doesn't ever seem as if it's confident enough to let Smackdown do its own thing. I wouldn't be surprised if the main event was carried by Cena in some capacity, they've done it in the past. I mean, they'll probably mix it up and make it a big tag match, probably pulling Miz and Alberto Del Rio into it along with a few Smackdown guys. Anyway, the Raw talent will probably overshadow the Smackdown talent and that's their biggest mistake. People will always look at Smackdown as the B-Show, no matter who they have, because the WWE feels as if it needs to be carried by Raw whenever something like this happens.

I'm curious as to why they're doing it though. I doubt they're feeling out a slot on Tuesday nights, although I wouldn't be surprised, as they haven't been pulling great ratings and ECW used to be on Tuesday nights.

 

[klunderbunker]

Kind of random but it's usually cool to have something like this. I'll be watching live which isn't something that i do that often. They'll likely have a big show set up with perhaps a cash-in? I doubt it'll happen this early but it's certainly popular. Either way, cool stuff to do here and always fun to see.

 

[Peep]

I instantly became excited about this when I read the article on the front page. Personally, it's a big help since that Friday, Sept. 2, will be very busy (College Football, yo! Sic 'em Bears).

If I had to guess why they're doing this - I'd say to experiment with the ratings. They want to see how a live Tuesday Smackdown is received. Since it's a special occasion and will be advertised, I'm sure it'll get much higher ratings than a normal episode. That said, they'll have a target number in mind. "We're aiming for a _._ _ in the ratings..." Who knows, if they keep experimenting with this, it could be goodbye Friday Night SmackDown and hello Tuesday Night SmackDown LIVE on Syfy.

But IF it becomes some cross promotion where Cena and ADR are meant to carry their feud, then yeah, that would suck. No Raw superstars please.

 

[#hamler]

I think nothing but good can come from this as long as, like you said, Raw stars don't come over and dominate the show. Maybe this is a sign of things to come. I would love for Smackdown to move to Tuesday nights and business wise, I dont see why they wouldn't do it live. If the show is called Super Smackdown its likely Raw stars will make their presence felt to add a little star power. If ratings improve and the show is all around better then I say keep it Live on Tuesday nights. I'm am curious why it will be live though. Could be the start of something good for both the WWE and Smackdown.

 

[Deexter Jorgan]

I think moreso this will be a test to see if Smackdown can generate better ratings as apposed to its tapped thursday nights spot.

IMO this is a good thing, it may not do much but can certanly elevate the brand a little, if promoted well we could see a slight increase in viewership.

I also agree with what Crocks saying, I would hate to have Raw plastered all over the Smackdown tapings as Vince does have a habit of throwing raw stars in to help elevate ratings for the WWE's B show, lets just hope that the live show leaves us in awe.

 

[The_Reptile_]

... Kansas? Why Kansas of all places? Quick, can someone tell us if there's some dedicated audience in Kansas. I mean, if I was going to do a special live Smackdown I'd honestly have done it someplace that's likely have a livelier crowd, somewhere in New York or something.

Anyway, should be interesting, though I question whether or not WWE will have RAW stars hog the spotlight.

 

[¡Roján!]

This is always going to be a RAW featuring Smackdown show. Hell, I won't complain, the wait that I endure from Monday to Friday without wrestling its painful. Anyway, it does seem a bit random but maybe it will have a theme. Has any checked to see if it's an anniversary (like 400th episode) or is it just so that they don't compete with College Football?

 

[Paralyzer Z]

meh, doesnt make anly diffrence it makes is that i wont be able to read spoilers and that i will be tuning: mission acomplished WWE!

As for the kansas crowd well we will just have to wait and see wont we. i would not be suprised to see some Raw guys on this show just to make the show feel special. I just ope the show is good.

 

[The Dragon Saga]

Kansas? Really?! For fuck sake. Could they not do it in a city which is known for being extremely dull at wrestling events? Philidelphia availble around this time? No. Damnit!

Nice idea, RAW will surely feature though. What else will add the "Super" to Smackdown other than RAW Superstars? You can already predict some of the stuff that will happen. Del Rio will come out and say how he made Smackdown, because, you know. He won a few matches here and there and the Royal Rumble, big whoop. Vickie Guerrero will appear and draw huge heat/hatred. And CM Punk will probably appear, do what he always does and once hes gone about twenty percent of people watching will turn the channel.

I'd love if they built a Super Smackdown with all Championships on the line from said brand, but won't this be the run-up show to Night of Champions? And if The Rock were to appear It'd add to the superness. Cause, you know, he kind of named the show. Otherwise I expect it to be a night where a ton of RAW guys come down and steal the spotlight until Booker T thankfully leaves the announce table and gets in the ring. Hell, this show is writing itself.

 

[Burnout]

Usually something like this screams that WWE wants more time for Raw Superstars to strut their stuff, but this time, I think the primary focus of this is Smackdown! and not Raw Superstars, which can only be a good thing. Smackdown! has been lagging in ratings recently, and the whole Draft swap just didn't work as planned. They expected Orton to draw more viewers, but alas, ratings have kept on falling in the Friday night slot, so I do believe WWE power figures are testing the Tuesday night slot, airing live, just to see if it's a case of Friday being a poor slot for a Wrestling show, and that airing live on Tuesday is the boost that the ratings needed. I think WWE are smart enough that if they are testing a new slot, it just has to be about Smackdown guys. Having a ratings increase on this show is next to meaningless if John Cena and others from Raw are going to be all over it. Really, going live on a Tuesday with the current group of wrestlers on Smackdown is essential to see if they can actually draw bigger numbers on a better slot, or if interest in them is just low and a shakeup is needed of the Blue Roster.

 

[KNPKH2ster]

If done right, I am looking forward to a live edition of SmackDown on Syfy. The last time SmackDown was live was during Christmas time and it was on the USA Network. It will also be the last time I'll be live tweeting during WWE programming (until winter break arrives). However, I do agree with the fact that if they want to have a live edition of SmackDown it should be done in the major markets such as New York, Philadelphia, Chicago, etc. I hope that happens one day.

 

[XXJJ]

I am pretty sure they are airing Smackdown live that week because of Labor Day Weekend. Friday nights are already a tough night for ratings. Plus being a holiday weekend. no one would be watching.

 

[FaceSuperstar]

I just read this today on this wrestling news website. It seems like it really is just a random live show special. There is really only one reason why I can see that they are going to be doing this. For some reason maybe a show(s) had to be taking out of the lineup for some odd reason and then SyFy might of asked the WWE to do a Live Smackdown show for them. Its nice thought also there will be the usual time slow on Friday night also.

Do you guys remember last year when they had the Smackdown special live? It wasn't on SyFy then or was it? It was the season premier of Smackdown. Maybe that was just a spot filler because some show(s) had to be taking out to.

 

[The Calgary Kid]

I'm totally in favor of this. If they were to change SD over to a regular live format though, I think that they would be better off doing it on Thursdays. I don't mean to turn this into a "let's bring back the ovaltron while we're at it" thing, but from a fan standpoint, two consecutive days of wrestling (three during PPV weeks), doesn't offer a lot of schedule flexibility, can lead to saturation, and makes viewers more likely to feel disconnected from the product for the rest of the week. Obviously, they film and air NXT on Tuesdays and Superstars runs on Thursdays already, but I wouldn't be surprised if they can NXT after this run (how many people actually watch it at this point?), and I have long been of the opinion that Superstars should be televised on Saturday mornings (I can't see why USA wouldn't want to pick up that slot).

The major disadvantage to having SD air on Friday is that more often than not, people make plans for Friday nights and don't bother watching. Also, since it's taped, they can read the spoilers ahead of time whether or not they'll be around to watch it. If nothing they read about appeals to them, they're not going to tune in. It's the B show, but they don't give it anywhere near as much attention as they ought to be. There is a ton of talent on that roster and a lot of people never get to see it. It's interesting that this is coming about not too long after announcing that the Bragging Rights concept has been scrapped, and the next Smackdown vs. Raw game is just called WWE '12.

 

[Starchild]

Well the press release doesn't mention any guys from Raw coming over, but of course that doesn't really mean all that much. I'm not really sure what to think of this. Don't get me wrong, I like the idea and it'll be the first live Smackdown in ages so it seems like a good idea, but I'm just not sure what WWE's angle here is. I see it'll also be re-airing in it's normal slot on Friday of that week so it's hard to say.

What I hope this is gonna be is testing the waters for a potential night change. It doesn't take a scientist to figure out more people are watching tv on Tuesday or Thursday nights than Friday. Smackdown puts on good shows most of the time, but they just don't get the ratings I think they would if it were on another night. Guess we'll have to take the wait and see approach.

 

[Jessie Lynn DivaGirl]

Yayyyyyyyy a Live event. That's save some trouble because we won't have to read spoilers AND any live botches will be seen nation-wide! The show hopefully will be good and yeah, they probably will bring out some Raw superstars. Remember the Live premeirof Smackdown on SyFy? Nexus and Cena. Let's just see how this goes

 

[BigDesigns]

I think that this is good, at least for the board... Lets see this like a tryout for SmackDown, if it reaches the 3.00 rating, SmackDown will always be live.
It's going to be different and they will probably feature a lot of guys from RAW, like CM Punk and The Miz.

Are they willing to book a Daniel Bryan vs CM Punk match in a SuperSD!? 'Cause I would love it!!
It's going to be a regular show, but with a fancy "Super" on the name...

 

[I_Am_Electro_Boy]

Well I'm guessing it should be a pretty big show, SD isn't normally live so I'm guessing they'll have something special because it is. But in Kansas? Why? They do know that they can't edit the fans reaction when it's live don't they? But seriously if it's a special live edition of SD do it in front of a lively crowd so guys at home knows it's special. Anyway I'm guessing if the rating is very high we might be seeing SD go out live weekly, but would that take it away from Raw?

 

[Dagger Dias]

This is great news. Smackdown has the better roster and they could potentially put on a spectacular live show. I would count on a couple of Raw guys showing up though. Cena, Miz, Del Rio, Punk, and probably Trips. The Smackdown guys will need to prove that they are the superior brand and put on a fantastic show. I look forward to this show because a live Smackdown will not have spoilers posted days before it airs, nothing will ruin any of the surprises! The live show has a chance to get great ratings.