Reasons for Smackdown's decline

[god of thunder]

With the news that the CW network will not be renewing Smackdown, there's been a lot of talk as to the future of the show. As far as I'm concerned Moron McMahon should pull the plug and put "Crapdown" out of it's misery once and for all. The reason for the show's decline is far broader than just poor writing or bad production. When the show first debuted the WWE roster was huge, with many performers that had been acquired from WCW and the original ECW. The Dudley Boys, The Big Show, Goldberg, Dawn Marie, Stacy Keibler, Paul Heyman, Rob Van Dam, and Jazz are some of the major names that came from those other brands and who are now gone from the roster. When you add to that the VOLUNTARY departure over the last couple of years of names like Brock Lesner, Kurt Angle, Booker T, Christian, and now Bobbie Lashley, the untimely deaths of Chris Benoit and Eddie Guerrero, the almost total lack of any Divas action on the show, and a rash of injuries that have plagued the roster of late, it is pretty damn obvious that the WWE can no longer sustain two full 2 hour weekly shows plus ECW. The roster is just too depleted. And to anyone who may argue that those departed names have been replaced with new talent, I ask what new talent? The Highlanders? MVP? Kahli? Jimmy Wang Yang? The Edgeheads? PLEASE! I defy anyone to name one single "new" name that is of the calibre of a Kurt Angle or a Brock Lesner! There are none, period. So maybe Vince The Idiot will show good judgement for once in his life and downsize. It would only help to enhace RAW, since all of the major names could be brought in on Monday night to fill out the roster and finally make two full hours worth watching!

 

[TWJC: The Beginning]

Yes, he should pull the plug, that way you have about 25 guys with spots that need to be filled.

Smackdown wasn't a bad brand, it had it's own feel and it's own job and it performed that job well. Smackdown will get a new channel, because believe it or not, the DO get good ratings. Everyone acts like WWE gets bad ratings, they don't, they get good ratings, they're just not other-worldly like they were in the 1990's.

MVP has far more potential than Lesnar had, Lesnar had pretty much reached his peak, you've only seen the beginning of MVP, he's gonna be a hell of a sports entertainer, Angle was the best wrestler in the world in 2002-2004, so don't ask anyone to fill his shoes, but other than that, SD is in no trouble.

Besides, back then SD was supposed to be an equal to Raw, it's not anymore, it's supposed to be seperate and you chose whichever one more based on what style of show you like more.

Smackdown is valuable, you have to realize that every show is not supposed to be the best show you've ever seen, or even the best show of the week, some shows are simply purpose shows, Raw, SD, and ECW all have a seperate purpose, SD served it's purpose well, they have until like August to find a spot, trust me, it won't be hard.

 

[captainamerica79]

yeah I wish they would bring the rosters back together and unify the titles. Edge and Undertaker are the only real reasons to watch Smackdown imo. Two hours of great wwe programing is much better than 5 crappy hours.

 

[TWJC: The Beginning]

"5 crappy hours" which shows have you been watching?

In YOUR opinion, it's 5 crappy hours, lots of people love the product, they're all getting strong ratings, drawing good houses, and more talent means more products to sell, you can't think from a smart mark perspective, think, if you're Vince, your goal is to make money, keeping Smackdown is a smart business decision.

 

[Audioslave]

Neither Angle, nor Booker T left "voluntarily".

Booker wanted to stay, but they didn't want to give into whatever his demands were (specifically making his PWA a developmental territory) and the whole deal with his suspension and burial by Triple H.

Angle had a host of his own problems, stemming from injuries and leading to an addiction to pain pills. Vince & Co saw him as a liability to be on their roster and apparently Angle refused help. I don't know, but the whole situation doesn't scream "voluntarily" leaving.

And you want me to name someone on their level? MVP is a shitload better character than Kurt Angle and within a year or two he should be ready for a main event role. Not sure who else is on the roster that could really turn the show around, but yeah. MVP has a shitload of potential for his future.

The problem really is a lack of star power. Compelling faces and heels that you can get behind are on short order, even though they have plenty of guys on the roster that can fill those places.

 

[Siege27]

RAW top talent; main eventers:
HHH
Shawn Michaels
John Cena
Randy Orton
JBL
Chris Jericho
Umaga
Jeff Hardy
Carlito (theres no one else i can think of)

Smackdown top talent; main eventers:
Undertaker
Edge
Rey Mysterio
Batista
MVP
Matt Hardy (injured)
Kane (glorified jobber)
Finlay (not really main event material)
Mark Henry (waste of space)
Great Khali (even bigger waste of space)

Raw has better talent than Smackdown and that is why Smackdown is lacking in some aspects but in a lot of ways, it is doing better than Raw.
the current situation is still dire with Smackdown, even though Undertaker, Edge and Rey came back from injury.
JBL should never have left Smackdown, Jericho should have gone to Smackdown.
khali n mark henry need to get outta there quick, they not needed on any show. whats the point of mark henry jobbing all the time, especially the way he did to cena on Raw? made cena look invincible.
Matt Hardy should win the US title as it will do him good, and MVP can only go up from there.
they need to get Kane to stop jobbing so much. i know he wants to put younger talent over n stuff, but i think if he was thrown either into the world title picture or the US title picture, it would draw imo.
Finlay i think should be thrown into the US title scene, if a decent story is panned out, it could be good. something like - MVP (c) v. Matt Hardy v. Kane v. Finlay.
Umaga on smackdown would help things too, as it would mean fresh feuds etc, and him in the title picture too if played out properly.
as was said before, unifying ECW and Smackdown would only be a step in the right direction. CM Punk, Burke, Morrison, Benjamin would all be good additions to Smackdown.
all these things have been said before, but this is just a summary and my own take on it.
i think all this would help smackdown's decline

 

[captainamerica79]

"5 crappy hours" which shows have you been watching?

In YOUR opinion, it's 5 crappy hours, lots of people love the product, they're all getting strong ratings, drawing good houses, and more talent means more products to sell, you can't think from a smart mark perspective, think, if you're Vince, your goal is to make money, keeping Smackdown is a smart business decision.

Yes in MY opinion wwe has became stale, and its not because i a smart mark I just dont like ecw or smackdown anymore. I understand why vince keeps the brands seperate and I dont have to watch so I dont. Smackdown doesnt have to go away I would rather see one roster not three.

 

["RAVEN"]

Smackdown needs to get some talent from the RAW roster in the draft. People like Y2J, JBL, Umaga, and maybe even HBK would really get SD back up. They just don't have enough main eventers for a good and ever changing title picture. It's pretty obvious since Khali is in the Chamber match tonight.

 

[Freedom 35]

honestly all SD needs is a roster shake up, soon enouh they will inherit CM Punk, Elijah Burke, Shelton, and John Morrison and with a draft coming up they should probably be sent some guys over possibly a Jeff Hardy or an Umaga just a few guys to strengthen up the main event scene and creat more feuds for the future. dont get down on Smckdown it has improved lately and I think that it can only go up from here too

 

["RAVEN"]

with a draft coming up they should probably be sent some guys over possibly a Jeff Hardy or an Umaga...

IMO, sending Jeff over to SD would be a bad move. There would be too much Hardy Boy action. And it would keep both of them out of the title picture. Unless they turned one of them heel. And I do think Matt would make a good heel, which would make hardy v. hardy a good feud. And there's you WM XXVII main event...

 

[Father:_Polley]

all smackdown is lacking is new blood. we've seen batista feud with all the big names on smackdown. it's all been done before. some heel talent trades are needed and pushing the right people.

i know his role in life is taking on the newbies, but finlay does a good job and kane is so badly booked at the min, but these two guys could at least be given a contendership shot just for a change til a draft.

between that and bring back the cruiserweight title or send it to ecw, because at the min the likes of noble, JWY, shannon moore have v little to do but tag and job.

1 roster won't do any good as all it'll do is push more big names and bury the middle carders. that was y they made smackdown in the 1st place

 

[TWJC: The Beginning]

ehh, Hardy vs Hardy? See, Jeff can get away with shit for mic skills because he has in ring and physical charisma, Matt, not so much, he never seems to be able to keep a connection with the fans.

Sending Jeff to SD is something I wouldn't do, if you do that, it's like going "you're not good enough to win the Raw title, but the SD title"

I say send HBK to SD.

 

[TWJC: The Beginning]

Yea, definately heel, hell, make him heel before you do anything, he's getting so stale as a babyface, I loved him when he pwnd Montreal, or during the Hogan feud, I want that guy back.

 

[mr zbow]

They should scrap ECW, take ECW's top guys (dreamer, punk, morrison, miz, burke, benjamin) and put them on SD. another good thing about that is they'd have to get rid of boring guys like Khali, Big Daddy V and Mark Henry. Big Show should come to SD as well. and send Batista to Raw. He's done everything worthwhile there is to do on SD. Make the tag division more important. Get Kane and Taker to team again and win the championship. Bring Jeff to SD and have him and Matt win the titles. And SD lost a lot when it got rid of the Cruiser weight championship. I love those Lucha Libre guys (jimmy wang yang, Shannon moore). Super Crazy should be on SD hes very entertaining and hes easily the best on heat he deserves to go to SD and get a Cruiser weight title reign

 

[god of thunder]

Neither Angle, nor Booker T left "voluntarily".

Booker wanted to stay, but they didn't want to give into whatever his demands were (specifically making his PWA a developmental territory) and the whole deal with his suspension and burial by Triple H.

Angle had a host of his own problems, stemming from injuries and leading to an addiction to pain pills. Vince & Co saw him as a liability to be on their roster and apparently Angle refused help. I don't know, but the whole situation doesn't scream "voluntarily" leaving.

And you want me to name someone on their level? MVP is a shitload better character than Kurt Angle and within a year or two he should be ready for a main event role. Not sure who else is on the roster that could really turn the show around, but yeah. MVP has a shitload of potential for his future.
.

Well, I don't recall hearing the word "fired" used in regards to Booker or Angle, do you? And the fact that WWE wouldn't give in to Booker's demands, as you pointed out, would indicate that Booker was WILLING to take a walk when they weren't met. As for Angle, according to reports he actually retired from wrestling, was condsidering different options, and signed with TNA because he wanted the main event status and recognition he felt he deserved and wasn't getting from WWE. I would classify all that as pretty voluntary!
And I agree that MVP has talent and potential, and will most likely improve, but there is no way in hell he reaches the kind of main event status that Smackdown needs. He is not the savior of Smackdown. And you're not sure of any others on the roster who can do it because there are no others !

 

[KaraAlexis]

Smackdown just needs to focus on some of the basically unused talent. I think people like Shannon Moore and Jimmy Wang Yang could be popular with the crowd but they don't do anything with them.

 

[enigmaticdude]

Okay, i have no idea why i was spammed but i still stand by my word. The WWE was a whole lot better when smackdown and raw were joint. There was more energy and electricity and real wreslting. Now smackdown is dulling out and its too dramatic. The cruiserweight titile should be brought back because it is a damn shame to see a prestigious title go to waste(before hornswoggle had it)

 

[AnthonyMango/NoFate007]

Simply put: ECW

The Tri-Brand system has taken a toll to both Raw and Smackdown, as the midcard and tag team divisions have to suffer due to a third show needing its own roster. ECW is great for several different things (example, introducing new talent, building a midcarder up to the main event, and giving wrestlers that have nothing to do and nowhere to go like Kane and Chavo some importance without them overshadowing bigger stars), however, if there wasn't an ECW, we'd have Miz, Morrison, Kofi, Chavo, Burke, Benjamin, and others helping out the midcard of Raw/Smackdown, and thusly, the tag team division would have more to work with. A guy like Kenny Dykstra would be involved in a tag team most likely instead of being one of the only midcarders on Smackdown right now (despite his current injury, of course).

Then of course, there is the issue of the way they're using certain wrestlers. MVP will soon (and should) move up to the main event, giving them a much needed heel outside of Edge, as Mark Henry/BDV/Khali are awful. Smackdown's lacking in face main event talent as well, as right now they only have Undertaker, the lame Batista, and an injured Rey Mysterio....and no, Matt Hardy isn't in the main event yet, as they won't even trust him yet with the US title.

This year's draft has the ability to fix a lot of wrongdoings, but I doubt they'll scan all the problems. Instead, they'll just hope people still buy into the monsters and everything.

 

[TheAnswerTW]

OK so we have nearly everyone demanding the end of Smackdown and by doing so we as fans are showing a lack of ambition and imagination. I was going to write a huge reply to this but i dont think will be read so here are a few quick suggestions!

Move HBK to smackdown - He's faced everyone on Raw as he's been there fow 6 years, sells mechandise and it wont comprimise his values

Move Umaga to Smackdown - Instant fued with Batista, then for Taker after he beats Edge in the Wrestlemania rematch and he is better heel than Henry/Khali

Move Batista to Raw after post Mania fued with Umaga! See the HBK reasons

Make Ric Flair GM! - He has got the lot, would bring viewers with him and it gets rid of Long and Vikki.

End the ECW talent swap! - Keeps things easy

Bring in John Morrison - vs Hardy, HBK, and even the Undertaker would make it better to watch!

Bring in the Miz - He's got it! Him vs Morrison turns the Miz face and gives him fueds with MVP and possibly Edge depending on if he gets over enough!

 

[Cage917r]

Suggesting that this should be the end of Smackdown is rediculous. First of all it will never happen because by having the seperate shows WWE makes a lot money. Unifying the roster wont happen because they can make a lot more money by having house shows for each brand on the same days.

Anyways, i think Smackdown! takes some unjustified criticism. Sure they dont have as good as a roster as Raw, but its been that way for many years and that is simply the way WWE wants it, look at last years draft all of the good talent that was drafted went to Raw. I also dont think Smackdown! is that far away from having a good show. A few changes at the draft that actually benefit Smackdown! instead of Raw this year could make a huge difference. They are adding Big Show, after is fued with Mayweather is over he will be a Smackdown! superstar. I think a big thing they could do is move Jeff Hardy to Smackdown! and have him go vs. Edge for the title, that would be a great fued.

The main point is that Smackdown! will never go away, a combining of the talent is highly unlikely. So there is no point in criticizing Smackdown!, if you dont like the product dont watch, then you wont have anything to complain about.+

 

[klunderbunker]

While I don't entirely blame smackdown for cw pulling out as that is one of the most mentally challenged companies ever, smackdown has indeed been going downhill quickly. To me the main reason is the lack of proven main event level talent. On raw there is cena, orton, hhh, michaels and jericho, and probably people im missing that could carry the show. Then you have guys like hardy, umaga and kennedy and others that have slowly gained credentials as they have had match after match with the established veterans and occasionally beaten them. Smackdown has almost been like a new promotion, as the only proven star they ahve is the undertaker, who doesn't really wrestle a full schedule. Now I'm not in any way saying edge batista etc aren't main event level stars because they are. But these guys have had to build their star power as singles main eventers over a lot of time. Edge built his career slowly, batista was sort of sent into the middle of the whole thing, then you have mysterio who is hurt, khali and v who just aren't credible, and mvp who hasn't had his chance just yet. While the stars have managed to reach main event levels, it took so long to be believeable that a lot of the fans gave up as it just took too long, while raw always had the top level talent.

 

[Total Impact]

Smackdown is actually great, as Smackdown has more wrestling than Raw and more people actually watch Smackdown than Raw. Remember more people can see Smackdown as its on Network TV and Raw is on Cable and while the numbers may make you think Raw is getting better ratings, the truth is more watch Smackdown as CW is in more homes than USA.

Smackdown is not on a decline, if anything is on a decline, it wrestling in general as a lot of people are growing out of the soap opera fakeness of wrestling and wanting to watch real sports and you can't blame people for that.

Smackdown is a great show and is the only reason why I bought the CW network for my Dish and now I will have to buy MyNetworkTV because I'm a wrestling fan who likes wrestling no matter what. Smackdown has the traditional feel to wrestling like the good old days of WCW or USWA Memphis wrestling. People in the ring kicking the crap out of each other.

While I don't entirely blame smackdown for cw pulling out as that is one of the most mentally challenged companies ever, smackdown has indeed been going downhill quickly. To me the main reason is the lack of proven main event level talent. On raw there is cena, orton, hhh, michaels and jericho, and probably people im missing that could carry the show. Then you have guys like hardy, umaga and kennedy and others that have slowly gained credentials as they have had match after match with the established veterans and occasionally beaten them. Smackdown has almost been like a new promotion, as the only proven star they ahve is the undertaker, who doesn't really wrestle a full schedule. Now I'm not in any way saying edge batista etc aren't main event level stars because they are. But these guys have had to build their star power as singles main eventers over a lot of time. Edge built his career slowly, batista was sort of sent into the middle of the whole thing, then you have mysterio who is hurt, khali and v who just aren't credible, and mvp who hasn't had his chance just yet. While the stars have managed to reach main event levels, it took so long to be believeable that a lot of the fans gave up as it just took too long, while raw always had the top level talent.

Well just look at Cena, Kennedy, Cartlio, who were made stars because of Smackdown. It has been noted many times that Smackdown makes the stars and Raw takes them.

Khali could of been credible, but the WWE let too many guys beat him and Big Daddy V is over. I like the fact that it takes guys a long time to reach the top as shows that the guys have paid their dues. I don't want people to Brock Lesnar and just win the belt in 6 months. I like slow build up. Smackdown has Batista who is more over than Cena, Undertaker who is more than Cena, HBK, and Triple H. Edge over than Orton, Kennedy. MVP who is over. Kane over, Khali over, even Mark Henry is over. You got better tag team wrestling on Smackdown.

 

[Hart>HBK]

Smackdown has been the best wrestling show for a while now with good storylines and booking. Smackdown is the highest rated program on the CW and its even on Friday nights which is the worst television day of the week. One of the main reasons the CW is pulling SD is because the viewers of SD don't tune in for the shows other programs (although it doesn't matter to me because I'm in Canada). When SD was first brought in, it had all that talent because they did not create separate brands. Also, SD was brought in during the attitude era with big name guys like Austin, Rock, and HHH. I believe that SD has the best booked show, but the worst talent. They have all the useless big men (Khali, Henry, BDV) and even their good talents are big (Taker, Show). Hopefully there is a draft after Mania to spread around the big men to the other shows or maybe release them (KHALI!!!). SD has also proved its worth by being the show where stars are created. SD has made MVP, Kennedy, and Cena into superstars and there storylines are intriguing and do not make you want to turn off the television like some of RAW's storylines (incest, Vince-Hornswoggle). Overall, SD is the best booked show currently on television and the only thing lagging is the quality of some of the talent.