Smackdown seems to have quite a roster!

[AegonTargaryen]

Hey guys.

I'm disconnected from wrestling pretty much, and I'm keeping busy with my major passions, starting a business, reading lots of books, meditation and such. So much so that I can't watch movies or shows or read Literature, let alone watch wrestling. But I like to keep up with what's happening by reading results.

Old habits die hard as they say.

Long story short, I just glanced through last night's HIAC event and noticed, SDL has got quite a roster!

Especially a roster full of talented wrestlers, lots of awesome combinations in tag team, a solid mid-card, and quite a lot of potential in terms of Storyline/plot-development.

For instance, KO and Sami Zayn could now sort of be a Two-man-power-trip, win the WWE/US titles and tag titles, or at least the tag titles.

Benjamin and Gable are already and exquisite addition. The New Day must probably go their separate ways now, and Usos are probably meant to stay as a tag team.

You've got Bobby Roode, Dolph Ziggler, Baron Corbin, Tye Dillenger in the mid-card and unless they've perma-jobberzoned Mike Bennett, him.

In heavyweights there's Rusev and Randy Orton, and also KO.

The top mainevent talent obviously is AJ Styles, and arguably Shinsuke Nakamura.

Jinder Mahal by no means belongs anywhere with all the aforementioned wrestlers. He's just not good.

I may probably be leaving someone, like Luke Harper had enormous potential and they'll probably pair him with Rowan again, as they do when they're at the house shows.

As usual I won't comment on the women's division because I don't watch or care for it, and there's what, 5-6 women?

So all in all, it's quite an awesome roster.

In fact if they were to do another Trade or Superstar Shakeup kind of thing, and all they did was trade 2 women, and send Usos to Raw and Club or Sheamus-Cesaro on SDL, it would quite alter the landscape.

Sure Randy Orton and Rusev really seem to be lost, as was Zayn until last night, and they could perhaps trade 'em too. Especially Randy Orton.

I feel Orton's last few years, even as a part-timer should see him involved in exciting feuds and not lacklustre performances. Feuds with the likes of Lesnar, Rollins, Reigns, Ambrose, Strowman.

Your thoughts?

 

[MWRedskins]

On paper Smackdown live has a VERY talented wrestling roster. the problem is that they are pushing the wrong talent to the moon while giving the top Championship to a guy who fans either dont care about or only like because they feel that Jinder is the definition of a guy who worked very hard to finally get the top title.

me personally, i just am not into Jinder and feel he's a midcarder being pushed as a main eventer and that the title should be in the hands of either a top face or a top heel like Styles, Nakamura, Roode or Kevin Owens.

but to the point, yes they have a loaded roster. Owens, Styles, Nakamura and Zayn are great in ring workers. all three of The New Day can go in the ring as well as The Usos. Benjamin and Gable are great workers, though more of a forced tag team. Corbin isnt a bad wrestler and can speak, Tye Dillenger can go in the ring, just needs more known. Rusev needs Lana back in the way she was while Orton should be a heel. the thing Smackdown lacks is tag teams which is why i hope that Harper and Rowan re-join and form a heel tag team because eventually New Day will win the tag titles again and they could use a new heel team to feud with. The Women's division will likely add Paige and with Nattie, Charlotte and Becky as great wrestlers there, plus Carmella will likely improve. the Women's division has potential.

 

[roipdh123]

SD has it all going forward for me:
- They have solid main event scene with Mahal, Nakamura, the two man power trip (owens and zayn of course), Randy Orton and now hopefully AJ Styles is back to the main event scene.
- mid card has US Champ Corbin, Roode, Ziggler, Dillinger, Rusev, Ryder, Rawley and English.
- tag team division has New Day. Usos, Benjamin and Gable, Harper and Rowan (soon), Breezango (they can always return to the ring in addition to the fashion files), The Ascension (who are underrated and can be great).
- womens division has Charlotte, Natalya, Naomi, Becky and Carmella all as championship material wrestlers.

All in all SD really has a great deep roster in my opinion.

 

[Deoxyribonucleic A.C.I.D.]

The entire WWE roster is awesome and talented. The problem comes to the writing. Always has, always will. Attitude Era had a shit roster by comparison. But wrestlers with much less potential did much more back then, due to their hunger and the writting compared to wrestlers of today, who seem to have more potential but never truly reach it.

Also, Smackdown has a very fresh roster for someone that is a casual fan. Bobby Roode, Nakamura, the new version of Jinder, Tye, Corbin, Styles, Gable. All of these guys debuted in the past 1,5 year. Zayn has been lost until that point, Rusev and Orton have been nothing nothing of importance. There are problems, but yeah, Smackdown has a lot of potential. More than RAW where you have more already established wrestlers.

It's just that WWE doesn't really live up to the hype surrounding its wrestlers nowadays.

 

[George Steele's Barber]

So when are the tag divisions going to fold OP?

SD has been kind of crappy lately. Part of the problem is a lack of McMahon type talent. Guys like Owens and AJ are established but not on a level like a lot of guys on Raw. Orton is one the most established talents in WWE history but he's lost a ton of heat since Mania. Corbin looks lost. Dillinger doesn't seem to belong. Mahal has grown stale and desperate. I'm still waiting to see what the big deal is about Nakamura. Charlotte and Becky feel "buried" on the women's side. Roode has barely gotten going but has potential.

The tag division and Owens/McMahon feud seem to be what is holding up the show from drowning. New Day and Usos are terrific. Fashion files is fun. I'm intrigued by Owens and Zayn as a tag and Gable and Benjamin.

So yes, overall SD has strong talent. It's WWE in 2017, there is not surprisingly no shortage of talent. But overall the show (cable show, not PPV) is at a low point since the split. It not coincidental that we also find ourselves at a point where the amount of Raw talent most exceeds the talent on SD since the brand split.

 

[Jack-Hammer]

On paper Smackdown live has a VERY talented wrestling roster. the problem is that they are pushing the wrong talent to the moon while giving the top Championship to a guy who fans either dont care about or only like because they feel that Jinder is the definition of a guy who worked very hard to finally get the top title.

What Jinder has worked hard on is his physique because he's certainly no better in the ring or on the mic than he's ever been. It's only been recently that I've started commenting on anything regarding Jinder as I thought it was fair to give him time and see what developed. Enough time has passed and Jinder's matches are like watching paint dry, his promos are either almost all identical in which he rants on fans disliking him for being "different" or indulging in quasi-racist attacks against Shinsuke Nakamura. Vince is hoping to land some subscribers to the network from India and Jinder is the guy he's hoping to use. Why? Simply because Jinder happens to be of Indian descent because it can't be for his abilities as a wrestler. If Vince says that Cesaro doesn't have "It" but Jinder does, then he's out of his fucking tree.

WWE is touring India in December and is hoping to establish themselves as a stronger presence there. From a business perspective, it's easy to see where Vince is coming from; India has a population of about 1.3 billion so just imagine if...say...even 1% of the population subscribed to the WWE Network, you'd wind up with about 13 million subscribers and that's a lot of money. As a result, don't expect to see Jinder Mahal losing the WWE Championship until, my guess, at least until the Royal Rumble; hell, there are rumors he'll keep the title until WrestleMania.

At any rate, we're just going to have to grin and bear it that Jinder, someone who ranks among the worst WWE Champions in the title's history, is going to remain champion for a while longer. It's a shame really because Jinder should be carrying the bags of 90% of the WWE roster instead of holding the biggest championship in wrestling history.

 

[AegonTargaryen]

So when are the tag divisions going to fold OP?

LOL. Good to see you too.

SD has been kind of crappy lately. Part of the problem is a lack of McMahon type talent. Guys like Owens and AJ are established but not on a level like a lot of guys on Raw. Orton is one the most established talents in WWE history but he's lost a ton of heat since Mania. Corbin looks lost. Dillinger doesn't seem to belong. Mahal has grown stale and desperate. I'm still waiting to see what the big deal is about Nakamura. Charlotte and Becky feel "buried" on the women's side. Roode has barely gotten going but has potential.

I agree with all those things. Spot-on, as you always are in your posts.

So yes, overall SD has strong talent. It's WWE in 2017, there is not surprisingly no shortage of talent. But overall the show (cable show, not PPV) is at a low point since the split. It not coincidental that we also find ourselves at a point where the amount of Raw talent most exceeds the talent on SD since the brand split.

It's true because I've not felt half as interested as I did last year, with last year's roster and feuds on SDL.

As you mentioned, lack of McMahon type talent has been a huge factor in detracting my already low interest, as has been Jinder's sustained push.

Nakamura doesn't intrigue much beyond the entrance, his promos aren't exactly spectacular.

So they have lots of wrestling talent, arguably the best ever, but very little in terms of intrigue.

 

[AegonTargaryen]

What Jinder has worked hard on is his physique because he's certainly no better in the ring or on the mic than he's ever been. It's only been recently that I've started commenting on anything regarding Jinder as I thought it was fair to give him time and see what developed. Enough time has passed and Jinder's matches are like watching paint dry, his promos are either almost all identical in which he rants on fans disliking him for being "different" or indulging in quasi-racist attacks against Shinsuke Nakamura. Vince is hoping to land some subscribers to the network from India and Jinder is the guy he's hoping to use. Why? Simply because Jinder happens to be of Indian descent because it can't be for his abilities as a wrestler. If Vince says that Cesaro doesn't have "It" but Jinder does, then he's out of his fucking tree.


At any rate, we're just going to have to grin and bear it that Jinder, someone who ranks among the worst WWE Champions in the title's history, is going to remain champion for a while longer. It's a shame really because Jinder should be carrying the bags of 90% of the WWE roster instead of holding the biggest championship in wrestling history.

The whole Ethnicity/Race angle in 2017, especially with the way they've presented it, isn't very enjoyable. Perhaps it's too repetitive and perhaps Jinder isn't charismatic enough.

In terms of in-ring and overall talent, one would have to be completely crazy(like Vince) for them to push Jinder over Cesaro.

As a matter of fact, they could've done the same thing they've been doing, except use the US title instead of the WWE championship, and he'd still have heat, may be more heat, and in terms of dumb fans in India(who aren't aware of kayfabe) he could still seem like a "hero" for being the US champion LOL, and after all, they would think the US title to be more prestigious, or as prestigious as the WWE championship.

AJ Styles would, more deservedly, have been a 2-time WWE champion right now, defending against KO, amongst others.

 

[Dagger Dias]

They definitely do have quite the roster. Smackdown remains consistently better than Raw. My main problem, and I know I'm not alone, is Jinder. They must really be hoping to make a fortune on the Indian tour because he never deserved the World Heavyweight Championship to begin with and the guy is a joke. Nothing else could justify Jinder remaining in the position he is in. With a roster that has Randy Orton, Sami Zayn, Kewin Owens, Shinsuke Nakamura, AJ Styles, and more.... How is Jinder still the World Champion? The roster has several big names on it. The same goes for the women. Charlotte, Natalya, Becky Lynch are all there. The tag team division has The Usos, The New Day, Breezango, and the addition of The Bludgeon Brothers will also help. The midcard is where Smackdown is the weakest right now. Overall, the roster is not the problem. The booking is. There is no way Jinder should be at the top of the card when Styles, Nakamura, or Owens could be and should be.

 

[Hawkseye95]

I also just follow the results on wrestlezone but I do catch all the ppvs, from my point of view smackdown has a very versitile roster but i am hoping for a draft/trade soon! I would like to see orton go to raw along with the uso brothers, baron Corbin and Becky lynch, then going smackdowns way would be the good brothers/ the club, Finn balor, Bailey and Samoa joe, the club can reunite and randy can finally get his momentum back in big feuds on raw as a heel!