The Smackdown Roster?

[Rockyfolifebo!!!]

Ok, so recently I found out WWE was returning to my hometown of Florence, SC for the first time in 2 years (yay)! Then, I find out it was Smackdown that was coming. I can't tell you how mad I was! Here's why:

IMO, Smackdown's roster lacks major star power. You have Orton, Christian, Henry, and Sheamus. Big Show, Kane, and Taker are "injured" or taking time off. Does Smackdown have some good in-ring talent? Hell yeah! You have guys like DBD and Sin Cara. But it just seems like the roster is watered down with a bunch of NXT rejects. I like Raw because you get a little bit of everything. You have the main eventers (Cena, Punk, HHH, Nash, Del Rio). A solid midcard (Kofi, Miz, Morrison, Truth, Swagger).

Am I the only one who feels that Raw's roster is more stacked than SD's? Should they have a roster shake up (not necessarily a draft)?

SN: Not being ungrateful, I'm glad WWE's coming. I just would have MUCH rather seen Raw.

 

[Farese12]

They like to push Raw as the more important show and get all the ratings with that show and thats essentially the reason why. SD ratings are going down which is why the are attempting to push the show live on tuesdays. Hopefully it will save it, but time will tell. But ya to answer your question, to me it doesnt seem like they could careless about SD

 

[Mac Attack]

Ok, so recently I found out WWE was returning to my hometown of Florence, SC for the first time in 2 years (yay)! Then, I find out it was Smackdown that was coming. I can't tell you how mad I was! Here's why:

IMO, Smackdown's roster lacks major star power. You have Orton, Christian, Henry, and Sheamus. Big Show, Kane, and Taker are "injured" or taking time off. Does Smackdown have some good in-ring talent? Hell yeah! You have guys like DBD and Sin Cara. But it just seems like the roster is watered down with a bunch of NXT rejects. I like Raw because you get a little bit of everything. You have the main eventers (Cena, Punk, HHH, Nash, Del Rio). A solid midcard (Kofi, Miz, Morrison, Truth, Swagger).

Am I the only one who feels that Raw's roster is more stacked than SD's? Should they have a roster shake up (not necessarily a draft)?

SN: Not being ungrateful, I'm glad WWE's coming. I just would have MUCH rather seen Raw.

When Smackdown was in Calgary on Aug. 23 I went to the show and I was very much suprised. The roster itself isn't as grand as Raw but truly it is a wrestling show. All the in ring competitors were really good and even though they wern't the biggest names everyone performed extremely well.

As to answer your question the roster is fine as it is. Yes Raw has better star power but Smackdown is a really good show as it is. I think no shake-up is necessary because the show has been increasing in ratings and quite frankly when watching it, one realizes it is a good show.

 

[Mustang Sally]

The OP's comments about Big Show, Kane, and Taker being off the show are well taken; those men constitute much of the star power of the brand.... big men in both size and reputation. But the comments of the other posters is valid, too; Smackdown is a well-written, fast-paced show with some very good match-ups.

To make up for the absence of the big men, WWE has been using wrestlers from RAW to fill in the Smackdown line-up, at least until the big guys come back. Personally, I prefer this method of matchmaking; it adds some mystery as to who you're going to see from week to week. Also, it allows the three big men to take some time off without completely gutting the roster of stars we want to see.

 

[BigPoppaPunk]

The SD roster doesn't have as many big names as RAW, but it is the superior wrestling show. The reason it seems like SD sucks compared to RAW is simple. WWE has always treated SD as the secondary show, thus the reason it feels like an inferior show. And they wonder why the ratings are so bad and why the attendance for SD has dropped so low. Why pay to see a SD show when you can go to a RAW Supershow and see all the wrestlers?

Sd has been consistently outperforming RAW, but since it's treated as the red headed stepchild of the WWE, ppl perceive it as so. Honestly, the only way I think SD could rebound is if they went live. And of course, stop doing the Supershows, b/c it detracts from the SD fanbase.

 

[Wade's Public Transit Bomb]

If a tree falls in a forest, and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound?


While I do think SD's roster is much better than Raw's roster, it doesn't change the fact that the booking of that show is just not important. I know a lot of people will talk about how SD has always been the 'wrestling' show. Well, that was fine when they had established guys that the fans recognized.

Most of the roster just has their weekly match and that's it. There is no correlation to anything else going on. No importance. Only 2 or 3 people get to do a weekly promo; and that rotates every few weeks. Most of the people change or modify characters without any real explanation. Good bye, see y'all next week.

The entire show sans whatever is going on with the WHC just feels like a entire show dedicated to mid-carders.

 

[keehlnate]

Raw is the A show so it is only natural that it is stacked with talents compared to SmackDown. With Edge's retirement, Big Show and Kane are sidelined with kayfabed injuries, and Undertaker hasn't showed since WM, the current SmackDown seems really inferior to RAW. We just have to count on Orton, Henry, Christian and the others to make this show still entertaining to watch.

This is where I miss the old smackdown where Brock Lesnar and Kurt Angle are still running the show

 

[ChristopherKeepsItReal]

They are fine just how they are in terms of wrestling, although I wouldn't say no to a RAW export from John Morrison SHOULD WWE decide to give him a fresh start. Melina's gone, focus on him as a talent and not by past. I think WWE should also read Drew McIntyre on the roster for SD, he needs his career back and since RAW, he's been nothing but useless jobber material, losing to Zack Ryder. This could definitely freshen up the Main Event scene, get John Morrison to feud with Christian after this brief Sheamus stint as we know exactly how well Christian puts talent over. Now Drew, I don't know. Have him compete on Superstars for a month or two and win every match, and then build him a legit winning streak on Smackdown, perhaps against the 'lower' and midcard. And have Drew McIntyre feud with Justin Gabriel or "Daniel Bryan", preferably the latter to increase credibilty.

 

[Dagger Dias]

Smackdown is currently the brand to watch if you want to see future stars in action. You have your top guys in Orton, Christian, and Sheamus. The rest are basically guys getting pushed for future runs with a couple of random guys like Khali who suck thrown into the mix. Sure they are missing guys like Kane, Show, and Taker but Smackdown is doing very well and it has the better roster. Raw's is too full of heels at the moment and even though Raw is the A show, I find Smackdown's roster to be the stronger one because they are putting on better shows each week.

 

[IT Factor]

Smackdown has its obvious advantages & disadvantages against RAW. RAW is the more complete entertainment show with surprizes, guest stars, and just about every imaginable gimmick known to man. They have alot of stars, though their lower and mid-cards are just as low as Smackdowns. Smackdown is the more complete wrestling show with very little emphasis on crappy promos or gimmicks. They have a quite unique roster with alot of up-and-coming new stars along with a few familiar faces. Smackdown is great for those wanting to make a name for themselves, especially NXT types or new acquistions.

The main problem with WWE as a whole is undefined divisions. You have the main event WHC & WWE divisions which have a few really good contenders and then the US & IC divisions both of which lack contenders. The brand split forces each division to be more limited in what quantities they have. And the tag titles are just as limited as far as real contenders are concerned. Yeah, they have the occasional thrown together tag team but no real teams. Back in the day, you had teams like LOD, DX, NOD, The Corporation[variations of tag partners], the Two Man power trip[Austin & HHH], The Brothers of Destruction, Kane & Big Show. All of those teams worked because they had real chemistry and not some goofy idea to randomly throw them together. Hell, even as recently as JeriShow was a great example of tag teams that really work.

Smackdown does decent but that's the problem. It's not anything major like what RAW portrays and the fans notice. If something happens on Smackdown and they miss it, oh well. Just catch it on RAW. If you treat Smackdown like the B show, don't be surprized when that's what you get. And that's not a slur to those on the show busting ass to make it work. That's typical WWE lack of effort. I'm not sure that with the problems with ratings and whatnot lately, that WWE shouldn't consider unifying the brands again. Make a continuation of the shows spread out over RAW, Smackdown, NXT, and whatever show they may add in the future. That's what made WWE great in the Attitude Era, continuing shows that made people wanna tune in to see the next chapter and see what's next. It also gave them a good roster to define their divisions and actually push contenders instead of having an overused 2 or 3 guys winning the belt on numerous occasions or having overextended runs via lack of contenders.

But, I'm sure there are those who will disagree with that idea. That's just my idea though. And perhaps Smackdown would do better with recognition if they went live on Tuesdays. I loved the feel of the Super Smackdown on Syfy and this would prevent lack of interest due to spoilers. Again, probably another idea that WWE won't even consider. They need to though. Especially to get the WWE universe interested in their products and truly making them "must-see".

 

[The 1-2-3 Killam]

Raw is the 3.0 show. Smackdown is the 2.0. That's probably less to do with their rosters, are more because of the networks and the name brand associated with both. Raw needs the better roster, and Smackdown compensates with bringing up new talent the slow, hard way and putting on good matches. Sorry Raw isn't coming to town, but there is focus and a point unique to both shows.