What now for Smackdown?

[mrbrownstone]

Well as we all saw, Edge said his farewells to the WWE tonight. This leaves a vacant spot for the top face on Smackdown and with the piss weak main event scene on SD at the no one worthy of filling it. Lets look at our possible options shall we.

Christian: As big of a Christian fan as I am, there is no way he is ready to cary a brand on his back, he isn't even a bonafide Main Eventer yet, no way is he capable of claiming the top face spot just yet.

Rey: Umm, no. As over as he is there is no way he has the size to be the face of a brand. He just came of a long feud with Del Rio anyway so that would hardly work. Besides from all reports it seems Reys time in the WWE may be limited also.

Show: Nope. Again he is over but his lack of any semblance of ring skills anymore hold him back from being able to lay claim to the top face spot.

So with the lack of options on the current roster what does SD do to recover from this sudden loss.

My current theory is, Christian continues to feud with Del Rio as normal and takes this spot temporarily. Until the draft that is, the draft brings an influx of new young new faces to SD, the likes of Mistico and Daniel Bryan as well as recieving an established main eventer in HHH. Now with HHH on board he takes over the reigns as top face and feuds with (and puts over) Del Rio. Meanwhile Mistico and Bryan work in the Upper Mid Card and enter into feuds with Rey and Kane respectively and are both put well over. That way we have a HHH on top putting people over and some young faces who can get some nice exposure in the upper mid card and rub elbows with established stars.

Thoughts? Also, please dont answer with Taker as we all know he is no where near the physical condition to carry SD anymore.

 

[Thorodrew Atlas]

I dont believe we need a face to carry Smackdown... We just need a Legit Main Event wrestler right now. Maybe after Extreme Rules... Jack Swagger gets his push. Maybe Randy Orton gets Drafted. Who knows Even Cena???? I think if Cena is on Smackdown people are still gonna watch.

 

[MrPierrini]

Right so this thread is as the title say's, just a talk about Smackdown and who there main eventers now are after Edge's retirement.

The truth is they really are struggling for them and this is the time where the youth movement will be tested to the full.

So who are the main eventers now that Edge has gone:
Del Rio - possibly but without a title to his name he's not a truly cemented main eventer (I expect him to win the title by the way).
Christian - again he is not a cemented main eventer and if he doesnt get the title within this year now that there is spot for the top face of smackdown, he never will.

That's really about it, and I think that Edges departure truly highlights WWE's reliance on a limited amount of veteran main eventers especially faces. Who Smackdown give the title to could be crucial to the long term future of Smackdown and is truly a great opportunity for a young star to become the new face of smackdown.

So basically what's going to happen, I see maybe Kofi Kingston getting a main event push but whilst he is good in the ring he can't cut a good promo (besides with Orton). I honestly think that a mid card heel may turn face someone unexpected, maybe someone like Mcintyre. I wouldn't be against something like this and I can imagine Mcintyre as a sort of Orton face, especially with his aggression. In the draft I wouldn't be surprised if possibly Morrison or hopefully Daniel Bryan moved to Smackdown.

What do you think? Am I being over the top? Who will become the new face of Smackdown?

 

[rge2010]

I think WWE needs to send someone over from raw. Smackdown roster is small and losing Edge is a massive blow. Del Rio cant carry the show, Christian is mid-card at best (been there 13 years!) and Rey, Show and Kane have been in the Main Event picture over there too many times.

So how do they freshen it up? They move Triple H across. Trips will be doing into a programme with Taker in the coming months so move him across so the feud will make more sense.

Trips is a company guy, he doesnt need Raw, and Raw doesnt need him. He can carry the show and enter a fued with Del Rio. I also think he could have some interesting main events with Show and Kane. I love Attitude Era matches!!!

Smackdown ratings will increase because as much as I respect Edge, he doesnt have the draw that Triple H does.

 

[Avitus25]

I understand that the WWE will want to build young guys, but Smackdown definitely needs a more experienced veteran (like Edge was) to help build them. While Big Show and Kane both fit this bill, they aren't quite as high profile as Edge was.

For me... I'd love to see Orton move to Smackdown. I think Orton v Del Rio would be a really interesting feud, an Orton v Christian feud would be equally as good. Orton's kinda fallen a little bit backwards on RAW with The Rock, Cena etc. so I think moving him to the face of Smackdown would be a brilliant move for him.

Saying that though, I could also see Morrison moving to Smackdown. I could see a Del Rio v Morrison feud working wonders for both of them, and it would finally allow Morrison to get a World Title. It will definitely be interesting to see what the WWE Does about this situation.

 

[rge2010]

I understand that the WWE will want to build young guys, but Smackdown definitely needs a more experienced veteran (like Edge was) to help build them. While Big Show and Kane both fit this bill, they aren't quite as high profile as Edge was.

For me... I'd love to see Orton move to Smackdown. I think Orton v Del Rio would be a really interesting feud, an Orton v Christian feud would be equally as good. Orton's kinda fallen a little bit backwards on RAW with The Rock, Cena etc. so I think moving him to the face of Smackdown would be a brilliant move for him.

Saying that though, I could also see Morrison moving to Smackdown. I could see a Del Rio v Morrison feud working wonders for both of them, and it would finally allow Morrison to get a World Title. It will definitely be interesting to see what the WWE Does about this situation.

Orton wont move anytime soon. He is still in a programme with Nexus/Punk. Infact, it was just reignited last night!

As for Morrison, you could be right but he cant carry the show. He is no Edge. Plus I think WWE are low on him at the moment. R-Truth pinned him last night. Not a very credible Champ!!!

 

[shooter_mcgavin]

I think Morrison would be perfect to fill the gap on Smackdown! Sure he's no Edge but he does have a following and isn't exactly in any hot feuds at the moment. I can see him have rilvalries that can help him break the glass ceiling. Perhaps matches with Kane or The Corre could help soldify his status.

Problem with Orton is how many compelling feuds do you see him in Smackdown? Del Rio and Cody Rhodes perhaps but that's it.

The best option is to probably turn Sheamus face and have him head over Smackdown! Put him on Smackdown! first but as a heel then after starting a feud with Del Rio or The Corre, has a potential to be a top face. He has a ruthless personality that can work like a Goldberg-esque presence.

 

[baldjedi]

Extreme Rules will have Christian vs Del Rio for the title and we can't be surprised by that. I would be happy to see Christian win the title even if it is just this once. He can't carry the show, but right now he is hot and they can use this for the short term.

The draft will have to bring over new faces and new heels to liven up Smackdown and give it the fresh blood it needs right now. Who? Well, Orton was my first choice and I think eventually he would be perfect. I would even say bring both Orton and Punk over. Morrison would be an additional choice to help get groomed since he is inching closer to being ready, but not there yet. Shall see though. I like the idea of McIntyre turning face though.

 

[Mustang Sally]

I think WWE needs to send someone over from raw.

I agree. It's not just that Smackdown is losing someone big; they're losing the leading performer of the entire brand. It's going to take someone with star power to replace him. In fact, the absence of Edge could alter Creative's direction for the whole show. Like others in this thread, I think Randy Orton might be the guy. He's got the strength to carry the role, whereas John Morrison probably doesn't. In fact, I think Orton might even relish the chance to be "the man."

You know what occurred to me, though? I've had the feeling that my guy McIntyre was going to be future endeavored after having had his program with Kelly Kelly cut off......and having not appeared on Smackdown the last two weeks. Now, I wonder if the retirement of Edge might have saved Drew's job.

At any rate, I sure hope so.

 

[daddyJ_t]

what about a certain former nexus member that weve seen lurking behind the scenes on both shows, tarver? or maybe bring in a couple people from the other nxt seasons? granted they may not make an imediant impact(except possibly tarver) but it would allow them to ellevate rhodes and perhaps drew to the main event for at least the time being. it wont be morrison due to the backstage heat he's brought upon himself and his antics in the "nightlife" around the citys they preform in. maybe when extreme rules is over, depending how he preforms. what about moving r-truth over? him and del-rio have history and adding the title to it could possibly prove to be interesting. now, i still thing tarver could be an instant temp fix if anybody remembers him. adding a confrontation with corre could give at least one interesting storyline especially if he leads them to believe he was joining the core.

 

[a member of wwe universe]

The draft wont even do much. What do the wwe got? Cena, Orton, Punk, HHH, Taker, Mysterio, Miz. are the ONLY LEGIT MAINEVENTER. And not some bias marks claiming shamemus and swagger are star when they can barely get anyone to pay serious attention to them.

Cena, hhh, Miz are guaranteed to stay on raw. Taker is not gonna wrestle on regular basis. Punk still have nexus attach to him so he wont be going anywhere. Orton is feuding with nexus

Smackdown is really in trouble because Christian and Del Rio really arent established maineventer.

BTW If ppl actually believe guys like kane, big show, swagger, McIntyre stepping will solve all the problem then thank god you're not in control of creative in anyway.

Without a legit maineventer on smackdown to carry the show, the midcarder wont be able to go over without a legit maineventer to elevate. It is common sense and theres not one guy i can think that did not feud with a maineventer and became a big star.

WWE needs to get Y2J back on smackdown to help elevate christian and del rio. Thats all i got to say

 

[Mighty NorCal]

pretty obvious Triple H needs to head over there for another run, if his body is up to the task.

Its a pretty clear, easy, perfect scenario really. One of the most high profile guys in the WWE, isnt involved in any program or angle right now, and wants to oversee the development of the next generation anyhow. A long, solid title reign working with the loads of young heel talent on the show is perfect for everyone involved. There really isnt anyone else.

 

[80's were better]

It seems that the majority of posters feel it should be either Morrison,Bryan,or HHH brought over from Raw. Only one of them is a Main Event performer that being HHH. Morrison is on the verge of being jobbed out and possibly realesed after all his backstage antics with Trish. While Bryan is know a true Jobber teaming up with the king of jobbers himself Santino. Bringing either of those two over would hurt the Main Event on Smackdown more then it would help. Its like admiting that Smackdown is so weak that a couple of Raw jobbers can come over and easily take over the top spot. That would destroy any credibilty that Smackdown has. HHH would help short-term but he is to big of a name. There is no way that he would come in and put over any of the young heels like DelRio,Rhodes,or Mcintyre it just wouldn't work.
They need to push within. Guys like Christian,Del Rio,Kofi,Rhodes,Mcintyre,Barrett,and mix in a few veterans like Big Show,Rey,and Kane. Having the younger guys getting afew wins over them could help build up some momentum to the Main Event level.
This also frees up the mid-card allowing Masters,reks,Zeke,Gabriel,Slater and some of the Next guys to step up.

 

[MizterColemine]

I would be ok with Triple H making another run, but I'd prefer Big Show to be the transitory champion... perhaps by winning a battle royal or something. Either that or keep the championship in limbo until Extreme Rulez, but Christian shouldn't be guaranteed for a matchup with Del Rio for the title. Since he lost the number one contendership match he's back in the pool with the other hopefuls. Not saying I don't want him to be the champ. It'll be interesting to see how this plays out.

 

[Souls On Fire]

It is going to take more than one guy to fill the hole that is left by Edge's retirement. Smackdown didn't just lose one guy they lost The Guy, the superstar who carried the whole show. The only person who I think can make the change completely is Randy Orton. Cena isn't likely to switch brands and there may be no one else who can carry a show. I think what will happen is at Extreme Rules Ziggler will beat John Morrison in a loser leaves Raw match which will send Morrison over to the blue brand. He'll be given some time to make a name for himself over there, then when and if the draft takes place Orton will end up being the top draft pick made and will be brought to Smackdown whin in turn needs to be shortly followed by the return of Chris Jericho. These 3 men could effectively keep Smackdown on the map. As it was Smackdown had already lacked some main event talent even while Edge was there so they really need to beef it up a bit. The wonder is if Edge's retirement would lead to a draft happening sooner than expected.

 

[RKO2rule]

So what do you guys think? I think when the draft is here (assuming its still on i dunno) Orton should move to SD! and fill Edge's place, they got Christian and Del Rio and all the others for him to Feud with, He can even win the WHC at this point and he has a better chance of eventually being in the Title Match at WM28 ( i knw that sounded pretty biased cuz im an orton fan ) for the WHC and it beats being on Raw with basically no one left to Feud with of course this all comes in to play after he's done with the Punk Feud.

 

[Wade's Public Transit Bomb]

Honestly, I think Orton is a bad choice. The guy holding the belt is always to blame for bad ratings and last year the WWE freaked out when they got 2.7 and 2.9 for Raw. That he is just isn't good enough to be a top guy. In the past year, what good matches have he had with guys not named John Cena or CM Punk? SD is heel heavy at the moment, but what match ups are good over there for Orton?

I also think that Del Rio isn't getting over with the crowd as much as his push would signify. He seems to have a revolving door of 'popular' guys he has faced since debuting and has thoroughly kicked all of their asses besides Edge.. Who was the WHC when Del Rio faced him. =/

I think it is time for them to start making SD about Wade Barrett. Why? I am biased. =P That and ratings have gone up since he was moved to the blue brand.

Okay. I really want to see an evil Barrett vs a walking tall Sheamus fighting over something important. What wouldn't be to love? Barrett would talk a lot and Sheamus would whoop ass a lot. I also think Barrett vs Bryan would work too. Much more than Barrett vs Rey. You don't have to feed into Bryan's ego.

 

[darbare]

As sad as I may be along with everyone else, what happens now Edge is gone? Not only that, but essentially Undertaker and Triple H are done as well...Shawn Michaels left last year, as did Batista...with rumors of Rey leaving soon, what will happen to the roster....as if ratings werent already in jeopardy what does all this mean...I for one am curious to see what will happen, but with so many of childhood favorites leaving recently, I almost sincerely feel like leaving with them....the only reasons I keep watching are because Orton is my favorite, and Miz has been climbing up so fast....and to put everything into perspective, to add onto that guys like Kane and Big Show are very likely to leave soon, hell Big Show has already left once....with the Draft being postponed till June, should they just have it early after Extreme Rules.....lets look at the faces on SD:

Christian
Rey Mysterio
Kane & Big Show
Kofi Kingston

thats it, and thats pretty scary to me...I think they need to put a big name over on SD like Orton to cushion this blow

 

[Random_Dude]

As somebody said SD lost "The Guy" with Edge's retirement, they have tons of wrestlers with potential, but just about all of them are heels in Barrett, McIntyre, Del-Rio, Rhodes, Barrett, etc... The top faces of SD atm are Christian, Kane, Big Show, Rey, and 'Taker....Im sure we can agree that Christian is the only viable candidate for a title push atm......its make or break for Kofi same goes to Swagger if he stays on SD past the draft, maybe we see Masters get a push, I think he is deserving of one tbh..

 

[Justin Satiable]

I wouldn't mind seeing Cena back on Smackdown. It'd open up more feuds, bring Smackdown more attention, and give them the top face they need. It'd be a nice breath of fresh air, as Cena has feuded with just about everyone now. The same goes for Orton.

I only wish the youth movement had been more successful, because even though I do enjoy the Miz, Del Rio, Barrett, Ziggler, Sheamus etc. I have to point out that they're all heels, and the up-and-coming faces can hardly squeeze a win, let alone command promo time. It's a shame, but WWE are gonna find a way through it. I do enjoy Sin Cara, and I hope he becomes something that Smackdown can be proud of.

 

[KitInaka]

Yeah, I agree, WWE needs someone big to head over to Smackdown now. However, I think that it's gonna end up with the two rosters merging.

There barely 14 wrestlers you see on a weekly basis at this point and most of them have been appearing on both shows anyway. We know that there are quite a few wrestlers that are gonna be tossed from the WWE soon anyway and I'm up for combining the two World Titles and keeping both mid card titles.

Sometimes, less is can be more and that's where WWE needs to go now.

 

[Starchild]

As stated, I feel like Smackdown has alot of talent already and doesn't need Orton to come and have the title 95% of the time. Nor do I see Trips making a full time return to Smackdown. So I think the most viable option, at least for this moment is for the WWE to suck it up and give Christian his shot. He carried ECW for the final months and did a great job. He's consistently been a great performer since returning to WWE, and he's been one of the better parts of the show in the weeks leading to Wrestlemania since his return at EC. Christian reminds me so much of Edge which makes sense as they grew up and broke into the business together. He's just never gotten his opportunity to run with a major world title on one of the big shows in WWE. I feel like now is the ideal time and I'm pretty confident that he could take the ball and run with it, having a great run as a main eventer just like Edge did. The seeds are already planted for a long feud with Del Rio, so if he doesn't win at Extreme Rules I could see Christian finally getting that elusive world title this summer.

 

[LFC till i die]

I see your point. Iv been thinking about this since Edge announced his retirement yesterday. I wouldn't mind if either Cena or Orton went over to Smackdown and i'm expecting one of them t0 get drafted to Smackdown in the next WWE draft. As a result of Edge's retirement i hope Christian gets a HUGE push that he deserves.

 

[akathelaw]

Smackdown should have a ladder match for the WHC, and then Miz should cahllenge and win it, becoming the 2nd ever undisputed champion.

 

[RendarSelin]

It would make sense for either John Cena or Randy Orton to be moved over to SmackDown. With Edge's departure, there's a huge void for a face to fill, and while I'm a huge Christian mark, I'm not sure he's ready to carry the show as the top face. Kofi Kingston is definitely not ready. One could argue Rey Mysterio, but he is getting to be more injury prone at this point in his career.

Although I could be completely wrong on Christian. This could be the perfect time to give him the ball and let him run with it. If he doesn't succeed, shifting a face from RAW is always an option to pick it back up. Hell, stars get shifted from brand-to-brand all the time. And now is a great time to take a risk with a new face. So I would personally wait to shift a top face from RAW to SmackDown. Alberto del Rio would make a great champion for an up-and-coming face to chase, so lets just wait it out and see what happens before we shake up the rosters.