WARNING: LONG POST AHEAD:
Smackdown right now has 22 wrestlers essentially split down the line with 11 heels and 11 faces if you count CM Punk as a heel and you keep Hawkins as a heel. Here's the breakdown in comparison to one another:
Jeff Hardy-----------CM Punk
Undertaker-----------Edge
Rey Mysterio---------Chris Jericho
John Morrison---------Kane
R-Truth--------------Matt Hardy
Finlay----------------Dolph Ziggler
Khali-----------------Mike Knox
Cryme Tyme----------Hart Dynasty
Kung Fu Naki----------Charlie Haas
Jesse-----------------Curt Hawkins
J. Wang Yang----------Ricky Ortiz
Let's work under the assumption that both Edge and Jeff are gone.
This means that CM Punk has to stay heel as we couldn't have a brand that revolves around Jericho as top heel with Kane and Matt Hardy as #2 and #3. It won't work, especially when you would have 4 faces that would work (Punk, Taker, Mysterio, Morrison).
Morrison would be skyrocketed to a very valuable position in the company. Essentially, he'd be considered the #2 guy. Undertaker would clearly pick up the reigns and be in the top feud, with Rey as a backup, and Morrison being primed seeing as how Taker and Rey have their age and injuries going against them while Morrison to the best of my knowledge has no inactivity from injuries.
Smackdown has enough people without Edge and Jeff that they can still maintain a decent show until Edge comes back. Undertaker can have full feuds with the likes of CM Punk (over the title), Jericho, Matt Hardy, Kane, and Dolph Ziggler. We've seen Taker/Kane enough that you don't have to really do that at all, actually, because there are enough people on Smackdown to feed to Taker to keep him busy and spread things out. Say you're having a Taker/Punk feud and you don't want Undertaker to wrestle Jericho, Hardy, Kane, or Ziggler since he'll be having feuds with them soon. Why not do a Taker/Knox match? Taker/Haas? Taker/Ortiz? Sure, it doesn't feel "big time", but that's not going to matter.
You've also got LOTS of feuds Morrison can do. Feud with Punk over the title. Jericho. Kane/Morrison is fresh. Matt Hardy. Ziggler. And again, you can feed him people like Haas and Knox. I'm not a fan of R-Truth, but you wouldn't have to rule him out either. He'd be good filler for the heels, alongside Finlay, and both guys could be the predominant faces in the midcard to wrestle Dolph Ziggler, Matt Hardy, and the Hart Dynasty.
We're in July already. Essentially, you just have to make it to January and you're scott-free when it comes to fresh feuds and stuff, cause once the Royal Rumble build begins, everything becomes about WrestleMania, not the brands as a whole. So we've got 6 months. That's only 24 episodes of Smackdown, right? Fucking cake walk. Take Ziggler for example. I haven't read any spoilers so idk if this is true or not, but let's just say for argument's sake that he's the #1 contender to the IC title for Night of Champions. He starts a feud with Mysterio. This gives us Mysterio/Ziggler for this month and next month at the very least. That's roughly 8 episodes of Smackdown you can make up for those two guys. Then you do Ziggler/Finlay. Then you do Ziggler/Truth. Then you do Ziggler/Taker. Theoretically speaking, not specifically in that order or something. Ziggler has enough people to feud with until January.
Starting to ramble. Let's get back on track.
Edge is injured. He may be out anywhere between 4 and 8 months from what I've heard. Anybody have a feeling that with the way Smackdown was going already, that with how little they trust Jeff Hardy, how the Undertaker will keep his streak alive, and how they certainly won't give the spot to Mysterio, that there were only a small handful of potential main events for the WHC at WrestleMania?
1) Push Morrison. Have him win the Royal Rumble and get a shot at someone like Jericho or Edge and beat them.
2) By some chance, they do trust Jeff Hardy enough that they book him as the main event of WrestleMania and do Hardy vs. Jericho, as they've already done him against Punk and Edge.
3) Edge as a face versus a heel Jericho.
Option 2 can't be done if Jeff isn't in the company. Option 1 immediately becomes Morrison vs Jericho if Edge isn't back. Option 3 if Edge comes back would be the biggest money maker. Who would Taker face at Mania? Idk. Where's Jeff fit into it? Depends on if he's there or not, cause if he's there, probably a singles match in a feud or he's a participant in the Money in the Bank.
I can see them doing Edge vs Jericho at WrestleMania. Imagine it...Jericho becomes champ around Survivor Series or so. Edge returns in January and turns face. He wins the Royal Rumble (hasn't done it before) and challenges Jericho. Two big names, two guys that would put on a hell of a match, and two very reliable performers who have it in them to steal whatever is left of the show that HBK and Taker haven't already stolen in their respective matches.
If Edge and Hardy are gone, CM Punk obviously takes over Edge's heel spot on Smackdown and becomes involved in feuds with Mysterio, Taker, and Morrison, while Morrison himself is upgraded to being a solidified main event face on the brand to leave the midcard to Finlay and R-Truth with Mysterio teetering back and forth depending on whom he's feuding with, as he could feud with Matt in an upper midcard scenario, Ziggler in a strict midcard IC title feud, blah blah blah.
SUMMED UP: If Hardy stays, Punk takes Edge's spot as heel. If Hardy goes, Morrison moves up and I wouldn't be too surprised if we see Edge return as a face in time to be booked against Jericho at WrestleMania, because if not, then I think its very, very, very safe to say that Morrison has a shot at being in the world title picture for WrestleMania.
But then again, they could just bring someone from Raw over in some random trade...haha.
