Does the WWE care about Smackdown!?

BackLash

I read reveis of wrestling from a couple sites and this is what the Smart (or umm Toby Keith or what ever the rant guy from 411's name is) has to say:

Although I actually gave it a month, after browsing the spoilers and finding myself constantly trying to think up excuses not to watch the show every week, I’ve decided it’s time to thrown in the towel. I’ve been recapping Smackdown for 411 since November 2001 and on my own website since April 2000, and it’s never been more obvious that the WWE no longer cares about this show, and neither do I. Whereas RAW is fun and interesting, recapping and even watching Smackdown is a tedious chore that I now find unpleasant, and most of all, it’s no longer fun.

Is he right? does the WWE not care about the Rock's show?

comments

Steveo

HELLLLLLLLLLLLLL NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!! You say the Rock's show, even he's abandoned it, he shows up on RAW.

Chewy

Remeber when raw was the crappy show and everyone liked smackdown. What im trying to say is Smackdowns in a rut and the WWE is just trying to get raw rolling again than after there done they will work on smackdown. Just Watch

BackLash

I feel as the WWE does care about Smackdown! That's why they are trying to build Booker T, JBL and the Dudley Boyz as credible heels. This is also why Eddie Gurrero is given a chance to prove how good of a champion he can be.

To me the WWE has to try new things, but they shouldn't have to feel pressured when they make a change some don't like. It shouildn't be like walking on egg shells just to entertain people. The problem with Smackdown was they lost everybody that made them great. Angle and Big Show (yes Big Show) are gone because of injury, that punk Brock quit cause he coudn't handle the silver spoon he was given. Benoit was shipped over to Raw before any of this happened. The only one left was Cena and he's not established......not yet.

Say what you will about who can and cannot get over there is somthing to be said about loyalty, somthing that guys like Hogan and Jeff Jarrett have forgotten (Hogan's still my boy) and somthing people like Brock and Nathan Jones never had. Besides how would you know you like somthing if you've never saw it?

I say they do care and some of the writing may be done wrong, but overall, Smackdown should be still watched.

Steveo

Seriously there is no defense for some of the crap they have been feeding us lately. I think they hired rertarted writers who know nothing about wrestling. Their stars are not on Smackdown therefore they do not care.

Y2J The King Of The World

Of course WWE cares about Smackdown - they're a business and businesses care about money. Smackdown brings them money, so therefore they care about it.

Now, I think the real question is "where is WWE goign with Smackdown?" Since the brand split, Raw has gone from poor to great...and it took them the last two years to get there. Part of Raw's success has to be attributed to consistency. Casual fans tune in to see the guys they like, and get turned off if those guys aren't on the show. Plus, casual fans get confused if things change too frequently. Look at the GM situation. Raw has had Ric Flair and Eric Bischoff as GMs, whereas Smackdown has gone from Vince to Stephanie to Heyman to Kurt. And, it's only a matter of time before Kurt heals up and (hopefully) gets back in the ring, so he's a temp as well. It's no secret that WWE likes heel authority figures, and it takes time and consistency to build a credible heel. Bischoff's had that - and has been in the proper role to exert his authority for years. Bischoff's position is locked in so that it seems as though he won't be overcome. Kurt's reign as heel GM will never take off, because it's obviously a temporary role, so anyone that he holds back is only on a temporary basis. Say he has a beef with RVD, and he holds him back from getting a title opportunity. Well, as soon as Kurt goes back to being a wrestler, his power to do things like that is gone, whereas if it were Bischoff holding someone back, it'd make for a more realistic storyline.

Anyhow, I think the real key to Smackdown coming back to greatness rests on WWE's willingness to build its stars consistently, build long-term, compelling storylines, and to get one or two heels from Raw. They do that, they'll be back on track.

DMW

Booker T called Smackdown the minor leagues when he first showed up and I kind of think that's the case. And I don't necessarily think that's a bad thing. I obviously don't know what the long term plans are, but right now Smackdown is serving as a effective breeding ground for new stars (Guerrero, Cena, Layfield, Dupree) and they can afford to do this because RAW is keeping people interested in the WWE product. As long as they keep a couple major names on Smackdown (Undertaker, Angle) I think this could work quite well.

Steveo

They need to stop wasting the talent they have. I could throw together about 3 or 4 viable tag teams with the guys they have. I could also make the cruiserweight division something exciting to watch. Oh hey and you could find at least 2 or 3 guys who are deserving of the main event push besides Bradhsaw. If RVD ever got a personality he could be a heel and fight Eddy. Booker is being wasted he could be there too. How about someone like Rikishi I remember him being a pretty decent heel once. If they could figure out how to make people hate Cena he would be perfect. I think the main problem is that WWE doesn't listen to the fans. Cena won the Great American poll thing they had and then they just made it pointless by giving it to Bradshaw. The average joe schmo voted on that thing. I'm sure anyone who did was pretty pissed when they found out their vote didn't count. Then they forced him down our throats for 2 months expecting us to believe he was completely different than the APA idiot who had been getting his ass kicked a month prior. Alienating the fans hurts business and they have been hurting their own business since the draft which was also stupid.