Instead of fantasy drafting the new SmackDown exclusive roster in a month, I want to propose something different: get rid of the SmackDown brand instead.
Put it in a sleeper and never let go. Let it rest in peace. It’s a tainted brand that relatively nobody watches because it’s a pointless program. Nothing important happens on the show and if it does, we see it on the following Monday’s Raw anyway. SmackDown is like my car. They’re both from the late 90s and they’re both piles of junk, and a shiny new paint job isn’t going to change that.
RIP SmackDown
Seriously though, it’s time to lay the smackdown on SmackDown! Even the name is outdated. It’s not even a word people say anymore, or ever, unless you’re The Rock. The show is in a similar boat to TNA. I stopped watching TNA forever ago, but I still check in with what’s going on there once in awhile. It sounds, for the most part, like the wrestling on the show is pretty solid, and there are some pretty great guys and girls on the dwindling roster. But, that’s not enough these days.
Am I going to start tuning in again when I’ve got NJPW World and Lucha Underground to watch? Like the team of Kane and Daniel Bryan, hell no. When I think of TNA and SmackDown, I’m reminded of all the awful mistakes that have been made by the former, and the utter meaninglessness of the latter. So instead of trying to revitalise something that, in my opinion, can’t be revitalised, why not create something new?
Sure, going live and the brand split will probably increase interest in SD initially, but in the end it’s still SmackDown. No matter which stars it gets, or how great the wrestling is, SmackDown will always be the B show. Wrestling fans today are flooded with product which is more accessible than ever. There are streaming services from Japan, the UK, and the US, plus iPPVs and PPVs from around the world. There’s the hybrid wrestling/telenovela Lucha Underground. There’s even WWE’s own NXT. With so much high quality wrestling from around the world available at our fingertips, there’s no longer room, or time, for B shows.
NXT Large
Like Triple H has done with his baby, NXT, WWE needs to create a hot, new product, not relaunch an old, tarnished one. Basically, just make another NXT, but without the developmental aspect. I know I’m drastically oversimplifying, but really, wouldn’t that be more exciting? A new show with new talent derived from NXT and new signees from around the world? I would be way the heck more into that. New titles, new divisions. Sounds pretty darn awesome to me.
Rather than a brand split, create a completely new brand with a new roster.
I don’t want really to see the same, tired old faces from Raw move to SmackDown (with exceptions like AJ Styles, Cesaro, Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn. I want to see their faces all of the time). It’s been done before. Imagine instead a new show featuring Shinsuke Nakamura, Samoa Joe, Andrade Almas, Finn Balor, American Alpha…oh wait, that’s NXT. Obviously a new brand will need more names than that. NXT talent will need to be brought up, and WWE, as they are already doing, will need to continue poaching talent from the indies and international promotions. With enough new names mixed in with a minimal amount of established Raw stars, WWE could have a grown up version of NXT.
Following the NXT model even further, instead of going with monthly Network specials for both brands as is rumoured to be the plan, the new brand could hold specials more sporadically like every two or three months similiar to the TakeOver shows. Two live weekly shows, NXT, and monthly PPVs is already beyond profusion. NXT Takeover events are the hottest (WWE) ticket in town. And not only because they’re built to exceptionally well with focused weekly programming, but also because we don’t get them as often as regular WWE PPvs, so it feels like a treat when they come around.
WWE’s special events should be met with excitement and anticipation, not dread as it means another three hours on top of seven or eight thousand hours of weekly WWE programming I’m already watching. In short, more is less.
A new show also means new titles and new divisions, but not everything has to be new. One division that’s been missing from WWE for far too long, a division that made me fall in love with wrestling again after growing out of it as a child, is the cruiserweights. WWE is bringing cruiserweight wrestling back with the upcoming Cruiserweight Classic tournament, but that looks to be just a one off thing for now. Sign the best guys from the tourney, and add current smaller wrestlers who are doing very little, like Tyler Breeze, and you’ve got yourself a cruiserweight division.
New faces, a new division: perfect for a debuting program on Tuesday nights. Or, you could just move the US or IC title to the show. Nothing says, “I’m going places” like being the Intercontinental champion. Isn’t that right, every IC champion of the last five years? Ezekiel Jackson and Curtis Axel know what I’m talking about (Does Curtis still have a job, btw? Is he the new JTG?).
Monday (and Tuesday) Night War
There is another option, one that I’m personally not really keen on, but WWE would probably love because it involves zero creativity. Instead of saving SmackDown (a task beyond even Y2J’s supreme saving abilities), WWE could relaunch WCW Nitro, or just Nitro, minus the WCW part. It’s more or less the same idea as earlier: new faces, new show, except with Nitro, WWE might be able to bring back some old fans by playing the nostalgia card. If done right, it could be good, but the idea just brings back memories of WWE’s version of ECW, which was a shell of its original self.
But the idea of Nitro does bring up something important: competition. Since Nitro died, Raw has had no real major competition in the US. Lucha Underground is awesome, but it’s not competition. TNA could have been, but isn’t. The closest thing WWE has to competition is its own developmental show. A new live program with its own roster and creative team could bring out the best in everyone.
It might even cause WWE to put in a bit of effort when it comes to details with the whole Kevin Owens/Alberto Del Rio delayed flight debacle on Raw as a prime example. If both shows are competing for higher ratings and for Vince McMahon’s approval, everyone involved will (ideally) work harder. In the words of one of cinema’s greatest characters, Ricky Bobby, “If you ain’t first, you’re last.”
To recap, SmackDown isn’t worth rebooting, and instead should be given the (big) boot. It will forever have the vile stench of the B show, which has no place in today’s overcrowded, high quality wrestling market. Alternatively, debut a new program, an NXT Plus if you will, by copying the things that work in NXT, like signing major international stars and having periodic special events. Create new titles and new divisions rather than just bringing over degraded titles like the US and IC championships. Call up current NXT talent like Nakamura, Asuka, Balor, and Joe, and only bring over a minimal number of Raw stars. And finally, incite competition between Raw and the new program with separate rosters and creative teams, which may in turn cause WWE to pay a bit more attention to their own product.
Easier said than done, I’m sure. It would probably cost WWE a pretty penny, but I’m guessing just going live with SmackDown will do that anyway. Who am I, WWE’s accountant? What do I care? I’m just a wrestling viewer with more options than I have time. Do you think I’m going to suddenly start watching the B show because it’ll have a unique roster for a few months until Vince loses interest? You know what, I probably will. But what I’d prefer to see is a fresh new show with none of SmackDown’s dirty history. A new show for the, hold on, wait for it, New Era.