5 ways to make WWE Smackdown relevant again

The B-showRemember when Smackdown had an interesting episode? Me neither. Not in the past 3 years if I’m not wrong. Ever since the end of brand split and the arrival of NXT, Smackdown lost its glory and now it seems like WWE is doing it just for the sake of it. One of the major reasons for the success of the Ruthless Aggression Era was Smackdown. There were times when it was way better than Raw. The promos on the show were better, the storylines and matches were better and certainly the roster strength of Smackdown was better than RAW. Today, all of it has changed. People care less or not at all about it.It seems the company is waiting for the day for Smackdown to hit rock bottom. So they’ll have a legitimate reason to completely take the show off air, and bring a show like Total Divas in its place because evidently that show is getting much more attention from the company than a purely wrestling-based show.True, Raw is the major brand of WWE but, completely leaving aside Smackdown isn’t just the right thing to do either. There are a number of ways they can make Smackdown interesting again:

#1 A General Manager

Teddy Long

The GMs have always been a great part of both RAW and SMACKDOWN in the past. They had reasons for great storylines and have provided great entertainment on the microphone. There are numerous examples to support the argument: CM Punk and The Undertaker feud of 2009 when Teddy Long was involved in it.

Vickie Guerrero’s onscreen relationship with Edge provided much interesting entertainment when the two had power over Smackdown and who can forget the “People Power” era involving John Laurinaitis. They all added something interesting in one way or another.

#2 Brand Split and Draft Pick

Smackdown vs Raw 2011 Draft Pick

WWE needs to bring this back as soon as possible. The success of the Ruthless Aggression Era was in a major part due to the presence of two different brands. At that time on RAW, they had an angle of Evolution destroying and taking over RAW and at the same time on Smackdown they had this talented bunch of wrestlers like Edge, Rey Mysterio, Eddie Guerrero, Chris Benoit, Kurt Angle and many others fighting for the World Heavyweight title. It was all going good for the company at that point in time.

Draft picks were also a major part of the entertainment in those days. The one night of the year when the whole roster would come under the same roof on Raw and then some major battle to find out who gets to choose their draft picks. That moment of surprise when a major superstar/diva from a brand gets drafted to the other and if he/she is holding a title then the tension involving its possession (like when both Triple H and Edge were WWE and World Heavyweight champions respectively and both were part of Smackdown), they all added to much interesting feuds and storylines. That is something which, you can’t see in this era where everyone just moves around everywhere.

#3 Separate PPVs

The Great American Bash

Another reason for the Ruthless Aggression Era’s success was the presence of separate pay per views for both the brands. Smackdown at that time had some serious popularity and people actually cared about it.

All the tension building up the entire month ends up in a PPV match and the roster strength that Smackdown had, rarely disappointed in their PPVs. Having separate PPVs also raised the value of the four Grand Slams. A traditional Survivor Series match between both the brands was one of the reasons to wait for the PPV and that is something that’s missing these days or which brand’s roster will win the Royal Rumble the following year.

#4 Booking of feuds

Ambrose & Reigns vs The Wyatts

This is something that needs immediate attention. The match card of Smackdown is so predictable these days that people almost choose not to watch it when it is on air, instead, they go for options like reading about it or watch the 2 or 3 minutes long videos of all the matches on the YouTube channel of WWE and that really is a good idea. I mean who would like to waste two hours for a predictable match card when they can watch it in like 20 minutes or so.

Almost every episode of Smackdown has the same routine promo from one of the former members of the Shield in the beginning and that leads up to the main event of the night, a tag team match “playa”. And, in that tag team match, one of these three things will happen; Dean Ambrose will be pinned by someone, Roman Reigns will pin someone or the match will end with no result. This boring booking style has to change for something good to happen on Smackdown.

#5 A Major Title

World Heavyweight Title

Smackdown is in serious need of a title of its own. It’ll not only increase the brand’s value but also be the reason for some exciting matches. In fact, it should have separate tag titles as well just like the old times. One must admit the fact that the talented wrestlers like Dean Ambrose, Cesaro, Kevin Owens and many others are lost in the mid card of RAW each and every week. If there would have been a separate title like the big gold belt they had earlier these people would have delivered 4 or 5 star matches each and every week. I mean think about it, a talented guy like Cesaro and a monster heel like Owens who should have been world champions long ago are still lost in the mix. There has to be a title on the show for the aforementioned talents. This will definitely bring an end to the same old routine show and will provide some much-needed sports entertainment to all the pro wrestling fans around the world.

So, these are some major things that I think needs to be there for Smackdown to find its way back on top which, at this moment, seems like a distant dream. Company’s lack of interest towards it is a shame as, this has been one of their reasons for success in the past decade and making it interesting again would only help them in making more money. Let’s hope that situation of Smackdown will improve and we’ll once again be interested in it.