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The 19th of June 2016 marked a momentous day in Smackdown history. WWE promised a new era which they delivered in the form of a draft. The highly anticipated draft saw WWE’s main event talent shuffled across both brands and it presented underutilised talent with a rare chance to break Vince McMahon’s ‘solid steel’ glass ceiling. Thus, the “B show” became the land of opportunity.
The blue brand did not have Brock Lesnar’s megastar presence, a comfortable three-hour runtime to execute their narratives, or an extra Cruiserweight Division to excite crowds. Even though the brand was lacking those luxuries, Smackdown Live managed to use their limited resources exceptionally well to create compelling television.
The land of opportunity had indie darlings, lovable underdogs, and a well-balanced spread of respectable veterans and all those factors meshed well with each other to make Smackdown Live must-see television in 2016. However, after Wrestlemania 33 had concluded, WWE was champing at the bit to obtain the blue brand’s polished assets.
While WWE’s 2016 draft was a blessing in disguise for Smackdown Live, the 2017 Superstar Shake Up saw WWE extract cornerstones from the land of opportunity. These were underrated Superstars who finally found their place on the blue brand, but WWE thoughtlessly halted their momentum. Raw now had main eventers such as Dean Ambrose, The Miz and Bray Wyatt when Smackdown Live needed those Superstars the most.
From taking the above into account, WWE uses Smackdown Live as a secondary developmental brand, as previously struggling stars such as Bray Wyatt and The Miz discovered themselves on Smackdown Live only to return to Raw. Now that former Raw Superstars such as Sami Zayn and Rusev are thriving on Smackdown Live, they are most likely heading back to Raw in 2018.
Although this system implemented by WWE is effective, the success of the blue brand has been hampered by it.
#1 The prodigal son takes center stage
When “the boy wonder” had interrupted another ‘McMahon’s hog the spotlight’ segment in 2016, the WWE Universe erupted to a huge ovation. Although the segment was drawn out, set up a disappointing match with the Undertaker at Wrestlemania 32 and had the Chairman drop a rare ‘F-bomb’, Shane had truly cemented himself as the anti-McMahon.Therefore, his inspiring return had lit a fire under the WWE Universe to rally in support for the “B show”.
“The prodigal son” had promised fans he would bring change to Smackdown Live, and to his credit, he did just that. Shane McMahon and Daniel Bryan were and are a refreshing take on WWE’s authority figures and seemed to construct a well-layered show that highlighted the Superstars rather than management. As time went by, the commissioner and his GM put the blue brand back in the spotlight.
After WWE spent months building up Shane O’Mac as the new era McMahon, they had seamlessly demolished that perception when they presented him as the focal point of the brand on numerous occasions. Smackdown Live went from a non-typical WWE show to the Shane McMahon highlight reel.
Although Shane’s constant presence in the main event scene prevented rising talent a chance to grow, his matches with AJ Styles and Kevin Owens were well-crafted matches that had the right result.
But WWE is failing to realise that not even kayfabe can justify a 47-year-old non-wrestler taking highly skilled athletes to the limit. From outlasting former World Champions in the Survivor Series main event to possibly being the man that will face Daniel Bryan in his first match out of retirement, the blue brand’s boss is starting to feel less like the anti-McMahon that endeared him to the fans and more like a typical McMahon.
A McMahon that has stolen hours of the spotlight from more deserving ‘wrestlers’.
#2 Hot talent warm the bench
WWE's developmental show, NXT, is taking over the company, evident from its outstanding matches, spectacularly built feuds, and a pay-per-view atmosphere that is almost as electric as The Rock. The yellow brand seems to look more like the main roster show than Raw or Smackdown Live. Superstars earn every single title, accolade and praise in the Full Sail Arena, as wrestler’s give it their all to attain it.
Therefore, to ensure the correct handling of their future main eventers, most would expect WWE to follow that picture-perfect NXT blueprint.
However, WWE's NXT call-up system has not been without flaws. Superstars that have been groomed to be main eventers were mishandled such. From a respected wrestling icon thrown into a failing experiment to Superstars not given a chance to break free, most of WWE's 2017 injustices have taken place on Smackdown Live.
When Shinsuke Nakamura, Bobby Roode and Tye Dillinger had made their main roster debut, fans rejoiced. These were NXT's breakout Superstars who proved that they are capable of main eventing marquee pay-per-views on WWE’s calendar. Instead, WWE had supposedly forgotten about them as soon as they debuted.
WWE booked Nakamura against lukewarm rivals, Roode was inexplicably made a baby face only due to the popularity of his entrance, and for the majority of the year, WWE left Tye Dillinger off the show.
Not only were debuting NXT talent wasted on the ‘B show’, WWE had wasted Superstars that were now ready to climb out of their pit of obscurity. Whether it was the unusual wild-eyed baby face, Harper, a hated monster turned lovable babyface in Rusev or the talented Breezango, WWE never awarded those athletes the push they earned.
These fan favourites could've assisted the blue brand in its toughest periods. But more importantly, it shows that Smackdown Live is not the land of opportunity it marketed itself as in 2017.
#3 John Cena misses a step
WWE’s franchise player has been at the centre of WWE programming for over 15 years, sometimes to fan dismay and nowadays to their delight.
Therefore, when the brand split promised the dawn of a new era in Smackdown history and most of WWE’s top stars such as Brock Lesnar, Roman Reigns and Kevin Owens were sent to Raw, Smackdown Live received young up and comers like Bray Wyatt, Dean Ambrose, and Luke Harper. The only Superstar who could tip that equation in the blue brand’s favour is Cena.
Cena had been used exceptionally well in his first run as the face of Smackdown Live, as his dream programme with Styles delivered a pro wrestling masterpiece at Summerslam 2016 and made history at the Royal Rumble 2017. Cena ending AJ Styles' phenomenal WWE Title was unfortunate, but it was a huge positive for Smackdown Live going forward.
Having a 16-time World champion as the top champion on Smackdown Live, instantly put the blue brand on an elite level.
Unfortunately, the WWE creative team had no plans for "Big Match John" after his historic win. One month later, WWE had Cena drop the title inside the newly revamped Elimination Chamber to a man that he had buried more than once. After putting over Bray Wyatt, Cena was free to make his triumphant in-ring return to Wrestlemania after missing the “show of shows” last year.
Baffled, astonished, and confused were the only words to describe the fans reaction to Cena’s involvement in a mixed tag team match at Wrestlemania 33. Apart from the moment that Cena had proposed to Nikki Bella, that programme was an utter waste. That was not the last time WWE creative had dropped the ball with Cena in 2017. As Cena somehow achieved free agent status in WWE, Smackdown Live had managed to waste him.
An unnecessary feud with Rusev, a disappointing match with Baron Corbin, a shoehorned dream match with Shinsuke Nakamura, and a pointless appearance at Survivor Series, WWE not utilising a rising star is nothing new, but wasting a marquee star like Cena is truly puzzling.
#4 Women’s wrestling becomes a group affair
Over the past decade, women’s wrestling was nothing more than a mere afterthought in the minds of the WWE creative team, and that unfortunate trend was set to continue for the next decade, but along came a brand that has been a saving grace for WWE. NXT had revolutionised women’s wrestling in WWE. From pointless pre-show matches to being referred to as divas, women wrestlers were changing the perception one match at a time.
The return of the brand split sent the WWE Women’s Title to Raw, leaving the blue brand's women division without a World title. Thus, WWE created the Smackdown Live Women’s Title, giving the women’s division an opportunity they would never have received on Raw. Becky Lynch was finally given a chance to rise above her fellow horsewomen as she won the exclusive Smackdown Live title.
Although having one title means every Superstar's goal is to become champion, individual feuds are important to ensure a division's success. From having arguably one of the best wrestlers on the roster in Charlotte Flair, to skilled veterans like Natalya and Tamina, WWE still subjected the women’s division to multi-woman matches all year round.
From six-pack challenges to lumberjack matches, the Smackdown Live Women’s Title slowly became synonymous with multi-woman matches. Although WWE had countless chances to build new singles feuds, it wasn’t long before they created the pointless Welcoming Committee, a group that increased the volume of tag team matches.
Defining programmes such as Lana’s evolution from the “Ravishing Russian” to a professional wrestler, Natalya struggling to keep her place as the respected veteran, and a much-needed character shift for “the Irish Lass Kicker”; a plethora of unique angles could’ve ensured the success of the women’s division in 2017.
#5 The WWE title falls into mid-card obscurity
When Dean Ambrose had defeated his Shield brothers and brought the prestigious WWE Title to the blue brand, WWE had convinced many wrestling aficionados that the blue brand would finally take centre stage in the company. However, Ambrose's reign became a somewhat lukewarm run, and creative had rightfully shifted the championship to a fiercely rising AJ Styles.
Styles' WWE Title reign was one of the best championship runs in the entire company, back in 2016. Therefore, when John Cena defeated Styles at Royal Rumble 2017 for the title, most were assured it was in good hands. However, it was all downhill for the WWE title from there on out. Instead of Cena’s title run being a well-drawn out programme, he held his 16th World Title for one month and dropped it to the eccentric Bray Wyatt.
Instead of WWE using the title to finally elevate Wyatt, the former leader of the Wyatt Family was given the same treatment as Cena and lost his first world title in less than two months to Randy Orton in a terrible match at Wrestlemania 33.
After WWE had buried Wyatt yet again, fans hoped Orton’s next challenger would be a deserving up and coming star. Instead, WWE not only shocked the world by having Jinder Mahal become the number one contender but unimaginably becoming the WWE Champion.
That shocking sight was a surprisingly refreshing decision by WWE, but having Mahal go from jobber to World Champion in a month, was the wrong approach WWE took to building up Mahal as a credible threat. In fact, this was a missed opportunity for WWE to create a monster champion heel which the blue brand needed.
Instead, the company had worsened Mahal’s WWE title reign by booking him in repetitive average matches, giving him monotonous promos and not letting his character evolve beyond ‘the hated foreigner’.
All those factors contributed to the WWE title becoming a mid-card programme prop. Therefore, Kevin Owens become synonymous with the main event scene as his feuds with AJ Styles and Shane McMahon headlined many pay-per-views and Smackdown Live episodes. Now that the WWE title is back with Styles, it will begin its resurgence in 2018.
