This past summer, the WWE roster was split in two in an attempt to make SmackDown relevant again. “The Blue Show” would be moving nights, switching to a live broadcast, and a general manager that the WWE Universe would scream “YES” for! SmackDown was once again going to be on par with its Monday night counterpart!
… or … or not.
As we come up on Sunday’s first brand-specific Pay-Per-View, it is very hard to say that the two shows, Raw and SmackDown Live, are at the same level. Maybe it is just because it is on second in the week, but watching SmackDown still feels like, well, watching SmackDown.
A lot of the build for Backlash has centered around the creation of a Women’s and Tag Team title specific to SmackDown. All they have done is show that the woman and tag team divisions are inferior to those on Raw.
Unfortunately some of the blame falls on the show’s champion Dean Ambrose. I, like most of the WWE Universe, was excited to see Ambrose take the reins after cashing in Money in the Bank. Since then though, pretty underwhelming. While some of his work with Dolph Ziggler leading up to SummerSlam was pretty entertaining, a lot of it has fallen flat. He has spent most of his time as a comical champion – not the best fit for him. The title match Sunday against AJ Styles should be a good one, but Styles needs to come out on top. He has shown that he can be the main guy and needs to be given the chance to do the same with SmackDown.
The biggest reason for the lack of excitement with SmackDown Live has been John Cena. No, this is not a “I have to hate John Cena because of the super-push he got 10 years ago and blame everything on him” thing, it isn’t really even his fault, but it does concern him.
When the draft was made official, the reports backstage were that Roman Reigns would be the top guy for Raw and Cena would be the top guy for SmackDown. WWE wanted to establish immediate credibility and recognition for SmackDown – what better way than having the most recognizable star on the roster headline the show.
In theory, that makes sense. However, when you know that Cena won’t be on the show so soon after the split, that doesn’t make sense! The confusing part about it is that Cena is still making appearances in dark matches after the show ends. If he is in the arena, why is the most pop-culture friendly superstar since The Rock and Stone Cold Steve Austin NOT on the show? We literally can’t see him! (sorry, couldn’t resist) It makes no sense.
SmackDownLive has enough talent to make it a better show than what it has been. Hopefully they can turn things around soon.
WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT THE START OF SMACKDOWN LIVE? WHAT CAN BE DONE TO BUILD CREDIBILITY? FOLLOW US ON TWITTER @FROM_THETOPROPE AND LET US KNOW!
