The fall and fall of Smackdown

gimmick

Looking from the outside, Smackdown is seriously screwed. At the moment , of their main stars, look athow they are doing

Batista - injured
Rey injured, and needs time out
JBL - injured
Benoit - injured
Orton - gone
Angle - gone to ECW

And even then, looking at the lower card guys

Richards - ECW
Nunzio - ECW
Nova - ECW
Jordan - released

Also, i would imagine fellas likle Super Crazy, Psicosis, Kendrick, London and Matthews will end up there as well, so that leaves Smackdown with the following

Hardy
Finlay
Booker
Lashley

All decent wrestlers with some name appeal, but hardly enough to carry a brand.

What Im wondering is this. Is this a way of ending the brand split, without admitting it failed altogether? ECW will hopefully be its own entity, and not a WWE brand. the Diva seach this time round is the WWE Diva search, as opposed to RAW diva search in previous years. One of the titles will most likely change hands on Sunday, and I cannot see Cena losing. There has been no draft, but Raw has benefitted anyways, while SD has just lost superstar after superstar.

Thoughts?

Roar

i reckon its the end of the brand split alright.. which is no bad thing tbh.. ECW wll then be seen as the other brand, with interpromotional matches on PPVs.

Angle's gone to ecw presumably because of the easier schedule..

hardy got a huge pop on the ecw/wwe show last night, it would be great to see him get another run at edge..

i agree with gimmick, i think wwe are doing it on the sly to deflect attention away from the fact the brand split has been a failure..

hopefully with more wrestlers on the same brand on both shows, they'll have more scope for wrestling matches with better storylines, instead of 10 minute HHH promos or 20 min segments with McMahon's kiss my ass club.

Vince135792003

I think its basically down to the fact that until they get on their new network in September, they are really treating it as an afterthought.

Its not the end of the brand split. For me, it has n't been a huge success in terms of being able to watch 2 good shows consistently on a week to week basis.

But financially, the split allows them to have way more house shows, do more international tours and have even more pay per views. In other words even when business is n't booming they can do twice the business they would be doing in a flat period.

I can't see them jobbing Rey to a guy that lost on a TNA ppv a couple of months ago. Not Vince's style.

Skud

Vince135792003 wrote:

I think its basically down to the fact that until they get on their new network in September, they are really treating it as an afterthought.

Perhaps, they might up the ante with sponsors and all that on the new network and they can afford to go through changes now because ECW will steal the limelight at least until then, if done properly.

Vince135792003 wrote:

I can't see them jobbing Rey to a guy that lost on a TNA ppv a couple of months ago. Not Vince's style.

He's lost how many times since he's been champ? I wouldnt be surprised if it happened. Rey's title reign feels like Benoits and Eddies at the beginning. The show is more about other characters like Eugene and HHH was at the time of Benoits reign than anything else. The truth is the unreal potential of Mysterio and him being always a baby face but they burying him to RVD, Khali and Henry is digraceful.

Terry

so that leaves Smackdown with the following

Hardy
Finlay
Booker
Lashley

don't forget the leprachaun.

Vince135792003

Skud wrote:

He's lost how many times since he's been champ? I wouldnt be surprised if it happened./QUOTE]

Even with the way their booking Rey I would be surprised if they gave Sabu the belt.

I think if a title change happens it'll be the Cena RVD match. Although most of the speculation is that they'll do a controversial no finsih for that match.

J.R.HARTLEY

if a title does go over, it'll probably be the old WHC belt, but i imagine they'll hold onto it and reestablish the old ECW title once their program returns

Mr.Nice Guy

Vince135792003 wrote:

I think if a title change happens it'll be the Cena RVD match. Although most of the speculation is that they'll do a controversial no finsih for that match.

I can't see how they'll manage a no finish in ECW. That would probably cause a riot too.

Regarding this thread, I agree Smackdown has gone to the dogs. The only way to save things would be to hold another draft lottery and send a few guys to Smackdown. Maybe Kane, Shelton Benjamin or other guys like that.

Since Cena looks certain to beat RVD, what I hope happens is that Sabu beats Rey to bring the belt to ECW or else Rey wins but changes his mind about staying with Smackdown and decides to defect after all with the title.

I can't wait for Sunday though.

Cactus Col

I think Smackdown is about to go into a great period now, with the injuries and switches to ecw it seems that most of the fat on smackdown has been trimmed, leaving it with a very good roster to build on.

Raw is still bloated and top heavy. Smackdown is still putting on good, solid, entertaining shows.

If the brand split ended, I'd say many smackdown wrestlers would either disappear into the mix (regal would almost certainly be lost again, and say goodbye to finlay), or just be gotten rid of from wwe completly.

Fozzy

I'd say it's certain that the brand split won't be ended anytime soon. They make a lot more money marketing the two shows separately

SD can still do very well for itself if they push the right people. It's an absolute crime that Matt Hardy isn't on tv when they've got so many guys out. He gets one of the biggest reactions every time he comes out, even on the WWE vs ECW show. They're stupid if they don't push him

There's plenty of guys who can wrestle and entertain still on the show. Jamie Noble and Kid Kash aren't getting enough tv time, although they seem to have a bit of a stupid gimmick at the moment. Not to mind disrespectful. Shannon Moore should be back on tv. Paul Burchill can wrestle very well if they give him a chance. Not sure if the pirate gimmick is workin for him. Great to see Regal getting back on tv though