The two tiers of WWE

Bounty Hunter

For a long time now it has seemed to most Wrestling fans (at least from what i see and hear) that Raw is clearly considerd the better of the two WWE branded shows(not inc the new ECW). Im just wondering are the WWE actively trying to promote Smackdown as the Minor leagues and Raw the Major league or for people over here the premiership of Pro-Wrestling.

Seemingly Raw has the better Roster

Vince only shows his face on Raw

ECW wrestlers only get involved with Raw for storylines, and only Raw superstars turn up on the new and highly promoted ECW

Smackdown main events with Lashley vs King Booker and has people like "The Miz" on its Show while Lillian Garcia is ringside for DX's reunion on RAW

and im sure there are many more examples of what makes me wonder do the WWE really care if one of their shows looks weak in comparison to the other?

I_Need_a_Life

im sure it has been harped on about before, but the fact that the smackdown main event at wrestlemania 22 only lasted 9 minutes. Cena and HHH ring entrences were longer then that.

Fozzy

I think a big part of it at the moment is that SD is moving to a new network in September, and over the summer, I think nearly half of the broadcasters in America that show SD will be dropping their network before September. So basically they're not putting a lot of emphasis on SD because not as many people are going to be able to watch it over the summer, and they'd be wasting their money promoting it when they're going to be doing that anyway with the new network in September

It has always seemed to be slightly behind Raw all the time though. Raw was there first, it's live, it's on cable and they can push the boundaries further

Dickmcsavage

Well I would definitly agree that Smackdown isn't as good a brand as RAW. There's also a clear difference in format also. The gimmicks on smackdown seem so childish. King Booker?! The little Bastard?! Bobby Feckin lashley?!
I don't know
On the other hand, on raw, you have the likes of HHH, Shawn Micheals, ric flair, mick foley, orton etc, etc.
Another thing to point out aswell is the fact that if any wrestlers like hogan, the rock or Austin ever come back for a short stint its always without fail lon RAW.

AlphaMale 3OO

I am a personally, a big fan of RAW and the only thing that makes me go anywhere near Smackdown is the Undertaker. WWE have been trying to push SD over the last year or so but it hasnt worked and so they seem to have given up. Examples are Smackdowns headlining of the Royal Rumble (Main event was Angle vs. Henry and Mysterio won the Rumble itself) as well as Angles own defection to SD and Team Smackdowns victory at the Survivor Series. These were all concerted efforts to promote SD and WWE even boasted that SD had overtaken RAW in the ratings. I wonder about that statement but it has all been to no avail. With the arrival of ECW, Smackdown would do well to amalgamate with RAW.

Cactus Col

Dickmcsavage wrote:

Well I would definitly agree that Smackdown isn't as good a brand as RAW. There's also a clear difference in format also. The gimmicks on smackdown seem so childish. King Booker?! The little Bastard?! Bobby Feckin lashley?!

Childish? Umaga ... Cheerleaders.

Smackdown has been the screwed around by wwe since day one of the brand split, but, despite that it still manages to be the more entertaining, and fresher feeling show.

Mr.Nice Guy

Cactus Col wrote:

Smackdown has been the screwed around by wwe since day one of the brand split, but, despite that it still manages to be the more entertaining, and fresher feeling show.

I don't think that's the case any more. When your main event is King Booker vs Bobby Lashley, then you know you're in trouble.

Smackdown is reeling from missing a lot of its wrestlers. Benoit, JBL, Undertaker, Randy Orton, Kurt Angle etc.

Batista's return will make a difference but he's not going to have classic matches against Mark Henry is he?

If the WWE cared about Smackdown they'd do a draft lottery again and move some wrestlers over. The fact that they haven't is telling.

Fozzy

Mr.Nice Guy wrote:

I don't think that's the case any more. When your main event is King Booker vs Bobby Lashley, then you know you're in trouble.

I could say the same thing about Raw. When your main event doesn't even go on for a full minute, you know you're in trouble. SD's main event last week was much better

SD back in the days of Benoit, Angle, Eddie, Chavo, Rey and Edge was the most entertaining time since the brand split. I still find it less boring most of the time. I think it's because you're nearly always guaranteed a decent match, much more so than Raw anyway

Anyway, I'd guarantee that once September rolls around and SD's on their new network, they'll be pushing it big time

Cactus Col

It's interesting to note that Raw has about 8 former world champions on its roster, while Smackdown has 4 (that's Rey, Booker T (who hasn't held a world title in wwe), undertaker who's a part timer, and Batista who's out injured. ECW has three.

evad_lhorg

somebody said something about childish then another mentioned umaga and the poxy spirit squad.

lets not forget Eugene. the whole company has gone real childish with the storylines lately.

triple h

around some time last year i stopped watching SD for months, i found it boring (i never gave up on raw) then i got back into SD, and i was starting to enjoy it.
BUT the last few weeks on SD has been terrible. after reading the messages above i have decided to stop watching SD for the summer. i might get back into TNA which i cannot seem to get the time to watch, even though i have sky+.

evad_lhorg

wwhat channel shows it?

Fozzy

The Wrestling Channel!

triple h

sky channel 123 (forget the name) was showing TNA one day. i was just wondering is this current stuff (i only saw the last minute of it, thats why i dont know). i thinkl it was on tuesday, which is a better day for me to watch it. TWC show TNA on saturday night and thats not a cool time for me.