Matt788 Posted April 2, 2016 Share Posted April 2, 2016 I usually watch SmackDown every week, but to be honest it feels like I am watching Raw-lite. SmackDown has a great timeslot on a great network. In my opinion badly needs a few new ideas to make the show have it's own identity and not be a caffeine free version of monday night. #1. Show classic clipped matches of SD's finest moments. They used to do this. It would be great to see a clipped 5 minutes of Kurt Angle or Edge or Eddie Geurrero. It would be a chance to advertise the network and educate new fans on SD's awesome past. #2 have an NXT showcase match open every SD broadcast. I don't expect Nakamura or Balor debuts, but it would be great to showcase Blake and Murphy vs the Revival or Baron Corbin vs Apollo Crews as a one off match that is essentially a sneak peak at what is to come later in WWE world. Heath Slater and his Outcasts would also make perfect opponents to many NXT acts. The NXT competitors could get a nice victory and a chance to gain some exposure and gauge viewer interest without having a full debut. The storyline could be that Heath hates NXT and wants his crew to do battle with new opponents each week. This would give WWE fans without the network a chance to see new stars. It wouls also make SD a more must-watch show. #3 Bring back squash matches, but only for the Ascension. Bring in the Colin Delaney's of the indy scene for a quick squash with Konor and Victor. Do this for two months, every week crushing smaller wrestlers until Konor and Victor are seen as more credible and then give them a PPV against the Uso's. WWE doesn't really need too many squashes but the Ascension sure need them. #4 make the US title a SD only belt that is defended every week. Whoever is US champ should be exclusive to SD and PPV. If you can't see one act on RAW it makes that act special. Samoa Joe debuting this way would work really well. Please add your own opinions on more ways to make SD better. Right now it's not even a B show but with a little care it could be another A show. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hooker Posted April 2, 2016 Share Posted April 2, 2016 Replace it with Seinfeld reruns. 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
(BP) Posted April 2, 2016 Share Posted April 2, 2016 Do that commercial break thing WCW did for TNT's Robin Hood but with Mr. Robot or Suits. Every week. Forever. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zev Posted April 3, 2016 Share Posted April 3, 2016 @Matt788 Please allow me to address your points. 1. Best of Smackdown segment sounds like it would just be a hard shill for a full Best of Smackdown show to be featured on the Network. Network gets plugged enough on Raw and Smackdown as it is. 2. Heath Slater vs. anyone is a tough road to go if your end game is making it must see TV. I mean, I'd maybe tune in if it was still a pretaped show and I knew it was going to be him being squashed by Lita or Vader, but Outcasts vs. NXT seems more like it would be better for NXT if they went to a 90 minute format. They declare themselves gatekeepers, folks have to beat them in order to appear on Smackdown someday. 3. Ascension vs. enhancement talent would turn a B show to an A show how? Ascension getting squashed by Road Warrior Animal and Demolition Smash though...or Haku and Mark Henry, now you're talking. 4. When Brock went exclusively to Smackdown for title defenses, didn't they just gave HHH a belt for staying on RAW? How does a US title only on SD not cause a RAW only title to be created? 4b. Would giving the Cruiserweight tourney winner an actual title to defend work as far as SD exclusive go, or do you think the tourney should be a stand alone feature? -- To address the other posters so far, I'm leaning towards just replacing SD with NXT and Mr. Robot. But I'd be okay with Silk Stalkings reruns, it is USA after all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StretchMediatedHypertrophy Posted April 3, 2016 Share Posted April 3, 2016 You could tell they were clearly trying to make Smackdown feel important again, with Jericho-Styles II really succeeding.......but WWE can never sustain these things. I remember when Main Event was more than a recap show. Hell I remember when Superstars was more than a recap show. We'll see if we get the Brand Extension 2.0 via Shane winning HITC and taking over RAW soon enough. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SorceressKnight Posted April 3, 2016 Share Posted April 3, 2016 If you're doing a NXT showcase, better to just go all out with it and turn it to: "NXT Match of the Week". Every week, a different NXT vs. NXT match featuring stars all the way up and down the NXT rotation from Balor down to No Way Jose, in a one off match for the same purposes. Simpler, more effective, gives Smackdown a potential showcase match, and has the same bonus ot make people interested. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fallacy! Posted April 3, 2016 Share Posted April 3, 2016 WWE should really use Smackdown as an opportunity to think outside the box and try something different from the usual formulaic 2/3 hour wrestling TV show. I would like to see something much more character driven, with vignettes and segments presented in a totally different manner than they are on Raw. I'm thinking of some kind of cross between Lucha Underground and TNA Reaction. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
evilwaldo Posted April 3, 2016 Share Posted April 3, 2016 Remove The Authority freeing up at least 45 minutes for other performers. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Web Conn Posted April 10, 2016 Share Posted April 10, 2016 More cowbell Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zev Posted April 10, 2016 Share Posted April 10, 2016 1 hour ago, Web Conn said: More cowbell Uncle Zeb with Jesse and Festus? Bellor Club? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Web Conn Posted April 10, 2016 Share Posted April 10, 2016 Hire Cheeseburger change his name to Cowbell and have him come to the ring playing a cowbell. In all seriousness I think that longer matches and more emphasis on actually wrestling would do Smackdown some good. i remember when I was a kid during the early days of the brand extension that Smackdown was the wrestling show and was a lot of fun because of that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John from Cincinnati Posted April 10, 2016 Share Posted April 10, 2016 Implying the Ascension don't already work a tonne of squashes? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nice Guy Eddie Posted April 11, 2016 Share Posted April 11, 2016 Firing squad shooting Jerry Lawler in the middle of the ring 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sydneybrown Posted April 11, 2016 Share Posted April 11, 2016 2 hours ago, Nice Guy Eddie said: Firing squad shooting Jerry Lawler in the middle of the ring I know you are making a joke and all, but dude, Lawler's already died once on TV. Even in jest, I have no desire to ever see or hear that again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wyld Samurai Posted April 11, 2016 Share Posted April 11, 2016 Brand split. No World Champion (just the WWE Champion) that travels between shows. The IC remains RAW and the US becomes Smackdown's singles belt. A quasi throwback to the territories. I don't know how that'd work with the women's division or tag teams. But for singles that's the way to go. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JCM Posted April 11, 2016 Share Posted April 11, 2016 Getting rid of Lawler is #1 on my list by a long shot. Graves is ready for the call up, and I think him and Mauro would be great. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Technico Support Posted April 11, 2016 Share Posted April 11, 2016 They'd need to make Smackdown totally different from Raw to make it a better show. It's can't just be a Raw Lite, meaningless two hours of programming because Raw is already too god damn long as it is. The brand split/different titles ideas are great but they should change the look, too. I remember hearing from either Court Bauer or Alex Greenfield on a podcast talking about how they proposed back in the day for Smackdown to be a totally different show like this, complete with a different director, producer and crew. There was initial agreement from Vince but he changed his mind and somehow it was shot down. I don't know how, but it just didn't get dunn. I mean done. Sorry for the typo. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
glfpunk Posted April 11, 2016 Share Posted April 11, 2016 The best thing they could do aside from a brand split would be to just at least advance story lines on Smackdown. Right now it's almost a standalone TV show. There are exceptions to this but it's almost like they're conceding that nobody watches it so they won't dare to put something important on. I think that's the opposite route they should take. But I'm down for a brand split for sure. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charlie M. Posted April 11, 2016 Share Posted April 11, 2016 I think the main problem is that they change RAW a million times before Monday so they literally have a day to put Smackdown together. Even if they had plans in advance, they'd all get screwed up by what happens on RAW. I'd treat it as a soft brand split show where you do some feuds for guys who are over but aren't in the plans for the next PPV. Just one or two mini feuds that get blown off on TV to make the show feel at least somewhat important. That would also require a degree of planning that they seem unwilling to do, though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Stefanie Without Stefanie Posted April 11, 2016 Share Posted April 11, 2016 Move Lawler to something nobody watches (like the Network pre-shows), move Saxton off, bring Graves up to work with Ranallo (or maybe give Renee Young a shot, I really liked her when she was announcing on NXT, plus she's worked with Ranallo in the past and has good chemistry with him). Put more women's matches on the show. Actually, it's a pipe dream but I'd totally be fine with making Smackdown exclusively the women's show, especially if they dropped Lawler (IMO they have enough women's talent between the main roster and NXT to have a two hour show exclusively with women). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phantom Lord Posted April 11, 2016 Share Posted April 11, 2016 Cut the RAW recaps. Assume we've watched RAW. We don't need to see entire frigging recaps that take up entire chunks of the show up. I would also make one title like the US title exclusive to the show so it's defended there to make it special. Mainly I'd move Lawler out of the broadcast team. He is such an albatross when he shits on Mauro's straight commentary when calling moves. I think something that could help Smackdown is giving it a different look than RAW. Different set, maybe different shot set up. Of course there is no way the WWE would ever go for this. Visually it just needs something to stand out from being RAW Lite. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zev Posted April 12, 2016 Share Posted April 12, 2016 Move it to 6:05 PM Saturday. Have a Where Are They Now segment every week. First up: The Mulkeys. Oh and replace Lawler with Regal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SorceressKnight Posted April 12, 2016 Share Posted April 12, 2016 13 hours ago, Wyld Samurai said: Brand split. No World Champion (just the WWE Champion) that travels between shows. The IC remains RAW and the US becomes Smackdown's singles belt. A quasi throwback to the territories. I don't know how that'd work with the women's division or tag teams. But for singles that's the way to go. SInce it's clear by now that they're revitalizing the tag team division, it seems like a good way to switch that would be the same way the brand split did it originally (where the cruiserweights were exclusive to Smackdown- and after some lip service to claiming "Jazz could appear on both shows as champion", eventually changed it to the women being exclusive to Raw.) Heck, even doing it with "the women's division is exclusive to Raw, the tag team division is exclusive to Smackdown" could potentially make Raw a slightly better show, as you have the possibility of splintering the show further and going "from now on, 8-9 pm is an all-women's hour, 9-11 is the men's division" (thus "getting Raw back to two hours" and adding a one-hour women's show as a separate show-slash-preshow to Raw.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HumanChessgame Posted April 12, 2016 Share Posted April 12, 2016 Move it back to network TV. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GuerrillaMonsoon Posted April 12, 2016 Share Posted April 12, 2016 More incest angles and making a guy with an 18 inch dong the face of the brand. Duh. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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