WWE Has No Plans To Move Talent To SD!

[EdwardKnoxII 0]

WWE Has No Plans To Move Talent To SD!

 

Promotion apparently does not care what the critics think...

 

WWE has no plans to move any RAW stars over to Smackdown in hopes of balancing the two brands. Most believe that WWE is heavily favoring RAW when it comes to their star power. Smackdown ratings have gone down drastically since the draft lottery.

 

Credit: Torch Newsletter

[TheFranchise 0]

I know someone will say it so i'll say it.

 

Shouldn't this be in the minor news thread?

[TheBigSwigg 0]

It would be, if Nik had started one for today.

 

Anyhow, sucks for Smackdown. No hope for that show for a few months

[SamoaRowe 0]

Well, this just forces Smackdown to make better use of the talent they already have. If you don't have big stars, you create new ones. I just wish the stars they would focus on weren't Bradshaw and Rene Dupree.

[Guest Choken One]

Once again it's sad when the B Roster of Raw is better then the A Roster of Smackdown...

[The Tino Standard 0]

I'm glad they're not moving people over to SmackDown. They just did a major roster shuffle six weeks ago, so to arbitrarily bring somebody over now would cheapen the draft lottery (which would be twice as bad if they plan to make it an annual event, something that has been rumored).

 

SmackDown needs to suck it up and get its shit together on its own. Trying to save the show by shipping over someone from Raw wouldn't help SmackDown... It would just further expose Raw as being the superior brand.

[Guest wrestlingbs]

I'd agree that the SD lockroom needs to suck it up and make new stars, but how? Everybody except Taker are relatively new stars and don't need to be making other new stars. UT won't even show on TV, much less job to a new star. And what talent on SD has shown enough promise to elevate. I'd say RVD and Rey Mysterio as longshots, but the WWE is dead set on keeping them as midcarders.

 

Here's the main event roster for Raw (As seem as credible draws):

 

Chris Benoit

HHH

HBK

Kane

Edge

Orton

Benjamin

Batista

Flair

Jericho

Christian

 

Here's for SD:

Eddie Guerrero

John Cena

Booker T

Taker (part-time)

 

Now there is an obvious gap.

[stahl 0]

I'd add RVD to the list. I wish HBK would get shipped over to smackdown. What is there left for him to do on raw? Everything has been done with him and anything else would be repetitive. I think sending HBK (a heel version mind you) over to smackdown to feud with Eddy would be a win win situation. Raw can afford not to have him on their shows and Smackdown would get a fresh feud, great matches and some star power.

[SamoaRowe 0]

If I were in charge of Smackdown...

 

... I'd make a case to bring Scott Steiner and Test over. That way they tag division could get a boost, and both guys could be potential threats to Eddie's title. Eddie and Test already have had a brief feud back in 2001, which provided a good WM X7 match.

 

I would kill the JBL push as soon as JD is over. Some might say "cancel the match" but it's already been hyped as the main event too long now to back out of it. I would just do the best I could to get JBL over leading up to the show (which they have been doing, rather creatively as well).

 

The Rey/Chavo feud would still be going at full steam. I'd be hyping that up as one of the bigger matches for Judgment Day, and I'd actually want to put a stipulation on it just because they already faced each other at No Way Out and briefly again at WrestleMania XX.

 

I'd be using the Rico/Haas/Jackie storyline as a way to get Haas over big time as a heel. This way once the team splits up, Haas can have a feud with Rico and win the blow-off. From that point on, have Haas go on a feud for Cena's U.S. title and lose this one initially.

 

Meanwhile, I'd book Rob Van Dam against one of the underutilized Cruiserweights. The whole storyline would be the cruiserweight wanting attention at any cost by picking a fight with a big name. For this role, I would actually pick Akio. I could picture them having good matches together and it would give Akio some good time in the spotlight.

 

Mark Jindrak would never make it above Velocity.

 

I'd restart the Billy Kidman/Paul London tag team. I'd put them in a feud with the Dudley Boyz, partly to have a tag team feud that doesn't involve the titles. This would make it seem that the tag division had more depth. The winners of the feud could even get a title shot afterwards. Some fun stipulations could be used here as well, maybe even a tables match at JD. This could provide Kidman and London some good opportunities for some fun spots. The feud wouldn't be a squash either, I'd actually have London/Kidman go over the Dudleyz at least 50/50 so even if the Dudleyz were to win the blow-off, Kidman and London could have picked up some overness and recognition in the process.

 

This really should be an exciting time for Smackdown, but it isn't. They are in a situation where they HAVE to push new people. Bradshaw's push will not last if it's a clear failure, regardless of how much Vince loves the gimmick. Though I would not be at all surprised if Eddie's challengers after JBL turned out to be Hardcore Holly or Billy Gunn.

[Guest MikeSC]

I'm glad they're not moving people over to SmackDown. They just did a major roster shuffle six weeks ago, so to arbitrarily bring somebody over now would cheapen the draft lottery (which would be twice as bad if they plan to make it an annual event, something that has been rumored).

 

SmackDown needs to suck it up and get its shit together on its own. Trying to save the show by shipping over someone from Raw wouldn't help SmackDown... It would just further expose Raw as being the superior brand.

Problem is --- almost anybody SD builds up gets shipped off to RAW.

 

Hurricane.

Jericho.

Christian.

Storm.

Benjamin.

The Rock (SD was named for him, for God's sake)

Heck, Hunter was on SD until he just went over to RAW for no reason.

Benoit.

-=Mike

[Guest Choken One]

I still believe a simple Paul Heymans NEW Dangerous Alliance angle would work wonders in Smackdown Land right now...Wouldn't equal Raw but would be much better nontheless.

[Use Your Illusion 0]

Smackdown *got* all the star power in the inital draft, with the likes of Rock, Triple H, Hulk Hogan, Kurt Angle & Chris Benoit (admittedly, he stuck around on RAW for a little bit when returned, but ultimately ended up on SD!) all being drafted to the Thursday show, not to mention the influx of new blood like WGTT & Rey Mysterio.

 

I would encourage SD! to make new stars, but there isn't anyone there I want to see in the main event, besides maybe Rene Dupree, but he is lightyears away from being ready for something such as carrying a main event feud yet.

 

As much as I hate him, Cena is the guy to build up and co-carry SD! with Eddie Guerrero & Booker T. Apparently Eddie is mega-banged up at the moment too, which makes things even worse.

 

Times be grim.

 

UYI

[Guest wrestlingbs]

I'd add RVD to the list.

Not on a list of Main-eventers. Maybe potential main-eventers. RVD's not only got some work to do on his ability, but also he's been buried so much he's hardly a midcarder anymore.

 

Here's an idea: Bring Val Venis and HBK over. Micheals has got jack shit to do after Bad Blood, and Venis is a talented guy who never gets apush. And Bradshaw show be a midcarder after JD, at best!

[Guest croweater]

I think they'll do a Cena/Bradshaw feud after Judgement Day and have Cena go over pretty easily (It would make sense as Bradshaw is playing "great American" so a US title shot seems logical).

 

Eddie will go over JBL at Judgement Day, but then he's really got no one to feud with. Booker T would be the obvious choice, however to go into a world title feud coming off a loss from the Undertaker (because he really has snowballs chance at winning) is unlikely.

 

Eddie really has no other legitimate challengers UNLESS they make with the RVD heel turn. RVD isn't as popular as he once was and his character could sure use a mean streak. Put him with the dudly's and Heyman and build him up for the next SD PPV. Play the numbers game on Eddie. It would also be good if Booker T and RVD alligned themselves on the Heel side. But I can't imagine Booker's character suiting the Dud's/RVD/Heyman thing.

[Use Your Illusion 0]

Haven't you been watching SD!? Those Dudleys, they're main eventers now, you know.

[Scroby 0]

I wouldn't mind seeing Steiner on Smackdown at all. I mean yeah he's crap in the ring but he's a great on the mic well he was I don't know about now. He really hasn't gotten that much mic time since coming to the WWE while he's been a heel. If he just came over to Smackdown to play Heel and not face, everything will be cool.

[TheFranchise 0]

Haven't you been watching SD!? Those Dudleys, they're main eventers now, you know.

Yes.

 

They are The Dudley.

[Spaceman Spiff 0]

... I'd make a case to bring Scott Steiner and Test over. That way they tag division could get a boost, and both guys could be potential threats to Eddie's title. Eddie and Test already have had a brief feud back in 2001, which provided a good WM X7 match.

 

I would kill the JBL push as soon as JD is over. Some might say "cancel the match" but it's already been hyped as the main event too long now to back out of it. I would just do the best I could to get JBL over leading up to the show (which they have been doing, rather creatively as well).

Test & Steiner are no more credible as challengers to Eddie than Bradshaw. Plus, both are injured, and haven't been on TV in ages. Nobody would buy them as ME'ers. When last on Raw, they were low-card players, so to bring them to SD and drop them in the ME scene would be a mistake.

 

-Take Rey out of the cruiser division and make him an upper midcard player. He's popular & credible enough to be a player there, and a future US Title champ.

 

-Focus on the tag division. Pair up some cruisers as teams, rather than use them as jobbers for the big guys. You've got face champs, so start building up some heel teams to challenge Rico/Haas. FBI & Akio/Sakoda could both be challengers. When they lose the belts, Haas moves into the upper midcard as a single.

 

-Use the cruisers. They need to get over their disdain for the smaller guys. They've got some good workers being wasted, so use them to carry the early portions of the show. they'll also help fill out PPV cards. We just had a fantastic Rey/Knoble match on Velocity - there's no need to bury these matches on the B-shows.

[haVoc 0]

I'd add RVD to the list.

Not on a list of Main-eventers. Maybe potential main-eventers. RVD's not only got some work to do on his ability, but also he's been buried so much he's hardly a midcarder anymore.

 

If Bradshaw can turn heel and be pushed straight to the main event then RVD sure as Hell can.

[SamoaRowe 0]

... I'd make a case to bring Scott Steiner and Test over. That way they tag division could get a boost, and both guys could be potential threats to Eddie's title. Eddie and Test already have had a brief feud back in 2001, which provided a good WM X7 match.

 

I would kill the JBL push as soon as JD is over. Some might say "cancel the match" but it's already been hyped as the main event too long now to back out of it. I would just do the best I could to get JBL over leading up to the show (which they have been doing, rather creatively as well).

Test & Steiner are no more credible as challengers to Eddie than Bradshaw. Plus, both are injured, and haven't been on TV in ages. Nobody would buy them as ME'ers. When last on Raw, they were low-card players, so to bring them to SD and drop them in the ME scene would be a mistake.

 

-Take Rey out of the cruiser division and make him an upper midcard player. He's popular & credible enough to be a player there, and a future US Title champ.

 

-Focus on the tag division. Pair up some cruisers as teams, rather than use them as jobbers for the big guys. You've got face champs, so start building up some heel teams to challenge Rico/Haas. FBI & Akio/Sakoda could both be challengers. When they lose the belts, Haas moves into the upper midcard as a single.

 

-Use the cruisers. They need to get over their disdain for the smaller guys. They've got some good workers being wasted, so use them to carry the early portions of the show. they'll also help fill out PPV cards. We just had a fantastic Rey/Knoble match on Velocity - there's no need to bury these matches on the B-shows.

-If reintroduced correctly, Steiner could instantly be a player again. Fans remembered him when he first came back to WWE despite not having been on television for closer to three years. As for Test, he has a past with Eddie that could be played into, and Test has been known to have good matches in the past. I don't know if I'd use Test for any PPV title defenses, but he could have a good min-run with Guerrero on Smackdown. And if they weren't going to challenge Guerrero, they could still be a tag team. Could you imagine Rico trying his gay schtick on Steiner?

 

I fully agree that Rey could be put to good use in the Upper-card division, I would want him to have a proper blow-off with Chavo first. They had a really good match at No Way Out, but the Wrestlemania "Cruiserweight Open" was embarassing.

 

I would definitly want to do more with the cruisers. That's why I focused heavily on London, Akio, and Kidman in my original post. Similar to what I said with the tag division, I'd want some cruiserweight feuds that were not just centering around the title.

[Spaceman Spiff 0]

Fans also remember his awful feud w/ HHH. Steiner is just horrible in the ring at this point, so Eddie would have to pull a minor miracle to get good matches out of him. At least Bradshaw is mobile.

 

As for Test, he's been pathetically unover without Stacy by his side.

 

I would definitly want to do more with the cruisers. That's why I focused heavily on London, Akio, and Kidman in my original post.

Needs more Knoble.

[Guest duck420]

time to push nunzio as eddies next opponent

[stahl 0]

Not on a list of Main-eventers. Maybe potential main-eventers. RVD's not only got some work to do on his ability, but also he's been buried so much he's hardly a midcarder anymore.

 

True, but you have Benjamin and Christian on the raw side, and RVD is above them for the most part as they aren't exactly main eventers either.

[SamoaRowe 0]

I would definitly want to do more with the cruisers. That's why I focused heavily on London, Akio, and Kidman in my original post.

Needs more Knoble.

Yeah, I forgot to mention Noble, but I think that's because he's been occasionally used in angles and feuds.