Where Smackdown went wrong...

[justcoz 0]

If this belongs in Fantasy Booking I apologize. I consider it more of a discussion of the Raw/Smackdown draft lottery and what happened to Smackdown following. Tweaks that could've been done at the time of the lottery to benefit Smackdown.

 

Although Smackdown was hit with the loss of Benoit, Lesnar and Angles reoccurring injuries, my outlook for the future of the brand wasn't dismal going into the lottery episode of Raw. In fact, I thought the whole point of the lottery was to move stars over to Smackdown to balance things out. I was hoping that both RVD and Booker T would end up Smackdown. I knew they were losing Edge to Raw. I didn't even object to HHH getting drafted to Smackdown but I knew it wasn't going to be a permanent switch when they ran HHH vs. Eddie on that very episode of Raw and he didn't walk away with the title.

 

Throughout the draft, I enjoyed the exchanges between Heyman and Bischoff. Given the fact that several years ago, this was ECW vs. WCW, it added a legitimacy to each guy running their respective brands.

 

WHERE SMACKDOWN WENT WRONG:

 

Shelton Benjamin to RAW: Yes, it can be debated that he got the rub from HHH and it made him an impact player, but really it hasn't. They've done nothing with the character to get him over besides the upset. I like the potential with the Shelton vs. Orton IC Title feud but Shelton, in my eyes, seemed like the logical candidate on Smackdown to step in and replace Lesnar. His smug arrogant cocky demeanor seems more heelish than a face.

 

Instead of running HHH vs. Eddie on the draft lottery RAW, they could have Benjamin drafted to Raw. They could have ran Shelton vs. HHH that night with Shelton getting the upset. HHH could have pushed Bischoff to trade Shelton back to Smackdown where his victory over the Raw superstar elevated him and Smackdown to the casual fan. HHH could have got heat by stating that Benjamin got lucky and even luckier that he was traded back to Smackdown and there would be no rematch for HHH to prove it was a fluke.

 

Benjamin could have returned to Smackdown where he would be greeted by Kurt Angle, requesting to be his advisor and the man to make him the next WWE champion on the heels of his win over HHH.

 

They could've booked a Booker T vs. Shelton feud on Smackdown with Booker offering to congratulate Shelton on his win over HHH only for Benjamin to say how he finished the job that Booker couldn't get done at Wrestlemania 19 and how black kids now had a winner to look up to.

 

Paul Heyman Quits: Heyman as the mouth piece of Smackdown added legitimacy to the brand. His mic work could sell you on a PPV or main event matchup. You believed that Heyman felt that "his" Smackdown was the superior brand. The moment Smackdown lost Heyman in that role they immediately lost a positive.

 

RVD as a babyface: When Heyman picked RVD he immediately planted the seed for the two of them to be reunited. Then when he quit as GM his words were rendered useless. RVD should have been the one to go heel upon his Smackdown debut, not Booker T.

 

Not only was the Booker T/Raw is the superior show angle counterproductive to Smackdown but in my opinion, the wrong guy was turned! RVD for years, even prior to being full time WWF/E, billed himself as "Mr. Monday Night". Suddenly he was taken off of the Monday night program and he was cool with this???? He should've been the one to bitch about going to Smackdown with Heyman, as the GM, trying to appease him by making him an immediate challenger for Eddie's title.

 

An RVD vs. Eddie main event (or even Booker vs. Eddie) for the title would have had the most impact immediately upon them switching over to Smackdown.

 

The immediate JBL main event push: I make no apologies. I like the JBL character. I think Bradshaw plays it very well and has done all he could possibly do with it. I don't like the fact that they pushed him into the program with Eddie over RVD, Booker, Shelton or even Chavo Jr who should've got that push. JBL in this character as a mid carder would highly entertain me. And they should've fed him to the Undertaker instead of Booker.

 

Not drafting Helms to Smackdown to sub for Tajiri: Heel Gregory Helms could be the heel nemesis to Rey Rey that the CW title needed. He could have befriended Mysterio as the Hurricane in a situation with Chavo Jr. and Noble only to turn on him and denounce the Hurricane gimmick.

 

The overall direction of the CW division has sucked but I'm not telling you anything you don't already know. There is no reason that division which could have Rey Rey, Helms, Chavo Jr, Noble, Paul London, Kidman, Nunzio, Nova, Akio, Funaki, Ultimo or guys they bring in to job like American Dragon, etc. should not be given an opportunity to be showcased.

 

They give the women repeated opportunities and time on RAW despite the fact that they are very "not over" at times and draw poor ratings. But they won't give these guys an opportunity at all?

 

I could come up with more but I'm out. Just some stuff I had to vent.

 

Pittsburgh's alternative to the FM dial, local and Indie music...

[nl5xsk1 0]

An RVD vs. Eddie main event (or even Booker vs. Eddie) for the title would have had the most impact immediately upon them switching over to Smackdown.

 

The only problem with that would be that either Eddie has to lose the title (which would piss people here off) or the 'new guy' would have to lose in his first feud in his 'new' league. Keep the new guys away from the title picture for a while, and then it's a good idea.

[justcoz 0]

The only problem with that would be that either Eddie has to lose the title (which would piss people here off) or the 'new guy' would have to lose in his first feud in his 'new' league. Keep the new guys away from the title picture for a while, and then it's a good idea.

 

I totally agree with what you are saying but what good is it when you have the new guys jobbing anyway? If they were building up wins leading into a title match, I'd see your point. Booker is jobbing to Taker (in 30 seconds at house shows even) and RVD is losing to the Dudley. By the time they do get to the title picture they are going to be as jobbed out as they were on Raw.

[Scroby 0]

I totally agree with what you are saying but what good is it when you have the new guys jobbing anyway? If they were building up wins leading into a title match, I'd see your point. Booker is jobbing to Taker (in 30 seconds at house shows even) and RVD is losing to the Dudley. By the time they do get to the title picture they are going to be as jobbed out as they were on Raw.

 

Umm Booker T hasn't jobbed to Taker in 30 seconds since the matches were being tested at house shows and of course RVD is going to loose to a dudley, why wouldn't he? It helps with the feud.

[justcoz 0]

Umm Booker T hasn't jobbed to Taker in 30 seconds since the matches were being tested at house shows and of course RVD is going to loose to a dudley, why wouldn't he? It helps with the feud.

 

His point was that it wouldn't be wise to put the fresh Raw to Smackdown talent up against Eddie right away because they would either have to be jobbed out right away or Eddie would have to lose the title to them.

 

My point was they've already done jobs.

 

Your point??? The test Booker-Taker house show matches were what... three weeks ago? RVD/Mysterio vs. Dudleys is hardly a feud. It's creative throwing guys together that they don't know what to do with.

 

If RVD or Booker are ever going to be booked in a title series with Eddie then the time would have been several months ago when they switched brands, were fresh faces on a different show and had a clean start after being damaged goods on Raw.

 

Jobbing them at all... period... whether it's house show test matches or tv midcard filler feuds, without making the most of their jumps first, is stupid.

[iamsherm 0]

They've done nothing with the character to get him over besides the upset.

Have you been watching RAW since the upset?

 

The creative team, for the most part, has busted their ass in trying to make Shelton Benjamin a star. Off the top of my head, he's gotten wins over Ric Flair and Triple H (2 or 3 of them), he's stood toe to toe with Randy Orton on the mic, and he was one of the last 4 or 5 guys left in the battle royal. The only time I really felt they dropped the ball was when Benjamin disappeared after Shawn Michaels ran in during his match with HHH a couple weeks ago.

 

As a result of all that, he is over. Mission accomplished.

[justcoz 0]

Have you been watching RAW since the upset?

 

The creative team, for the most part, has busted their ass in trying to make Shelton Benjamin a star. Off the top of my head, he's gotten wins over Ric Flair and Triple H (2 or 3 of them), he's stood toe to toe with Randy Orton on the mic, and he was one of the last 4 or 5 guys left in the battle royal. The only time I really felt they dropped the ball was when Benjamin disappeared after Shawn Michaels ran in during his match with HHH a couple weeks ago.

 

As a result of all that, he is over. Mission accomplished.

 

And did you see the episode where he was going toe to toe with HHH, was thrown over the top rope within 2 minutes, HBK came in after HHH and Benjamin was never heard of or seen again on the show? He was an after thought. Not even mentioned with all the fuss about HHH and HBK being the top contenders for the title despite the fact that Benjamin beat HHH clean the first time.

 

I'll probably get heat for this but he's not as over as he could be... or should be... given who he beat. He was also left off of Raw for one or two weeks at a critical point in getting him over, weeks after he was almost the focus point of the shows.

 

It came across to me like they booked the upset over HHH on a whim and had no immediate direction with him following that. Then they were like, okay, what do we do with him now?

 

That's why I said it would have been had he just got the win over HHH and was then traded back to Smackdown, if they actually cared about that show.

 

An upset over HHH and a 50+ year old legend isn't evidence to me of a brilliant creative team. It was hot shotting to me. The HHH win could have been a HUGE deal and chances are it will be as the years go on but there was no immediate impact from it. His pops aren't where they should be.

 

They should be spending more time giving him promo time rather than having him run down whenever another face is in trouble. His mannerisms, facial expressions and attitude are just as much of strong points as his athletic ability and they need to let him get that across to the public. There should be some kind of character they are pushing besides the young up and coming black kid who comes to everyone's aid.