If you look at a lot of the main-event matches they have booked on Smackdown in recent years, what they did last week wasn't even that unusual. Even when there were still two World titles, the WWE had become comfortable not featuring the World's Heavyweight Champion well on Smackdown. Without that second top title and the WWE Champion rarely being a part of Smackdown, the WWE utilizes a lot of upper-midcarders to close the show. You can say that doing this is great and it helps to groom future main-eventers. Personally, I think you do that by having these guys you are developing to be stars work properly with actual stars. Don't just develop someone to feed to Cena, then toss them back down. And don't have a lot of filler matches on Smackdown.
I have seen a lot of fans complain about Smackdown. That is one of the reasons I bring this up. As fans, they have a right to complain about it. As critics, I would agree with them the quality of the show is poor. If you analyze the ratings, however, Smackdown is around the same spot it has been in recent years. No World Champion. A frequent lack of true stars. Smackdown's annual average this year so far is around a 1.9. The average for Raw is at a 3.0, and it will drop under that by the end of the year. While Raw, the show that features the WWE Champion more often, features John Cena regularly, and is treated as the main show, is declining to a horrible depth, Smackdown is remaining consistent. What incentive is there for the WWE to really try harder with Smackdown? They can put out a crappy product and still maintain their numbers.
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