Let me start with the overall roster. Obviously, there were some big moves last month. Smackdown lost three of their top men to Raw. You saw all three of those top men in the Raw main event this week. I am talking about Dean Ambrose, Bray Wyatt, and Miz. All Smackdown really gained was Kevin Owens. You can include Chris Jericho, but he isn't even around right now. I said Smackdown had gotten the short end of the stick in those trades. Obviously, there is more to it than just the talent.
How is the talent being utilized? How about the writing and booking? In that regard, Smackdown was always overrated. Just because it was better than Raw did not mean it was really that amazing. Some bad things still happened over there. How the women's division was being handled is one example. I would also throw in how Wyatt/Orton ended up being handled. Some people expected Jack Swagger to be utilized better when he went to Smackdown. That did not work out. Let me just look at a few specific things that fans ate up last year that are not as great right now for Smackdown.
First, John Cena. Yes, smarks have hated him for a number of years. Many still do. For the most part, Smackdown used him in a way that appealed to smarks. He went to Smackdown with his feud against AJ Styles still going. The fact that he lost to Styles a few times just made smarks extremely glad. AJ Styles was also ripping him in many promos. Even though Cena did get a title reign, it was short. After that short title reign, Cena entered a feud with Miz, who once again ripped him a little bit on the mic. And fans ate that up, once again. With Cena not around right now, fans can't get excited over him jobbing cleanly to guys like Nakamura or getting ripped on the mic by someone like Kevin Owens.
Part of the problem definitely seems to be that smarks don't have that person they hate that they can get excited to see get beaten up or humiliated. That is one of the reasons many of these fans love Braun Strowman. He's been destroying Roman Reigns. If the WWE had Roman Reigns job cleanly more often and had those storylines where other wrestlers ripped him on the mic, smarks would eat it up and talk about how "amazing" it all is. I have seen it before. I hate these kind of storylines, but smarks love them. And the lack of a target makes it hard to create these storylines to please them on Smackdown.
Look at AJ Styles. He is someone wrestling fans respected for a long time now. But he seemed like a real A+ player on Smackdown as a heel. Has he lost his edge as a face? He had that heated feud with John Cena. He then went on to another heated feud with Shane McMahon. Currently, his feud with Kevin Owens lacks that heat. Everyone said he was like a pit bull during his heel run, and that is why he was able to be successful. What happens when you turn him face? Can he be as appealing? Or does he get boring to some fans?
I do not think a face turn has to ruin someone's edgy character. Look at "Stone Cold" Steve Austin. As a face, this guy still raised hell and was one of the best centerpieces of all time. Look at The Rock. As a face, this guy still owned people on the mic like no other and has transcended wrestling. I am not saying AJ Styles is like those two. But he does not have to be boring as a face. Wrestling fans will continue to love him, but the lack of edge might bore certain other fans.
I would say Smackdown has lost some of its edge. The reality-based storylines that excited so many fans are not there right now. John Cena, someone smarks could enjoy being a symbolic punching bag, is not there right now. AJ Styles has lost his heated character. It was always going to be difficult to sustain what Smackdown was doing for the last few months since the brand split came back. Is it that smarks are too demanding and can be unreasonable? Probably. Nevertheless, Smackdown is coming back down to Earth and it remains to be seen how the writers will respond.
No comments:
Post a Comment