The following is based on a post originally published on TheWrestlingBlog.com a few weeks prior to this week’s “WWE Homecoming.”
As WWE has made obvious — since the combination of a) entering the final year of Smackdown’s contract to appear on UPN without an obvious renewal in sight, b) the announcement that SD was moving to Friday nights, and c) WWE’s subsequent depleting of the the SD roster during the Draft Lottery (or, rather, ‘stacking’ of the RAW roster in the lead-up to the debut on USA Network) — they look at RAW as the #1 wrestling promotion/brand in North America, period.
The top young draw in the company, John Cena? Moved to RAW as WWE Champ just as his movie wrapped up and CD hit the charts.
The top in-ring athlete in the company, Kurt Angle? Moved to RAW while in the midst of the greatest comeback from an injury in recent WWE history since that of his recent opponent Shawn Michaels.
The top up-and-coming Hispanic wrestler in the company, Carlito? Moved to RAW in time to win some gold and establish himself in a feud with legend Ric Flair, as NBC-Universal prepares to re-broadcast RAW in Spanish on the mun2 cable network.
Take a look at some recent Pay Per View buy-rates, and you’ll see — despite more fans on average watching Smackdown on TV each week than tune in to RAW — that the fans see things similarly when it comes to spending the bucks:
Backlash (RAW): 273,000 buys
Judgment Day (SD): 236,000 buys
ECW One Night Stand (Neither!): 268,000 buys
Great American Bash (SD): 233,000 buys
Vengeance (RAW): 320,000 buys
Now don’t get me wrong. I’m a big fan of Smackdown, and have stuck with it despite some crappy storyline writing of late. I was hooked when the show launched five years ago as “The Rock’s show;” became a mark for the “Smackdown Six” era when Benoit, Angle, Edge, Rey, Eddie and Chavo (and yes, even Brock) were putting on weekly wrestling clinics; and continue to tune in with the hope that one day it will hit its stride again. But alas, for every Paul Heyman-esque month or two of episodes there has been a bizarre mix of bad sitcom writing and lazy soap opera story arcs that last an uncomfortably long amount of time. (It’s not like I can blame them … the Chuck & Billy wedding storyline was solid television; unfortunately I also had to sit through the Angle/Sharmell/Booker ordeal. Then again, I continue to be a proponent of keeping WWE split in two brands, for no other reason than knowing that if someone like a Kurt Angle is booked into a creative corner as he was during that angle, it’s fairly easy for WWE to write him over to the other roster for a fresh start.)
So now that TNA has secured the Saturday 11pm “Velocity” timeslot on SpikeTV for episodes of “iMPACT!” that began on October 1, with midnight replays each following Monday, the Internet Wrestling Community can’t help but wonder if this is finally the time that pressure from an outside promotion will force WWE to kick their creative juices up a notch … the competition bettering the overall North American wrestling scene. It’s my contention, however, that taking on WWE is way too big a task for TNA to even consider at this time. In fact, I’m more curious to see how it does against Smackdown.
Both shows — iMPACT! and Smackdown — will air during relatively low TV-viewing times, particularly with Smackdown’s recent bump to Saturdays for most of the past month in some major wrestling markets like New York and Boston during the close of the baseball season. TNA’s Monday night replay is a plus, since Velocity has been relegated to WWE.com and Afterburn all but cancelled, and the weekend show on USA being fully dedicated to the RAW brand, therefore giving SD fans no offline resource to keep up with show highlights. Of course, TNA also has the advantage of being a new program for Spike, thus theoretically a priority for the network, while saying that SD’s standing on UPN is up in the air is an understatement.
That being said, here are five suggestions for how Smackdown can beat TNA at its own game before they risk becoming the #3 promotion in the U.S.
1. Take Jim Ross’ recent advice and get the cruiserweights going already. It’s been said far too often, but it bears repeating: cruiserweights can main event, too. Rey Mysterio, Paul London, Spanky, Jamie Noble, Juventud, Super Crazy, Psicosis, Nunzio, Simon Dean, Funaki. Ten of the best juniors in the world, if only WWE let them ‘go.’ Should they be doing flippy-floppy, no-psychology, see-who-gets-injured-first style, no-selling the heavyweights’ (and stealing each other’s) finishing moves? Of course not. But give your top five cruisers a personality, a storyline, and let it all pay off in a TV main event or upper-card PPV match once every other month, and I guarantee people will pay attention. I bet the huge Latino audience that SD gets each week might even be willing to pay, period. Plus, SD has a chance to sign up some of the similarly skilled talent on the free agent market and beat the TNA X Division at its own game. Or at least put up a fighting effort.
2. Invest in matching tights. I never said these suggestions would be very new. But some of the best TNA matches ‘of all time’ have been in its tag division. AMW vs. XXX vs. The Naturals vs. Team Canada vs. 3LK vs. Diamonds in the Rough … I’ve already named six teams and I haven’t even gotten into some of the excellent pairings in the division that didn’t bother to come up with their own name. Smackdown could stand a few regular teams, and as much as it pains me to say it, the ‘new’ Legion of Doom is a step in the right direction. MNM and The Mexicools continue the trend, and Regal and Birchill, while not yet having a team name, DO seem to have matching tights, so I’ll applaud the baby-steps SD’s creative team is taking. Hopefully the old school minds on the writing team like Dusty Rhodes, Ted DiBiase and Michael Hayes will use their influence to add some focus on tag team wrestling, and WWE won’t be afraid to bring up some of the young teams that Paul Heyman seems to be making good use of down in OVW and KEEP them together as teams.
3. Six-Sided Ring. I’m kidding! But… Come up with a new gimmick match. Man, I wish I had the answer to this one; I’d walk it up to Stamford myself. That being said, if I see one more bullrope match, lumberjack match, no holds barred/street fight/hardcore match, or ANY more than one steel cage or ladder match per month, I’m going to scream. Ditto on triple threat and fatal fourway matches. WHY CAN’T THEY SWITCH THINGS UP A BIT?! As corny as TNA’s King of the Mountain match is, at least it’s something “different.” Plus, TNA’s Ultimate X match is maybe the only truly innovative gimmick match invented in North American wrestling since the Elimination Chamber (which was and is, of course, exclusive to RAW). Smackdown needs to come up with something different — and no, a cruiserweight battle royale is not considered different. And a barbed wire cage match is barely more than a joke.
4. Focus on the “sports” in sports entertainment. What do old-school WCW fans, TNA fans, and yes, Ring of Honor fans have in common? A love for the in-ring elements that made marks worldwide believe professional wrestling was real for so many years. Smackdown started to differentiate itself as the more athleticism-oriented of the two brands, with RAW the more entertainment-driven, a few years ago, but things quickly changed. In 2005, both RAW and SD are fairly balanced between sports and entertainment, with the in-ring action at times being all but forgotten except at pay events. SD should take a look at Spike’s UFC ad campaign (“this is real”) along with the elements TNA emphasized during its short run on Fox Sports Net (the time limits on matches, the “tale of the tape,” etc.), and maybe even take things a step further. How about, for example, keeping track of win-loss records? WWE.com’s Fantasy League already does it, so it can easily be translated to the television program, right? How about setting up a ranking system for the Smackdown titles, where more than the #1 contender is recognized? How about having the announcers emphasize the names of moves, why they’re effective in the ring, and wrestler histories (Juvi’s a six-time former IWGP Jr. Heavyweight blah blah blah)? Can it hurt?
5. Make Smackdown a LIVE show. Right now the Smackdown crew is on the road Saturday through Tuesday, with the TV show taped on Tuesday nights. (RAW goes from Friday to Monday, with the show aired live in the U.S. and in other markets on Mondays.) Why not run Smackdown Thursday through Sunday instead, with the Friday night show being a live TV taping? Sure, the international shows sometimes air on Thursdays, which would put some markets a week behind, but if it’s too much of a pain to do it weekly, WWE should at the very least consider live airings a few times a year to give the events a more “special” feel.
These are just a few ideas of how SD can show potential TNA fans that no alternative is necessary. As a wrestling fan, I want TNA to succeed and the resulting competition to lead to better quality product across the board. But the competitive juices need to start flowing NOW.
WWE’s shown a fire in the recent build-up and execution of WWE Homecoming this past Monday on USA Network. But the promotion also made Smackdown look second-rate on that broadcast, with a PPV coming up this weekend no less. Perhaps that was unintentional, due to time restrictions, creative oversights, or simply priorities being on RAW’s USA debut first, the No Mercy pay event second. Even so, if TNA plays their cards right, they can very well become the #2 wrestling brand in the U.S. … and WWE needs to realize this and create a “wrestling alternative” of its own. I can’t think of a better place for this alternative than each Friday at 8pm.
