Why does everyone think Smackdown is being killed by the draft?
 

I keep reading posts on this board about how badly Smackdown is being fucked over by the draft. And I just don't get it.

Smackdown has lost Kurt Angle, John Cena and Carlito.

Smackdown has gained Chris Benoit, Randy Orton and Muhammed Hassan

or to put it another way:

Smackdown has lost one of the best wrestlers in the company, a cocky young upstart main eventer, and a charismatic heel

Smackdown has gained one of the best wrestlers in the company, a cocky young upstart main eventer, and a charismatic heel

Apart from the title (which I'm sure will be resolved), I don't see how Smackdown is getting the short end.

I think it may just be down to Smackdown losing its touch with some of the wrestlers that most people accociate with Smackdown.

Yeah, but the great wrestler is a better wrestler and HUGELY charismatic.

Cena's a young cocky upstart and like 10 times as over. As an understatement.

And Hassan really should be considered on par with Carlito, but afte rthe first two picks...Dats not cul

I think the package deal was a lame attempt to keep us from thinking that Smackdown is being beat down by raw.

I think the WWE have a strange notion of, more = better and quantity over quality.

How many more picks are left?

Two each, and they'll take place next week when each show gets two picks.

Anyway, I gotta take it back... SD! isn't as screwed as I thought, especially with Psicosis, Super Crazy, and Juventud on the show now. If they return it to its awesome wrestling roots, that'd be pretty cool.

I mean, I read the spoilers, and I STILL marked out three times last night (which has like... never happened).

The Taker lightning bolt was the first cuz I'm a huge Taker fan and that was a fantastic camera angle.

Los Grass Cutters ( :shifty: ) cracked me up like hell... I hope they make this the cruiser stable Tajiri's yakuza should have been.

And SD! getting Hassan'd was priceless. My brother (who only knew Hassan had been drafted but not when he'd show up) was like "Hassan should interrupt the Big Show" and then

ALAYELAYELAYELAYEYAAAAAA!!!!!

Me: :love: :love: :love: :love: :love: :love: :love: :love: :love: :love: :love: :love:

Daiviri is the best fucking mic worker in the company.

Seriously.

I also want one thing to happen with Hassan.

When he comes out and the crows is chanting "USA! USA! USA!", I want him to say "I'm from New Jersey, you morons!"

Mabye you're right, mabye having Hassan on Smackdown isnt too bad. I suppose we can only wait and see how it turns out

I'd love that. They're probably still chant "USA!" Though. Remember, they did it when Edge and Benoit were the faces, and the only American in the ring was Conway...

But Benoit is from Alanta remember :shifty:

That of course is if you count Jersey as a state and not a waste dump

Benoit's a better wrestler than Angle. Angle just has more charisma.

Angle outclasses Benoit in every way, imo.

fuck I live in New Jersey

Gotta look at it from a business POV.

They lost the #1 babyface in the comapny in Cena, and replaced him with Chris Benoit, Benoit will NEVER sell any tickets bottom line. He's a great worker, yadda yadda, but he wont sell tickets.

In the heel category they lost Angle in favour of Orton. I think Orton has a lot of potential as a heel and could be a draw one day, but that day wont be for a while. He needs to be built back up a lot. Angle on the other hand is an established top guy, and for right now SD got shafted.

I agree that Hassan for Carlito was an even deal. Although I would say Carlito has more potential, but some people could argue that.

The other problem is that SD lost their World Title. Now they have to create a new one, and SD already had problems with credibility since they always take a back seat to RAW, but now they are creating a belt that means absolutely nothing. Thats going to be tough at the box office, especially when it comes to PPVs.

Now, I'll save LC some time and say the draft isn't over, so we have to judge next Wednesday morning as what the true outcome is. But my whole thing is that SD needed more help than RAW, and we are 60% through the draft and RAW has clearly won so far. Even if SD gets the best of the next two picks, I still dont think its enough to do what needed to be done.

*rimjob*

And Cena still gets mixed responses, even against the Undertaker. I mean, come on...Taker's one of the reasons I wonder why I watch wrestling...When 50,000 retards pop at the same time for a cripple, and the guy opposing him is getting a mixed reaction, something's wrong.

Indeed. 'Nuff said.

:love:

^ Im with the guy above this post

Also, CyNick hit it on the head.

Using generic terms like 'cocky upstart' and 'best wrestler' in no way gives a proper comparison of what the trade actually was. Benoit and Orton are in no way equal to Cena and Angle.

SD needed more starpower. The undercard on their PPV's were jokes. After this draft, it looks like their roster took a step backwards.

Yeah, now it's not just the undercard. :(

They can always trade people. They could do something crazy like have one of the champions drafted to SD next week, along with like JR. And then Eric is going nuts trying to trade people to get the champ back, offering like 5 people for one champ (more logical if it's HHH). Eric says come on, I'll give you anyone you want to get him back, and Teddy says fine, takes the trade, and then gives him JR, claiming he thoughts that's who he was talking about when he said him...


Errrrr, meh.

lol

:rofl:

Don't you mean rimshot? Cuz a rimjob is something else entirely... and you didn't follow it up with a :naughty:



:p

KKKing KKK
 

I went to Judgment Day in 2003 when it was in Charlotte.

The card was crap (lesnar/show and trips/nash main eventing. SNORE)

I didn't care. I went to see Chris Benoit. Sure, he was only there as part of a crappy 6 man tag match, but I went to see him.

he sold my ticket.

I actually marked out when JBL joined the faces in laying the Smackdown on Hassan and standing with them at the end. Face JBL vs. Hassan? I know it's racist as all hell, but it would be intriguing.

There was a fourth time I marked out, and unexpectedly, too: the appearance of MNM. I mean, yeah, ntohing special. But the entrance with the Paparazzi and the red carpet DOES work.

If you had a roster full of Chris Benoit's there would be you and 49 other people at every event.

You could then say he sold 50 tickets, but that promotion will also be out of business within months, so.

He sold YOUR ticket.

Well okay then. I mean, if you went because of BEnoit, then he must be a huge draw.

You know honestly, there are a lot of people I would go to a show specifically to see. Doesn't mean my desire to see someone makes them a dra wof more than one ticket.

On top of that, people who post here are generally pretty big wrestling fans, my guess is that the idea of a PPV coming to your town is enough to get the people here to go, no matter who is on the card.

Yeah, but even the most casual of wrestling fans like watching wrestling because of the wrestling. The WWE needs those workers who can put on a great match. Without them, it'd be like a crappy emo cd, everybody pouting and putting on endless promos....kinda like WCW in its latter years after all of the good wrestlers left.

So in a way, if there were NO Chris Benoit's in your roster, you couldn't sell any tickets either, and WCW kinda proved that.

Nobody worked like Benoit did during Hogan's run and they drew a ton of money. Heck, even when the WWE took off under Austin, there wasn't that many great matches. It wasn't until Benoit, Eddie and Angle came in that they started to have qaulity work up and down the card. Now, business wasn't worse because of the great wrestling, in fact they had their best year in 2000, but nobody could argue that the good wrestling brought the people to the arenas, because they were there before.

Quality wrestling is overrated, people want to see characters, the wrestling isn't really all that important.

If it was, a guy like Benoit would always be on top, because fans would go to an event, see him work, see that its superior to almost everyone else, and then crap on everyone else.


As an example, after Benoit-Angle wrestled in Boston at the Rumble, and the fans gave a standing O to Benoit, if Rock's music would have hit right after that, everyone would have went "Benoit-who?"

CyNick's right. People would rather see entertainment than great wrestling. That's not to say people won't appreciate good wrestling. They just are more oriented towards entertainment value.

Good point. I think if anything, if you want the best product possible you need both the real workhorses and the charismatic guys together. If you lose one or the other your fans are going to lose interest.

Getting back to Smackdown however, I don't think by trading Angle for Benoit is that bad. The niche that Angle held can easily be filled with the charisma of Daivari. An intelligent writer could change Big Show's gimmick to utilize his hidden charisma, Taker's still a huge draw, and JBL is still one of the best mic workers in the business.

Besides. There's still two picks left. We may still see a Rey Mysterio trade for Christian or Jericho. As long as they don't touch Taker, Guerrero, or JBL I'll still have hope for Smackdown.

Daivari needs to ride his camel back out to the desert, maybe make money by selling camel rides to kids in the neighborhood or something cuz he sure as hell can't be understood by 95% of the audiences that do hear him talk in whatever language that is.

lol, Hi Vince Russo.

The best possible product would be a ton of people with Rock-like Charisma and Angle/Benoit-like skills.

i.e. Kurt Angle or Eddie Guerrero.... :shifty: