Reasonable and Unreasonable Solutions to Curing an Ailing WWE SmackDown
My previous piece examined the current plight of WWE SmackDown. It is a once-great television show which has become bogged down in recent years.
Currrently SmackDown viewers are subjected to match repeats, diminishing wrestling content and audience overlap with Raw. It's a sorry state of affairs.
While it's clear that SmackDown is ailing and could a refresh, not every solution is on the table. Proposed solutions for curing SmackDown are realistic and implementable in the short term.
Reasonable Requests
Run more SmackDown-specific angles
Without a brand split, it makes sense for angles to carry over between televised WWE programs. The ultimate goal is to keep the television networks who pay for WWE rights happy and to convince viewers to subscribe to the WWE Network.
However, those goals do not prevent WWE from tailoring certain feuds to certain shows. There's no reason that SmackDown could not be prominently promoted each week specifically for Raw, Main Event and SmackDown.
It sends a terrible message to WWE's fans when the company books the exact same match on Raw and SmackDown during the same broadcast week. As I previously chronicled, it's a phenomenon which has been escalating in recent years. An easy solution is to concentrate certain feuds on particular shows.
Building competitive angles primarily on selected WWE shows gives viewers an incentive to tune in each week. Otherwise, SmackDown just ends up feeling like a recap of Raw.
Focus on an unique angle for SmackDown
SmackDown needs to be something beyond just "Raw-lite". Instead, the show needs a focus. For instance, SmackDown could choose to highlight tag team competition, high-flying action or the women's division.
It does not matter what direction the WWE chooses as long as the company begins to reformat the weekly SmackDown show. WWE must hammer the point that SmackDown is something totally different from Raw. It needs to give SmackDown a distinct selling point. Then advertising for the show can be built around the atmosphere.
Rebrand SmackDown as the "wrestling show"
SmackDown needs to strike back and reclaim the "wrestling show" banner. In the past, SmackDown historically had longer matches than Raw. That trend has reversed in recent years.
The elongated Raw (three hours) has led to longer Raw matches.
SmackDown needs to do something about it, and making the show even longer is not the solution.
Instead, SmackDown should simply cut down on the overall number of matches. Each individual wrestling match ought to go longer on SmackDown. The idea is all about slowing things down and making everything more meaningful.
Spending more time on each match can be achieved in many ways. Smaller tweaks include spending more time on entrances, adding in more post-match interviews and returning to formal ring introductions for all title matches. In short, SmackDown needs to spend more time doing less.
This may seem counterintuitive. However, when you try to stuff too many things into a single show, the viewer walks away unable to remember anything.
SmackDown is pre-taped and going to remain that way. Results are going to get out ahead of time.
Therefore WWE ought to concentrate on transforming SmackDown into a wrestling experience that people will go out of their way to watch. Knowing that SmackDown delivers longer matches with a more thoughtful presentation is a great selling point.
Thus, the company needs to concentrate on booking more matchups which people want to watch.
Most importantly, fans are willing to invest the time and energy in watching wrestling, but WWE needs to treat them with respect by paying attention to the details.
Switch up the announcers
There's major overlap between the Raw and SmackDown announcing teams. The WWE Universe already listens to plenty of Michael Cole and John "Bradshaw" Layfield on Raw. It's time for some new blood.
Adding Tom Phillips to the SmackDown commentary team was a step in the right direction. Yet there's still more that can be done to freshen up SmackDown commentary.
Perhaps instead of repackaging Christian as a manager, it's time that he moved into an announcer's chair.
Promote more tie-ins with NXT and WWE Network content
There was an incredibly fresh moment this past Monday Night. That moment occured when the NXT stars appeared on Raw to perform an exciting tag team match.
NXT is a great selling point for the WWE Network. SmackDown needs to foster more opportunities to expose fans to the stars and programming of the NXT brand.
While Raw may be the flagship show for the WWE, SmackDown could be the gateway show. Again, this would brand SmackDown as having unique content and featuring different stars than Raw.
Unreasonable Requests
WWE announced on July 31 that the company was embarking on "measures to reduce costs across all of its business units." These cost-cutting measures are likely to prevent the more ambitious ideas for overhauling SmackDown.
Some of those ambitious but unlikely ideas include:
Redesigning the SmackDown set
WWE did not even bother doing a custom SummerSlam set this year.
It's been years since the SmackDown stage received a significant makeover.
Right now, transforming the SmackDown set seems like an unlikely investment for a company in cost-cutting mode.
Maybe fans can just lobby for SmackDown to bring back the giant fist?
Utilizing a different director for SmackDown
One troubling issue with SmackDown is that the show looks and feels too much like Raw. That is largely due to WWE utilizing the same production team for both Raw and SmackDown.
The camera angles, quick cutting during the wrestling action and the show's layouts feel the same. It could be beneficial for SmackDown if the WWE decided to hand the production reins over to someone else who was not Kevin Dunn. However, that's not going to happen.
Dunn is the Executive Vice President of Television Production for WWE. Dunn remains a powerful player and has Vince McMahon's ear. Kevin Dunn will remain exactly where Vince McMahon wants him, and that does not look to change anytime soon.
Airing SmackDown Live
Many fans know exactly what's going to happen on SmackDown long before the show airs on their television sets.
Typically, SmackDown is taped on Tuesday nights. By the next morning, SmackDown results are available on the Internet.
WWE would love to air SmackDown live and avoid spoilers. However, there's a host of reasons that WWE won't move SmackDown to a live show.
One reason is the time delay between when SmackDown airs domestically and internationally. SmackDown actually debuts overseas in many markets before it airs in the United States.
Airing new SmackDown content on WWE Network before it is broadcast on SyFy is not an option. NBC Universal pays significant amounts of money to the WWE for the exclusive domestic television rights for Raw and SmackDown. NBC Universal will not allow WWE to broadcast SmackDown on WWE Network before it airs on SyFy.
While a live show has more intrigue and mystery, it also costs a lot more to produce.
It's more expensive to air SmackDown live instead of taping it. There is also a production advantage by taping on consecutive days so WWE can use the same production crew on Monday and Tuesday.
Moving SmackDown to Thursdays
For the first five years of the program, SmackDown aired on Thursday nights.
Many fans believe that today's SmackDown would have better ratings and more viewers if the show aired on Thursday nights.
At one point it even seemed like SmackDown was returning to Thursday nights on SyFy this year. Last month, a picture of a repainted WWE production truck advertising Thursday Night SmackDown emerged.
However, when the schedule for SyFy finally came out, there was no SmackDown-to-Thursday-night move. Instead SyFy decided to schedule Haven and Spartacus for Thursday nights and leave SmackDown on Fridays.
On the bright side, WWE will not have to face off against Thursday night NFL action. Still, leaving SmackDown on Friday nights only accentuates how the television show continues to languish at the end of the week.
Brand Extension is not returning
SmackDown is stuck. It seems certain that WWE will continue to use the same team to produce SmackDown. The show is going to continue to air in the same time slot on Friday nights in the United States.
In the past, part of SmackDown's relevance was from the "brand split." However, at this moment bringing back the "brand extension" is not feasible.
It was less than a year ago that WWE unified the heavyweight championship titles at December's TLC pay-per-view. WWE has been moving away from having separate Raw and SmackDown brands since 2011.
About a year ago, WWE abandoned running branded house shows. Part of the decision seems to be the discrepancies in how Raw brand house shows were outdrawing SmackDown brand house shows.
While WWE can informally assign talent to work primarily on one show or another, the fact that Raw is three hours long necessitates a deeper bench.
At this time, WWE seems focused on portraying itself as a unified entertainment business. Its major goal is to promote the WWE Network, not rival Raw and SmackDown brands.
While the company is in cost-cutting mode, it seems unlikely its going to invest major money in any projects to "refresh" SmackDown.
Therefore, the only changes that WWE could realistically make to SmackDown will come from how the show is booked and packaged.
For more wrestling analysis and insights, be sure to following Chris Harrington on Twitter at @mookieghana.
