WWE: Why the Company Needs to Eliminate Friday Night SmackDown

Well, it was a good run for Friday Night SmackDown and the WWE. A lot of people watched. We laughed. We cried. It was a good time on Thursday/Friday nights. That was for sure. However, for several reasons it may be a good idea to pull the plug on the company's "B-show."

When SmackDown was first started, it was an opportunity to extend storylines by one extra episode per week. For a while this worked out great. No longer did fans have to wait an entire week to see what was going to happen next.

Remember, this was during the Attitude Era. More chances to advance a storyline meant more opportunities to draw fans in.

Speaking of drawing fans, it was WWE's first network television show since Saturday Night's Main Event. People who didn't get cable could finally see what all the fuss was about when it came to the Attitude Era. It was a great novelty for everybody involved.

However, novelties wear off. The WWE made a brilliant move during the Ruthless Aggression Era by splitting the roster in half so that more superstars could get air time.

The result was that guys who were previously held down by the same dozen superstars could finally display their skills. That lead to guys like Edge, John Cena, Eddie Guerrero and more to finally build a fanbase. Again, SmackDown was paying off for the company.

Then, wrestlers got old. When wrestlers get old, they retire (or in some sad cases, they die way too young). That leaves a void in the company that the wrestlers in the developmental stages need to fill.

Unfortunately, too many of those guys have found themselves getting premature pushes and failing miserably. That lead to the idea of the Raw SuperShow, which has cancelled out the impact of SmackDown.

Yes, SmackDown superstars get more appearances on the company's main show, but the company has also decided to use SmackDown as a recap show for what happened on Raw.

If you haven't watched an episode of SmackDown recently, take a look at it tonight. You'll see at least three or four recap videos of the events on Raw and maybe they'll show that goofy exchange between John Cena and Carl Edwards again. (Nice script reading, Carl.)

People who don't agree with me will say that the company will never eliminate SmackDown because it's built such a brand name over the past decade. The company would lose way too much money by eliminating another show...or would they?

I attended a SmackDown taping last July, and it didn't seem like too many people were interested in what the WWE was selling.

That morning, a local radio station was screaming that if people wanted tickets, they could just call the station and they would be free. Even this marketing ploy lead to the lower bowl of the Target Center being three-fourths full, and the upper bowl being completely closed.

You may think this doesn't happen everywhere, but if you watch SmackDown tonight, try and notice how many times they pump in fake noise to their broadcast. I'm sorry, but when Zack Ryder shows up to talk to Teddy Long it shouldn't sound like The Rock just came back to SmackDown.

The WWE currently only has the talent for a show and a half right now. Maybe the better move would be returning to a Sunday Night Heat format and letting some of the younger talent work there. However, the presence of a second two-hour show is currently dragging the product down.

It needs to be cancelled, but it will never happen.