WWE Smackdown: 5 Most Important Lessons Learned from Tonight's Show (March 23)

The March 23 edition of Friday Night SmackDown is now a thing of the past.

On tonight's episode, we saw a number of interesting situations play out, including the return of Brodus Clay, yet another loss for The Miz and the first win for Zack Ryder in what seems like forever.

Like any good student of wrestling, I learned from these things and everything else that happened on tonight's SmackDown just like I learn from every other episode of the WWE's so-called "B-show."

So, what did the latest showing from the blue brand teach me?

Here are the five most important lessons learned from the second-to-last episode of SmackDown before we head to Miami for WrestleMania 28. 

5. Brodus Clay Needs a Storyline

Brodus Clay squashed Heath Slater tonight...again.

While I haven't kept track, I'd guess that's something around six or seven squash matches for "The Funkasaurus" since he returned to TV a few months ago.

It's the same old, same old every week: A goofy ring entrance, a few big moves and a pin. That's gotta change, and it's gotta change soon.

You can only have the guy squash another wrestler so many times before the fans say, "OK, so when is he going to wrestle an actual match?

I reached that point a while ago, and it's clear that Clay needs to have a real feud at some point in the near future.

If Clay's going to be pushed as a midcard babyface, there are tons of heels for him to feud with, too, so I hope that the WWE puts Clay in a rivalry with some midcard heel with nothing to do, like The Miz, after WrestleMania 28.

4. Orton vs. Kane Is a Throwaway Rivalry

Even WWE officials have to realize that this feud between Randy Orton and Kane is a lost cause.

The creative team attempted to give us some reasoning behind it on last week's SmackDown, but all this feud has really consisted of is a couple of RKOs and chokeslams.

And what did we get out of Orton and Kane on tonight's SmackDown? Oh yeah, an RKO.

I get that not every WrestleMania feud can be a priority, but I figured that the WWE would at least try to make a feud between a recently re-masked Kane and a huge babyface like Orton matter. Yet, it doesn't at all.

I don't want to see Randy Orton cut a promo where he tells us his name. I don't want Kane to try to make Orton embrace the hate. I just don't care about this feud at all.

Judging by what some others on B/R have written, you guys don't give a crap about it, either. 

3. The Miz's Losing Streak Is Leading to Something Huge

The Miz lost once again on tonight's show, and his losing streak is now well into the double digits.

There's been all kinds of speculation about what that streak may mean, with some believing that The Miz has some serious backstage heat. But it seems pretty obvious that The Miz isn't losing just to lose or because WWE officials are pissed at him.

The WWE, especially its announcers, have mentioned The Miz's losing ways so many times that it's clear that it's going to lead to some sort of major angle, whatever that may be. The creative team is not going to put all this effort into booking The Miz to lose every week only to have it lead nowhere.

In all likelihood, The Miz is going to be left off the WrestleMania card and interfere in one of the show's matches, leading to a huge storyline after the pay-per-view.

Judging by tonight's loss on SmackDown, I'd say the creative team is doing what it did with MVP in 2008 and using The Miz's losing streak to turn him babyface.

But perhaps, we'll see the climax of this story at WrestleMania.

2. AJ May Be the Next Diva in Line for a Push

AJ picked up a win over one of the Bella Twins (I don't care which) tonight, and it's something I really liked to see.

I still maintain that AJ was by far the most talented Diva on the all-female season of NXT, and I've kinda just been sitting here waiting to see the creative team push her as the next big baby face Diva. Thanks to her relationship with Daniel Bryan, it looks like that might be happening.

The fans seem to really like AJ, and she's getting a lot of sympathy for putting up with Bryan calling her fat, celebrating ridiculously after she wins her matches and so on and so forth.

I'm really enjoying this storyline where AJ wins her matches, but Bryan acts as if he's the one who actually won. It makes him look like an arrogant douchebag, and it's going to really get AJ over big time as a babyface if/when she breaks up with him.

When that happens (yes, I think it's likely), AJ could could be in line to become the WWE's biggest face Diva and the top challenger to Divas Champion Beth Phoenix. 

1. The WWE Needs More Quality Babyfaces

When The Great Khali was announced as one of the members of Team Long on tonight's SmackDown, it made something that's already clear even clearer: The WWE is in desperate need of more top babyfaces.

The company's top four stars (CM Punk, John Cena, Randy Orton and Sheamus) are all babyfaces,and I guess you could throw Big Show in that mix as well. But after those five, there is a tremendous drop-off to the next level of babyfaces.

Kofi Kingston, R-Truth, Zack Ryder, Santino Marella and maybe a couple of others are really the only full-time faces who are over enough to warrant any type of push, and they all have their flaws. Kingston doesn't get enough mic time or any real opportunities to advance into the main event, and the other three are comedy characters.

All four of those guys will be on Team Long at WrestleMania 28, but is the roster really so thin that the next best option for that squad as The Great Khali? It certainly appears so.

The WWE has almost always done a better job of getting heels over, but it's never been more evident than it is now with an incredible lack of babyfaces on both Raw and SmackDown.

Note: As part of the new WWE blog, I'll be asking all of the B/R wrestling readers for questions for a new mailbag that I will post on Fridays. It will be a slideshow featuring 10-20 questions and answers on a wide range of topics. You can submit questions either through Formspring or Twitter, and the best ones will be answered in the B/R mailbag.