WWE's Mid-Year Review: A Look at Raw, Smackdown, ECW, and Superstars!

Hello everyone. As always I would like to thank you again for spending some time with me today.

It is a little over half way point in 2009; it seems like the time just flies by, doesn’t it? I figured it was time I gave the WWE a report card on all three brands again.

On all three brands, we have seen some talent moved around. It also seems like some of the younger talent is getting the push they need. I have to say that overall I am happy with the WWE product.

In my review of each brand, I will cover both the positives and negatives of the different shows.

Raw

Since my last review of Raw we have seen some major improvements. We have also seen the same blunders that continue to weaken the show. I said it before and I will say it again, Raw can easily be fixed, all it needs is a little fine tuning.

Like before Raw still holds most of the key moneymakers in the business. You have Cena, Orton, and HHH leading the pack. Where Raw made its biggest improvement is with the younger talent.

They brought in Even Bourne and Jack Swagger, which really bulked up the Raw roster. Add them into the soup pot with Legacy, MVP, Miz, and Kofi Kingston, you get a nice recipe for success.

It is also nice to see some of the younger guys getting a push. They are doing a nice job with Kingston and The Miz. It would seem to me that they are also going to be pushing Swagger soon.

The action is pretty solid overall on Raw. All the guys on the roster seem to be giving 100 percent in the ring. I would like to see them freshen up the matches, though.

The problem still continues where we have the same guys wrestling every month. I like Orton as the champ, but can we see him wrestle someone besides Cena and HHH? It would be nice if maybe they threw MVP into the title mix.

I am not saying pull the strap off Orton. I think that would be a mistake if they did that. They do need to start having some of the younger guys at least wrestle for the title, though.

The writing on Raw is still a major problem. It still seems they have no clue what direction they want to go in. I am not thrilled at all with having a new GM every week.

It also seems like they are always looking a gift horse in the mouth. They could have put a nice little feud together with MVP and Swagger. Instead, the following week they had Swagger bury MVP.

They also blew a good opportunity to give Ted DiBiase a push up the ladder when he wrestled Orton. It is blunders like those two examples, which continue to hinder the Raw brand.

The last time I graded Raw I gave it a solid C+. With the addition of the new talent, and they push they seem to be giving the younger guys, I will up the grade to a B-. It would have been higher but the writing is still a big problem.

My final grade for Raw at the halfway point is a B-.

Smackdown

Friday night Smackdown is still the dominant show in my opinion. They continue to deliver solid action week in and week out. Unlike Raw, I know I will be entertained every week on Friday.

The talent on Smackdown has only gotten stronger. While we still have the main top guys on Smackdown, minus Edge due to an unfortunate injury, Smackdown has also added some nice additions to the roster.

With the addition of the Hart Dynasty and Finlay, Smackdown is now solid from top to bottom. They have done a nice job pushing Morrison into one of the main spots. This can partly be credited to Edge's injury.

I am also very excited to see what they will due with the Hart Dynasty. Tyson Kidd and David Hart Smith have a ton of upside. I hope they do more with Natalya than have her sit at ringside though.

The problem that still hinders Smackdown though is the lack of top faces. I realize they were going to push Edge that way before he was hurt. Unfortunately, injuries are part of wrestling.

That does not make the problem go away because they guy they were going to turn gets hurt. The only logical choice was to push Morrison further and faster. I would still like to see another top face, though.

Even if they throw Morrison in the title picture, it would only be a matter of time before that got stale. Smackdown needs someone besides Morrison and Hardy who can wrestle for the strap.

The writing and booking is fine on smackdown. They don’t try to over dramatize the story lines. The Smackdown writers also do a nice job with building up feuds at a solid pace.

The Feud with Jericho and Mysterio will easily be up there for feud of the year. They can easily make more magic happen with the solid roster they have to work with.

It is also about time that Smackdown goes live. It has been the dominant brand for some time now. It should be given the same proper treatment that raw gets each week.

The last time around I gave Smackdown an A. I would have liked to seen it higher, but they still haven’t fixed the issues with the lack of top faces.

I give Smackdown another A.

ECW

This is the only show that has probably dropped in the charts a little. That is to be expected though when you consider that ECW is the WWE's minor league system.

They pulled Mark Henry, Jack Swagger, Bourne, and the Hart Dynasty off of ECW. That is a major loss of talent right there. In return the only real guys they got were Kozlov, Benjamin, Regal, and Goldust.

To say that ECW's roster has been thinned out would be a major understatement. That is not to say that the guys they do have can’t grapple. I’m sure that we can see some good stuff from Benjamin and Christian.

It is also a good opportunity for the WWE to tune up Kozlov a little. Eventually, though, ECW will have to be stocked up again. They can probably pull up some guys from Florida if they have to.

The show is only an hour, so I can’t say too much for the writing and story lines. Considering what little time they have they do a good job. All they really have to do is not screw it up.

Last time, I gave ECW a B; this time around due to the lack of talent on the roster I will have to lower it a little.

I would have to grade ECW with a C+.

Superstars

There isn’t really too much to say about this show. It is still used to push the story lines from the other three brands. They do a solid job with it for the most part.

There isn’t any set talent, so I can’t really grade that in any way. We get to basically see dark matches that we wouldn’t see in the past. As far as the wrestling that we see each week goes, some times it is good and sometimes it isn’t.

There are weeks we will see an awesome main event match like Jericho vs. Morrison. Then there are other weeks when we will see stuff like Hornswoggle vs the Big Show.

I don’t see Superstars dong anything to change. I would just have to assume that it will most likely stay the same each week.

I gave superstars a C last time around. It was the same show then as it is now.

I will grade Superstars with another C.

Well that’s it for me folks, I hope you enjoyed my mid-year review. Please feel free to comment on it.

 If you agree that’s great, if you disagree that’s even better. Like I have said many times before, I am always up for a good rasslin debate.

As always, have a great day and God bless.