WWE: Should Christian Leave Smackdown for Raw?

After a series of spectacular matches on Smackdown over the summer with Randy Orton, Christian once again finds his career up in the air. Despite performing well as both a character and in-ring competitor (Orton vs. Chrsitian is considered by many fans to be WWE's in-ring feud of the year), he's still far from an established main-event player.

This is partly because his feud with Orton was often very one-sided: Christian lost clean to Orton several times, and the only time he did emerge triumphant from their battles was due to a furious Orton getting himself disqualified after the Canadian wrestler cheekily spat on him at the Money in the Bank PPV. Despite the win, the message was clear: Orton was far superior to Christian, and had only lost due to foolishness on his own part.

True to form, Orton bested his frequent foe again at the Summerslam PPV and at their feud-ending cage match last week on Smackdown.

It seems patently obvious that, even after all these years of Christain demonstrating what a superior performer he is, Vince McMahon and others in WWE management are still extremely reluctant to strap the rocket onto Christian's back and push him to the moon. We have seen plenty of evidence of this in the past few years where other younger stars were given half-hearted pushes, which were then promptly abandoned by a fickle booking team: Sheamus, Drew McIntyre, Jack Swagger and Alex Riley, to name the worst victims of WWE ineptness in recent times.

Of course, it would be unfair to suggest that Christian is in the exact same mid-card spot he was last year (and he is in a far better position than the likes of Drew McIntyre, that's for sure.) Indeed, the Orton program has raised his profile considerably, even if he didn't get over as an established top guy like many fans wanted. Certainly, he will be in main events in the future, partly because the WWE main-event scene (Smackdown in particular) is so terribly thin at the moment and there simply aren't that many top guys to fall back on any more.

So, should Christian's next career move be a switch the Raw brand?

It's an interesting question to ponder. There are many positives and negatives that would accompany such a move. Of course, with new boss HHH's recent decree that Smackdown guys would now be coming over to Raw, there remains doubt as to whether the brand split actually matters that much these days, with wrestlers generally coming and going wherever they like (additionally, Raw wrestler John Cena opened up last week's live Smackdown and no-one batted an eyelid).

But generally, if WWE are paying scant attention to brand lines, then Christian moving to Raw could be considered a big deal. If WWE wanted to give him a good start, HHH could open the show (as he always does these days) bragging about his latest major signing for Raw who is going to be a force to be reckoned with. Then, after a few weeks of prolonging the mystery and building up the anticipation, Triple H would reveal Christian as the much-talked up acquisition. Christian could then feud with John Cena or CM Punk, the two highest ranked babyfaces on the brand. Certainly these are two fresh possibilities for the brand (and I'm sure, on a personal level, Punk would be ecstatic to move on from this dire, convoluted program with HHH and Kevin Nash), and the promo work would be very good, as it always is with Christian.

Of course, there's also the very strong possibility that the Canadian would get lost in the shuffle, especially since Raw is so top-heavy these days with Nash's return and HHH apparently coming back as a regular in-ring performer. Indeed, many talented and over wrestlers like The Miz, R-Truth and John Morrison have found themselves relegated to the sidelines while this corporate power-struggle plays out in the main-event scene.

In this respect, a Christian move would be unwise, since he at least gets a fair amount of on-air time on Smackdown and is considered a major star. This could not be guaranteed on Raw, a brand where the fate of nearly every performer is to play second fiddle to John Cena and the trials and tribulations of the McMahon family. (Hey, Alberto Del Rio is the actual champion of the brand and is still coming off as a side character these days.)

Summarily, while a Christian move to Raw might sound good on paper, I feel the realities would be much different. Indeed, Christian is probably better off staying on Smackdown—and making the occasional trip to Raw—than going to the Raw brand full-time.

Undoubtedly, the Canadian will get that call to main event the blue brand again and, if the company is relying on the deeply flawed Mark Henry to be the main heel of the brand, the call will probably come sooner rather than later.