Paid Members LaGoosh Posted April 20, 2012 Paid Members Share Posted April 20, 2012 Recently I've been watching this youtube videos some guy does where he has highlights of entire PPVs in 10 minutes. These go back to about 2003 and one thing I noticed was ofcourse at the time Raw and Smackdown had their own PPVs and they were both stacked with talent. Smackdown had Brock Lesnar who was their biggest new star, The Undertaker, Hulk Hogan, Kurt Angle, Chris Benoit, Edge and Eddie Guerrero also Vince McMahon was all over Smackdown with his fued with Stephanie and his fued with Zack Gowen and Hulk Hogan/Mr America.For years Smackdown was on an equal level to Raw, I'm finding it hard to pinpoint when exactly they stopped giving a shit about the show and started seeing it as second fiddle because that wasn't initally the case. I'm not even sure why they took this attitude in the first place? Did the show rapidly drop ratings moreso than Raw or was it a case of "Triple H is on Raw so who gives a fuck about Smackdown?".As far as I can tell there is no logical reason for it. I'd like for this to change. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
King Pitcos Posted April 20, 2012 Share Posted April 20, 2012 After WrestleMania 20. Or possibly before that, when Benoit won the Rumble and went to Raw. But even in 2008, Evil Triple H was on SmackDown. It went back to shit in 2009 when he was replaced by John Morrison, Chris Jericho and Mr 2.9. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members JohnnyChimpo Posted April 20, 2012 Paid Members Share Posted April 20, 2012 For years Smackdown was on an equal level to Raw,This isnt true. It might have been presented as being a bigger and better show than what it currently is, but it was never, ever on the same level as Raw. Raw has always been the flagship show. So in answer to your question, Smackdown as been the B show since its inception. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members tiger_rick Posted April 20, 2012 Paid Members Share Posted April 20, 2012 After WrestleMania 20. Or possibly before that, when Benoit won the Rumble and went to Raw. But even in 2008, Evil Triple H was on SmackDown. It went back to shit in 2009 when he was replaced by John Morrison, Chris Jericho and Mr 2.9.I agree with this. Smackdown had a fair range of stars before WMXX and was always treated as an important entity. Then they lost Lesnar and at the following draft they did the Triple H to Smackdown switch. The point at which they reversed it made it obvious where the priority lay. Smackdown has never seemed as important since. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
simonworden Posted April 20, 2012 Share Posted April 20, 2012 Possibly for the questions thread but as we are on topic, what was the reason Smackdown had Hogan Taker etc, was it due to Triple H not wanting them on Raw or just to balance out the rosters Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vamp Posted April 20, 2012 Share Posted April 20, 2012 Makes sense to have 'Taker on a different brand to Trips. They're two of their locker room leaders, you don't want both on the same show. And they might have thought that if Hogan's wrestling it'd be better to have it on the show they could edit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members CleetusVanDamme Posted April 20, 2012 Paid Members Share Posted April 20, 2012 It's always been the b-show. It's WWE's Thunder. Sure, there's been a couple of brief spells where it's not been terrible, maybe even times it's been more entertaining than Raw, but it's never, ever been as important as the A-show, ever.HHH was on Smackdown for a few months after the first brand split, btw. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Natural Posted April 20, 2012 Share Posted April 20, 2012 Smackdown might have the B show tag but I've nearly always prefered it to RAW ever since the 2002 roster split. Smackdown's best year would have to be 2002. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Max Power Posted April 20, 2012 Share Posted April 20, 2012 I agree with those who says its always been the B-show - it is taped after all. But in its first 2 or 3 years, it certainly wasn't presented that way, especially pre-brand split. It was "The Rock's Show" after all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pinc Posted April 20, 2012 Share Posted April 20, 2012 For years Smackdown was on an equal level to Raw,This isnt true. It might have been presented as being a bigger and better show than what it currently is, but it was never, ever on the same level as Raw. Raw has always been the flagship show. So in answer to your question, Smackdown as been the B show since its inception.Na. Rock to SmackDown, Austin to Raw in the first ever draft pegged both shows as equal, and they stayed that way for a couple of years. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members JohnnyChimpo Posted April 20, 2012 Paid Members Share Posted April 20, 2012 2575762[/url]'] 2575719[/url]' date='Apr 20 2012, 12:54'] 2575709[/url]' date='Apr 20 2012, 12:24']For years Smackdown was on an equal level to Raw,This isnt true. It might have been presented as being a bigger and better show than what it currently is, but it was never, ever on the same level as Raw. Raw has always been the flagship show. So in answer to your question, Smackdown as been the B show since its inception.Na. Rock to SmackDown, Austin to Raw in the first ever draft pegged both shows as equal, and they stayed that way for a couple of years.The Rock was drafted to Raw cause he was fucking off to Hollywood before the next PPV. He was on Smackdown for about 2, maybe 3 weeks after the initial roster split. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ClassicsGuy Posted April 20, 2012 Share Posted April 20, 2012 When stars started dying - Guerrero, Benoit; leaving - Angle, Hardy, Batista etc; and just generally slowing down and retiring - Taker, HBK.As stars departed, the new guys who came in weren't as good and/or didn't get over.The talent depth issues got worse. More stars got moved to Raw - Cena, Mysterio, Edge.And we end up with the current situation where there is effectively no brand split, because Smackdown doesn't have enough stars to draw on the road.Thus, with no brand split, it becomes Raw A and Raw B. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smeg_&_The_Heads Posted April 20, 2012 Share Posted April 20, 2012 I do think Smackdown was always the B show maybe at one time it did come close to being equal to Raw but at very best it was still seen as the A- show Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Tommy! Posted April 20, 2012 Paid Members Share Posted April 20, 2012 Then they lost Lesnar and at the following draft they did the Triple H to Smackdown switch. The point at which they reversed it made it obvious where the priority lay. Smackdown has never seemed as important since.Didn't HHH gets traded for Booker and the Dudleys after the draft and Booker instantly turns heel by saying how smack downs below him and shit? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members CleetusVanDamme Posted April 20, 2012 Paid Members Share Posted April 20, 2012 HBK.Yeah. Shawn Michaels retiring played a huge part in Smackdown's demise. The show was practically built around him....All 4 times he appeared on it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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