The Dart Posted October 5, 2014 Share Posted October 5, 2014 Â Have SmackDown tapings been cut shorter in recent times? Main Event taping is about 40 minutes longer than Superstars, and there's usually 3 dark matches at Smackdown, but only 1 if any at Raw. But Smackdown taping does still tend to be shorter than Raw, due to Raw being 3 hours. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
King Pitcos Posted October 5, 2014 Share Posted October 5, 2014 Main Event is broadcast live now, isn't it, which means it takes an hour? So Smackdown's taping would have to be cut down a bit for that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AshC Posted October 5, 2014 Share Posted October 5, 2014 They won't do Ambrose vs Rollins in the cell. It'll be like when Austin wrestled Angle and Rock fought Jericho at that PPV where the two titles would be decided in the main event. Austin vs Rock was the lure, but not the pay-off. That's how I'm reading it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WyattSheepMask Posted October 5, 2014 Share Posted October 5, 2014 It's Smackdown week on the network this week as it's the 15th anniversary of Smackdown this coming Friday. This is the only reason I can think that Cena was on last week and most likely will again this week. But yeah, it has been woeful for a long time . Â And Pictos you are right, Main Event is broadcast live on the network, but it think they still have dark matches before that is broadcast and between Main Event finishing and taping Smackdown Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neil is brill Posted October 5, 2014 Share Posted October 5, 2014 Now that there's no such thing as the brand split, there's no reason why they can't make Smackdown the show it used to be. It should be the follow on from Raw. It's a shame that it's basically become the equivalent of Sunday Night Heat. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Arch Stanton Posted October 6, 2014 Paid Members Share Posted October 6, 2014 Now that there's no such thing as the brand split, there's no reason why they can't make Smackdown the show it used to be. It should be the follow on from Raw. It's a shame that it's basically become the equivalent of Sunday Night Heat. There is a reason- Raw is now three hours long and they can't write twenty minutes of good material for that. At this point SmackDown has the feel of a show that only exists to fulfil their contractual obligation to SyFy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members tiger_rick Posted October 6, 2014 Paid Members Share Posted October 6, 2014 It's Smackdown week on the network this week as it's the 15th anniversary of Smackdown this coming Friday. This is the only reason I can think that Cena was on last week and most likely will again this week. But yeah, it has been woeful for a long time .  Yeah, I heard that this week. They're obviously ignoring the "pilot".  And Pictos you are right Can hear his head swelling from here   Now that there's no such thing as the brand split, there's no reason why they can't make Smackdown the show it used to be. It should be the follow on from Raw. It's a shame that it's basically become the equivalent of Sunday Night Heat.There is a reason- Raw is now three hours long and they can't write twenty minutes of good material for that. At this point SmackDown has the feel of a show that only exists to fulfil their contractual obligation to SyFy. Spot on. If you count main event, they're trying to fill 6 hours of first run TV a week. They often have about an hour's decent material.  I'd quite like to see the brand split return. I still think it was a good idea and when they took things semi-serious, it did create some freshness in the product after the annual draft.  I know they want to keep costs down but they could surely support a bigger roster if they're paying people less because they're only working half the shows?  No doubt it will never come back but I still liked it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loki Posted October 6, 2014 Share Posted October 6, 2014 It's a bit counter-intuitive isn't it? Â For years, a lot of us were saying that the brand split devalued Smackdown as it was clearly the secondary brand, plus it devalued the title etc etc. Â But since the end of it they're had even less incentive to do anything with their 2nd show. Â What else could they do with the 2 hour slot though? Â Cruiserweight show? Â Make it into a running tournament for some sort of title? Â Emphasise tag teams? Â Jobbers? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
King Pitcos Posted October 6, 2014 Share Posted October 6, 2014 None of those ideas would be any good in execution. Plus the content has to be approved by the network, WWE pitched jobber squashes as the format for the Superstars relaunch a few years ago and whatever network it was going on told them to fuck right off. SyFy would likely prefer inconsequential filler tags with Cena and Ambrose to a show where Sin Cara, Justin Gabriel and Kofi Kingston doing dives were the top names. Â The reason Smackdown is even more inconsequential now is the same reason the brand split ended -- WWE doesn't have the main event depth to support two separate brands. The reason that Smackdown (and WWE in general) is choc full of bland filler rematches is that they're easier to distribute internationally. Â I think going forward, I'll stick with watching Raw, and then using the WWE Youtube channel to vew relevant parts of Main Event, Smackdown and NXT. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members tiger_rick Posted October 6, 2014 Paid Members Share Posted October 6, 2014 I think going forward, I'll stick with watching Raw, and then using the WWE Youtube channel to vew relevant parts of Main Event, Smackdown and NXT. I've only been watching Smackdown again for two weeks. I've probably watched it 5 or 6 times in two years. I can only think of a couple of times where something has been discussed on here enough to make me go check it out. Otherwise any storyline development is aired on Raw. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members SpursRiot2012 Posted October 6, 2014 Paid Members Share Posted October 6, 2014 I haven't watched a single minute of Smackdown, unless it was replayed on Raw, in about a decade. They don't give you any reason to have to. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UK Kat Von D Posted October 6, 2014 Share Posted October 6, 2014 Smackdown should have more character development. Interviews, vignettes, building undercard feuds etc. Throw in a bunch of jobber squashes with one decent main event. Â As far as networks are concerned they could just ease it in over 12 months and hope they don't notice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WyattSheepMask Posted October 6, 2014 Share Posted October 6, 2014 Ideally they should unify the US & IC belts and have that be the focus of the 2nd show. Have a feud going on were the title is actually being fought for and the rest of the show being the remaining mid card trying to move up the ranks to earn a title shot. Â But then if you wanted to see that kind of show you'd watch ROH. Smackdown has no direction to it, it's just cobbled together from matches that have been done to death just to fill time because WWE are contracted to deliver a show every week Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members tiger_rick Posted October 6, 2014 Paid Members Share Posted October 6, 2014 Smackdown should have more character development. Interviews, vignettes, building undercard feuds etc. Throw in a bunch of jobber squashes with one decent main event. Who on earth would watch jobber matches nowadays? As for the rest, that's what wrestling TV should have full stop. They obviously like writing one or two storylines, something soap opera inspired for the Divas and throw out a load of matches to "develop a rivalry". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Scott Malbranque Posted October 6, 2014 Paid Members Share Posted October 6, 2014 (edited) I'd love to see jobber squash matches again with names the likes of ‘Fighting’ Ted Larcy, ‘Jailtime’ Larry Muntz and ‘Locktight’ Ernie Henkleman pop up on my screen. Edited October 6, 2014 by Scott Malbranque Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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