The Blue Brand. The Rocks Show. Whatever Smackdown has been called, one nickname rings true and stings too: The B-Show. Like it or not, Friday night Smackdown is like the kid brother of Monday night Raw. Raw is a live, three-hour extravaganza that is the focal point of WWE programming, airing on the USA Network. Smackdown is shunted over to Fridays for two hours on the less-mainstream Syfy, taped three days earlier in the week. Since the brand extension ended a few years ago, Smackdown has ceased to be must-see WWE programming. Dont get it wrong, theres still quality matches (sometimes more so than Raw) and it can be very entertaining, but fans could simply watch Raw on Mondays and not miss anything with regard to storylines and developments. But it wasnt always that way. Since its inception in 1999, Smackdown was a solid second program for WWF/E, and fans could see some high-profile events. It was on Smackdown that Jeff Hardy defeated Triple H for the Intercontinental Championship, Edge and Hulk Hogan became World Tag Team Champions, and Big Show and Brock Lesnar broke the ring. So how can WWE recapture some of that past glory and make Smackdown an A-show again? Here are some suggestions that might get fans to tune in or at least DVR it. While not all are entirely possible, doing a couple of these might help make Smackdown must-see programming.
Scott is a former journalist and longtime wrestling fan who was smart enough to abandon WCW during the Monday Night Wars the same time as the Radicalz. He fortunately became a fan in time for WrestleMania III and came back as a fan after a long high school hiatus before WM XIV. Monday nights in the Carlson household are reserved for viewing Raw -- for better or worse.
