There was a time when Friday Night Smackdown was the highlight of WWE's weekly programming. From 2002-2003, Paul Heyman's vision for the blue brand was to make it as different from Raw as possible, and it worked. In essence, Heyman drafted up a weekly show which delighted the common wrestling fan, and made the Monday show easier to stomach. Surely the above is the entire purpose of the Smackdown concept, to offer something worthwhile for WWE fans to tune into? Currently, the telecast is nothing more than a glorified re-run of Raw, offering up largely the same matches, along with a whole load of recap from the flagship broadcast. If it wasn't immediately obvious, WWE do a stellar job of letting people know that Raw is where much of the focus lies. Needless to say, this shouldn't always be the case. If Raw needs to revert to the two hour format, then Smackdown badly needs an overhaul. We're not just talking a lick of paint here, we're talking an entire re-examination. Fans tuning in need a reason to, and after three hours of Raw, more of the same for 120 minutes just doesn't cut it.
Lifelong wrestling, video game, music and sports obsessive who has been writing about his passions since childhood. Jamie started writing for WhatCulture in 2013, and has contributed thousands of articles and YouTube videos since then. He cut his teeth penning published pieces for top UK and European wrestling read Fighting Spirit Magazine (FSM), and also has extensive experience working within the wrestling biz as a manager and commentator for promotions like ICW on WWE Network and WCPW/Defiant since 2010. Further, Jamie also hosted the old Ministry Of Slam podcast, and has interviewed everyone from Steve Austin and Shawn Michaels to Bret Hart and Trish Stratus.
