10 Major Lessons WWE Must Learn From 2017
3. Shuffle The SmackDown Staff
We aren't privy to the exact machinations of the SmackDown writing staff, nor the power politics - but if Brian 'Road Dogg' James wields as much influence as is reported, the man needs to go.
SmackDown has degenerated into a plot hole-ridden wasteland in 2017. Consider the curious case of Tye Dillinger; the man gets over by losing, he's such a pure babyface - and he's barely performed job duties on a blue brand in dire need of legitimised heels. Dolph Ziggler was begging for a programme with him to at least simulate credibility - but he was instead jobbed out ad nauseam, and we were still expected to take him seriously in the gatekeeper role. Until recently, Charlotte Flair did nothing of note because nobody on the writing staff can conceive of an absorbing programme outside of the title picture. Instead, she performed in countless multi-woman matches on a meaningless merry-go-round.
This myopic strategy extended to the doubles ranks, so thank f*ck for the Usos and The New Day, who were talented enough to fashion several entertaining bouts with a thread of continuity.
Cheap racism; a regressive retcon of the progressive Women's Money In The Bank Ladder Match; a laughable mishandling of Shinsuke Nakamura: SmackDown in 2017 was repetitive, profligate and all too often made zero sense.