10 Things That Have Contributed To WWE SmackDown Live's Fall From Grace
8. John Cena's “Free Agent” Status
John Cena taking time from WWE TV following WrestleMania 33 allowed stars such as Jinder Mahal, Shinsuke Nakamura, and Kevin Owens to rise in his absence, though it was unknown when he would resurface on SmackDown Live. Then, vignettes airing at the start of the summer promoting his imminent return to programming indicated he'd be coming back as a "free agent," leading to speculation from fans as to what that might mean.
WWE attempted to shed light on the issue through online articles and commentators acknowledging it in passing on Raw and SmackDown, yet offered no additional information as to what it would entail. In fact, even Cena failed to elaborate on his free agent status upon his return to SmackDown on the Fourth of July episode. It has been over a month since then and still nothing new has been said about it.
Essentially, we can assume Cena isn't officially signed to one brand in storyline, and it has been rumored he will be Raw bound after SummerSlam. Regardless of what the immediate future holds for him, WWE's poor handling of the angle has been disappointing, to say the least.
Why wouldn't Raw or SmackDown be begging for Cena to sign a contract with them? That's lazy storytelling on SmackDown's part considering that is where he currently calls home.