From day one, the biggest strike against SmackDown has been the fact that the show is taped each and every Tuesday night. Thus, fans can rush on over to the Internet, read the results of the show, and decide whether or not they want to watch the show. The workers, on the other hand, have less pressure on themselves to perform knowing that any flubs or mistakes can be edited out in post. Overall, the taped nature of the show makes for a lackluster and lethargic product. Switching to a live format would inject life into the show, eliminate the need for canned reactions for the Superstars and prevent the company from manipulating reactions. The show would improve exponentially, even without any of the previous nine elements involved. As a taped show, SmackDown suffers from the same "who cares, I already know what happens" attitude that greets Superstars and Main Event. Considering the fact that the show is one of WWE's premiere properties, that is hardly the response the company wants to elicit.
Erik Beaston is a freelance pro wrestling writer who likes long walks in the park, dandelions and has not quite figured out that this introduction is not for Match.com. He resides in Parts Unknown, where he hosts weekly cookouts with Kane, The Ultimate Warrior, Papa Shango and The Boogeyman. Be jealous.
