10 Ways To Make WWE Smackdown A ‘Must-See’ Show Again
2. Wrestler Returns And Guest Spots
When WWE wants fans to tune in to Raw, they sometimes hype a major star returning such as the Rock, Shawn Michaels, Hulk Hogan or Brock Lesnar or plug a guest star weve seen Arnold Schwarzenegger, Betty White and Michael Strahan announced in the past. Major stars returning from injury often show up first on Raw. Raw also had the weekly guest host/GM concept during 2009-10, bringing celebrities into the fold. How often do fans see any of this on Smackdown? Yes, Smackdown is taped and Raw is live, and that obviously is a major reason (along with ratings) why these ratings grabs happen on Monday nights instead of Friday nights. But imagine if WWE decided to use one of Lesnars limited appearances on the Smackdown before a PPV (which also plays into item #7 about go-home shows) bring an angle to a head. Or if Bad News Barrett returned to challenge for the Intercontinental Championship he never lost. Or if a WWE Hall of Famer appeared out of the blue. Taped or not, these appearances could help fans decide to tune in to watch.
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.
