During the era of the brand split, SmackDown was comfortably on a par with Raw in terms of talent and quality of content. It was even possible to argue that SmackDown was a better show. Nowadays, that notion is utterly laughable. It's clear that WWE has no idea how to use its B-shows - SmackDown and Main Event. They are mostly made up of filler matches and incidental content that doesn't have much of a bearing on storyline. For this reason, it's easy for fans to simply make the decision to ignore anything other than Raw, given that that's where all of the important action happens. It doesn't help that matches that work well on one of the B-shows are often performed again on Raw, panning out in only a slightly different way. It's as if the WWE doesn't even want people to watch its other shows. Main Event, which airs live on Tuesday nights, could be a huge selling point for the WWE Network. If the hour of extra programming helped to move on storylines or featured important matches, it would quickly become a must-see for WWE fans. It wouldn't be difficult to implement either. The recent United States Championship bout between Sheamus and Rusev that aired on the WWE Network following Raw could easily have been saved for the Main Event taping the following night. Something as important as a title change would immediately elevate one of the secondary shows.
Freelance film journalist and fan of professional wrestling. Usually found in a darkened screening room looking for an aisle seat and telling people to put away their mobile phones. Also known to do a bit of stand-up comedy, so I'm used to the occasional heckle.
