9 Vital Ways To Save WWE SmackDown

2. Returns

In the modern era of sports-entertainment, it is very difficult to keep something secret or effectively pull off a "surprise" that the audience didn't already know about. During the pre-internet days, some of the greatest moments of the wrestling industry included surprises that left the audience flabbergasted. The element of surprise was one of the greatest things about pro-wrestling and most of the biggest events, like WrestleMania, were sure to feature one or two. Along with those unexpected moments usually came the biggest pops of the year and an increased anticipation level for the next show. The closest thing we have today that is able to generate such excitement is the return of a superstar, whom was likely out of action due to a serious injury. Sometimes WWE go out of their way to promote a superstar's return in hopes that it will lead to a spike in ratings (or Network subs/PPV buys). Other times, the returns are meant to be capture that surprise element and are thus not advertised a head of time. Regardless of the strategy employed, can you name the last major superstar that made their return on SmackDown? Right now, the WWE has a scary number of superstars that are currently out-of-action for one reason or another. John Cena, Seth Rollins, Randy Orton, Daniel Bryan - that's four true main event superstars right there. That's not to forget about others like Sting, Tyson Kidd, Bo Dallas and Sami Zayn, either. We're also in line for eventual returns from The Rock, Brock Lesnar, and Chris Jericho. Some of these are more exciting than others, but why not use SmackDown as the first stop on the superstar's road back to the WWE? It would certainly change the perception of the show from what it is right now. Another suggestion would be to advertise the first one or two returns on SmackDown, then once the show has hopefully rebounded, throw in another surprise comeback to catch the viewers off-guard. This would reiterate the importance of watching every episode. The returning superstar is one of the few angles that still carries that special feeling of importance in an era where almost everything is spoiled and/or made to feel less important than it should be. By hosting a few returns, SmackDown would feel important again.