Post by vanboxmeer on Sept 23, 2008 10:22:39 GMT -5
With the imminent move over to MyNetwork, I'm gonna give my opinion on the ten most important wrestlers in building up the brand of Smackdown as well as the brand building up the career of the wrestler. I'd like to see other people's opinions on this too.
1) The Undertaker: Ever since the first brand draft, The Undertaker has been the longest mainstay for Smackdown and has been the only guy to be constantly on Smackdown. While alot of his legendary career was done on the RAW show, his move to SD has built up the brand and his own legacy greater than any other wrestler that has been on SD.
2) Kurt Angle: For much of SD's brand history, Kurt Angle was the backbone and the cornerstone in which the brand was built around. He was a member of the infamous Smackdown Six and was elevated far to legendary status while on Smackdown when pre-brand split he was a lower main-eventer. He is the wrestler who has had the greatest number of high-quality matches in SD history.
3) Rey Mysterio: While he has definetely slowed down due to age and injury, there is no way to downplay the importance of Rey Mysterio to SD and SD to Rey. His entire build-up from a cruiserweight attraction to a top of the card attraction and likely is the highest drawing cruiserweight of all time. Much of SD's latino audience is due to Rey Mysterio's emergence on SD. If you were to trace Rey Mysterio's WWE career as a whole, SD is the grounds where it took place. Also a member of the "Six".
4) Edge: While his recent heel work was carrying and in the future will continue carrying Smackdown into the future, what cements Edge such a high spot in SD's history was his emergence as a potential future headliner for the company back in the "Paul Heyman's Smackdown" era. He was basically the "CM Punk" of the brand during that time where he was gaining serious momentum and was a major part of the upper-midcard as part of the "Six". He drastically improved his singles' wrestling repertoire as well as his mic skills, much of Edge's recent abilities can be traced in his comfortableness in his earlier face work where he was developing his skills.
5) Brock Lesnar: While his WWE run was not very long, it was definetly memorable and was essential in building the recently split Smackdown brand as a true equal if not greater show than Raw. Brock Lesnar's big run was done exclusively on SD and during this time was when Smackdown was critically claimed at it's highest in terms of talent, storylines, and importance of every division. Brock was the top guy at this time and gives him #5 in establishing the blue brand in it's birth as a seperate brand.
6) Batista: Batista is an interesting case, in his debut as the Deacon to the Reverend D-Von to years later coming in as a Raw-made star.
His momentum from his Raw build-up was carried through to SD where he played the top face for parts of SD's history. Batista improved his abilities in 2007 while having a significant fued with The Undertaker. A severe injury hurt his momentum coming from Raw through 2006, but he was able to build that momentum back up in 2007 and was a pivotal part of recent SD history.
7) Eddie Guerrero: While Rey is credited with being the guy to bringing in the Latino audience, Eddie was likely the first guy to draw them in. When Guerrero made his comeback on Raw he was a great mid-carder, but his move over to SD basically build up his legacy as the first Latino WWE Champion. As part of the "Six" he was having great match after great match, and SD allowed him the platform to gain recognition from management and the casual fans which culminated in him beating Brock Lesnar for the belt which solidified his legacy in the business.
8) The Big Show: Big Show has always been a prevailing part of Smackdown's brand history. His greatest time in his WWE career was when during his fued with Brock Lesnar which helped solidify him as a true force in the company. Prior to that, he was dwindling into obscurity, but his move to Smackdown revitalized his career. He himself was a big cog in the machine of Smackdown during the "Paul Heyman" era and was an important figure in it's overall brand history.
9) John Cena: While many fans recognize John Cena as the top guy in the company and of the Raw brand, his history in SD was the story of his rise to the top of the company. For essentially 2 years, he was CARRYING the mid-card working with the likes of Rene Dupree, Billy Gunn, A-train, Kenzo, and other forgettables. A part of Smackdown's golden age was John Cena's developement and making the US division important. Smackdown was the proving ground for John Cena's growth to the top of the company and he provided Smackdown with a great build-up story of a young guy coming in at the bottom and working his way to the top of the brand.
10) Hollywood Hulk Hogan: Despite all of Hogan's criticisms and political issues, he was a fairly important part of SD's early history.
Much of his return run to the WWE was done on SD, where he provided a nostalgic character to the audience at that time. During this time he helped put over or give the rub to guys who would be carrying the brand for years to come (Lesnar, Angle, Edge, Undertaker..) and was a placeholder top guy of the brand while the lower guys built themselves up to take the torch.
Honorable Mentions:
Matt Hardy: Mattitude era and his recent build up to US/ECW champion is credited with being on Smackdown and being helped in that atmosphere, while on Raw he was an afterthought. He was a featured mid-card attraction for much of his time on SD.
Chris Benoit: For much of SD, Chris Benoit was the glue that held the show together. However, his rise to the top can be credited to Raw more than SD, as he won the belt on Raw while on SD having solid matches constantly gave him momentum to leave to Raw.
However the majority of his SD career was in the upper-midcard while the highest points in his career was on Raw.
The Rock: The basis of the show even starting up was to counter WCW Thunder, and The Rock was the key figure in starting up the brand as it's his catchphrase that is the brand's name. However, he really was not a very prominent figure on SD other than being the guy who put over Brock Lesnar. He then was moved to Raw where most of his appearances would come. SD itself didn't help The Rock's career at all, since he was already established as a legend before the brand split.
Chavo Guerrero: For much of his time he played the mid-card heel and was an important fixture in the cruisderweight division. However he never broke into "importance" in being a top guy in the brand, but he was definetely established as a WWE character during his time on Smackdown, when prior as a member of the Invasion he was a nobody.
1) The Undertaker: Ever since the first brand draft, The Undertaker has been the longest mainstay for Smackdown and has been the only guy to be constantly on Smackdown. While alot of his legendary career was done on the RAW show, his move to SD has built up the brand and his own legacy greater than any other wrestler that has been on SD.
2) Kurt Angle: For much of SD's brand history, Kurt Angle was the backbone and the cornerstone in which the brand was built around. He was a member of the infamous Smackdown Six and was elevated far to legendary status while on Smackdown when pre-brand split he was a lower main-eventer. He is the wrestler who has had the greatest number of high-quality matches in SD history.
3) Rey Mysterio: While he has definetely slowed down due to age and injury, there is no way to downplay the importance of Rey Mysterio to SD and SD to Rey. His entire build-up from a cruiserweight attraction to a top of the card attraction and likely is the highest drawing cruiserweight of all time. Much of SD's latino audience is due to Rey Mysterio's emergence on SD. If you were to trace Rey Mysterio's WWE career as a whole, SD is the grounds where it took place. Also a member of the "Six".
4) Edge: While his recent heel work was carrying and in the future will continue carrying Smackdown into the future, what cements Edge such a high spot in SD's history was his emergence as a potential future headliner for the company back in the "Paul Heyman's Smackdown" era. He was basically the "CM Punk" of the brand during that time where he was gaining serious momentum and was a major part of the upper-midcard as part of the "Six". He drastically improved his singles' wrestling repertoire as well as his mic skills, much of Edge's recent abilities can be traced in his comfortableness in his earlier face work where he was developing his skills.
5) Brock Lesnar: While his WWE run was not very long, it was definetly memorable and was essential in building the recently split Smackdown brand as a true equal if not greater show than Raw. Brock Lesnar's big run was done exclusively on SD and during this time was when Smackdown was critically claimed at it's highest in terms of talent, storylines, and importance of every division. Brock was the top guy at this time and gives him #5 in establishing the blue brand in it's birth as a seperate brand.
6) Batista: Batista is an interesting case, in his debut as the Deacon to the Reverend D-Von to years later coming in as a Raw-made star.
His momentum from his Raw build-up was carried through to SD where he played the top face for parts of SD's history. Batista improved his abilities in 2007 while having a significant fued with The Undertaker. A severe injury hurt his momentum coming from Raw through 2006, but he was able to build that momentum back up in 2007 and was a pivotal part of recent SD history.
7) Eddie Guerrero: While Rey is credited with being the guy to bringing in the Latino audience, Eddie was likely the first guy to draw them in. When Guerrero made his comeback on Raw he was a great mid-carder, but his move over to SD basically build up his legacy as the first Latino WWE Champion. As part of the "Six" he was having great match after great match, and SD allowed him the platform to gain recognition from management and the casual fans which culminated in him beating Brock Lesnar for the belt which solidified his legacy in the business.
8) The Big Show: Big Show has always been a prevailing part of Smackdown's brand history. His greatest time in his WWE career was when during his fued with Brock Lesnar which helped solidify him as a true force in the company. Prior to that, he was dwindling into obscurity, but his move to Smackdown revitalized his career. He himself was a big cog in the machine of Smackdown during the "Paul Heyman" era and was an important figure in it's overall brand history.
9) John Cena: While many fans recognize John Cena as the top guy in the company and of the Raw brand, his history in SD was the story of his rise to the top of the company. For essentially 2 years, he was CARRYING the mid-card working with the likes of Rene Dupree, Billy Gunn, A-train, Kenzo, and other forgettables. A part of Smackdown's golden age was John Cena's developement and making the US division important. Smackdown was the proving ground for John Cena's growth to the top of the company and he provided Smackdown with a great build-up story of a young guy coming in at the bottom and working his way to the top of the brand.
10) Hollywood Hulk Hogan: Despite all of Hogan's criticisms and political issues, he was a fairly important part of SD's early history.
Much of his return run to the WWE was done on SD, where he provided a nostalgic character to the audience at that time. During this time he helped put over or give the rub to guys who would be carrying the brand for years to come (Lesnar, Angle, Edge, Undertaker..) and was a placeholder top guy of the brand while the lower guys built themselves up to take the torch.
Honorable Mentions:
Matt Hardy: Mattitude era and his recent build up to US/ECW champion is credited with being on Smackdown and being helped in that atmosphere, while on Raw he was an afterthought. He was a featured mid-card attraction for much of his time on SD.
Chris Benoit: For much of SD, Chris Benoit was the glue that held the show together. However, his rise to the top can be credited to Raw more than SD, as he won the belt on Raw while on SD having solid matches constantly gave him momentum to leave to Raw.
However the majority of his SD career was in the upper-midcard while the highest points in his career was on Raw.
The Rock: The basis of the show even starting up was to counter WCW Thunder, and The Rock was the key figure in starting up the brand as it's his catchphrase that is the brand's name. However, he really was not a very prominent figure on SD other than being the guy who put over Brock Lesnar. He then was moved to Raw where most of his appearances would come. SD itself didn't help The Rock's career at all, since he was already established as a legend before the brand split.
Chavo Guerrero: For much of his time he played the mid-card heel and was an important fixture in the cruisderweight division. However he never broke into "importance" in being a top guy in the brand, but he was definetely established as a WWE character during his time on Smackdown, when prior as a member of the Invasion he was a nobody.
