3 Hour Smackdown?

[Cronant]

- WWE officials are looking to get SmackDown on par with RAW in hopes of getting a good deal from SyFy next month when the current TV contract expires. One WWE source says they wouldn't be surprised if SmackDown ends up going to three hours.

Source: PWInsider

Of course, possible NEWZ is NEWZ, but FAN, could you do it?

3 hourse or not, it'd be hard to get Smackdown on par with RAW with the current nonsplit setup, where everyone is on RAW and everyone minus Cena/Punk tend to be on Smackdown. First order of business would be to sort out the WHC.

[Bo Rida]

They can't even fill two hours!

[Deleted]

Aug 14, 2013 12:48:26 GMT -5 Bo Rida said:

They can't even fill two hours!

This exactly. In the UK at least, we're still getting 'vintage' matches an hour in.

If I'm being entirely honest, I don't think there's any need for Smackdown any more. It was brought in as a competitor to Thunder, and then the brand split gave it some new life, but since the brand split ended, it's been just another wrestling show. Especially now that Raw is 3 hours, and you've got Superstars, NXT and (debatable) Saturday Morning Slam, what's the point of Smackdown?

[Brother Nero....Wolfe]

I kind of miss the brand split. I always enjoyed Smackdown more because it was the show Vince was paying the least attention to.

[Deleted]

At the very least it seems the WWE has started to take Smackdown abit more seriously over the last few months, what with Undertaker getting taken out, the Shield's dominance and first loss, Punk and Jericho making more appearances, more segments and matches actually being advertised on Raw etc. But is a third hour really necessary outside of monetary gain? It took the WWE nearly a year before they finally realised how to utilise the third hour of Raw!

[CH Punk]

The only reason Smackdown in the UK has the vintage matches is because Sky runs a lot less ads than Syfy.

Regardless, Smackdown as it is at two hours is pretty thin in content and stretching it to three hours would be torture (barring thirty to hour long matches). But, if they can create a kind of new brand split where it's a bit more informal, it could be alright.

[Hit Girl]

The more hours WWE needs to fill, the worse the product gets.

[Clash, Never a Meter Maid]

Bad idea. I'd rather they eliminate all remaining traces of the brand split and essentially make Smackdown the "Thunder" to Raw's "Nitro".

[Deleted]

I kinda miss giving a crap about SmackDown! The last time I watched regularly was when Stephanie was GM.

[Mesousa287793]

Aug 14, 2013 13:09:44 GMT -5 Clash, Never a Meter Maid said:

Bad idea. I'd rather they eliminate all remaining traces of the brand split and essentially make Smackdown the "Thunder" to Raw's "Nitro".

So...jobber matches galore?

[Bo Rida]

Actually thinking about it they could just show NXT for the third hour, that benefits SyFy, comes at no cost (time or money) to WWE, brings NXT to a wider audience and means nothing changes for international viewers.

[Indiana Miz]

I wouldn't mind it being 3 hours. I'll never complain about having more wrestling on TV, plus maybe people like Ted, JTG, Yoshi, etc. can finally get some decent screen time.

[YeahYeahYeahYeahYeah]

Maybe if they started to actually use a lot of the roster members that they just have sitting around either not on the shows, or that they rarely use, I wouldn't mind a three hour SD.

And by "actually use" I don't mean "use them as jobbers in squash matches" or anything like that. I mean /actually/ use them!

[CATCH_US IS the Conversation]

SmackDown is so far gone at this point, that I think they should just fully embrace SmackDown as the B-show. I think that there should be a casual brand split. Unify the titles, and drop the pretense that the brands are equal, and instead restructure the shows with different purposes.

Have all of the guys like Orton, Sheamus, Big Show, Henry, Ziggler, and Del Rio, the guys who would be appearing on RAW anyway, working primarily on RAW. Let RAW be the flagship show with all the top stars and the huge dramatic storylines.

Have all the midcard guys primarily working on SmackDown. Let SmackDown be the midcarder show, where midcard guys have an opportunity to shine, and where they're allowed to be booked credibly. Let the midcard guys have actual storylines and feuds so that they can get over with the fans and become draws in their own right. If a SmackDown guy shows promise, he can start working on RAW more often. Basically SmackDown should be a toned down and less clusterf***-y version of NXT Redemption + Main Event's initial concept of having a hyped marquee match with top level talent: For the sake of the ratings/ticket sales, WWE can have 1-2 main event talents making advertised "guest appearances" on SmackDown each week. You can advertise "John Cena in action" and then book him against Jinder Mahal. The next week, have MizTV featuring Alex Riley & the Prime Time Players leading into a Miz/Riley vs. PTPs main event. The week after that, advertise "CM Punk in action" and do Punk vs JTG.


The brand split should be like this:


"Top" guys appear primarily on RAW: Cena, Punk, Big Show, Ziggler, Sheamus, Orton, Mark Henry, Del Rio, Kane, Bryan, Christian
.
Low-to-Mid carders appear primarily on SmackDown: Brodus, Tensai, Kofi, Ryder, Riley, Usos, Yoshi, Santino, Hawkins, Gabriel, along with the occasional appearance by NXT guys (primarily as strongly booked enhancement talents, teasers, or extras for backstage segments),

"Important midcarders", i.e. Whomever is the Intercontinental Champion, Miz, Wyatt Family, The Shield, Barrett, Swagger, Rhodes, Sandow, Cesaro, and Fandango are booked on both shows depending on whenever a spot needs to be filled.


You can have guys on both RAW and SmackDown, but try not to have them on both shows in the same week, unless ABSOLUTELY NECESSARY. Every active wrestler on the roster who isn't hurt, suspended, or otherwise taking time off, SHOULD make at least ONE appearance on WWE programming a week (whether it be RAW, SmackDown, Main Event, Superstars, Saturday Morning Slam, or NXT), and doing something of relative substance. ("Relative substance" means the fans will remember that they were doing something on TV. Being a warm body in a backstage segment or battle royal is not something of substance. Hitting a few signature moves in the battle royal and getting eliminated in spectacular fashion is something of substance).

[Brood Lone Wolf Funker]

Do a brand split again this time certain NXT talent could be drafted and keep the titles separate

[Deleted]

Terrible idea.

As it is, I am 100% comfortable with missing Smackdown every week knowing I never missed anything of importance in feuds.

[BorneAgain]

3 Hours of Raw, 3 Hours of SD, 1 Hour of Superstars, 1 Hour of Main Event, and a half hour of Saturday Morning Slam for 8 and a half hours of programming a week for much of the year.

Good lord.

[slappy]

Aug 14, 2013 12:56:23 GMT -5 Brother Nero....Wolfe said:

I kind of miss the brand split. I always enjoyed Smackdown more because it was the show Vince was paying the least attention to.

That's why WWECW and NXT: Redemption were fantastic.

[Lazy peon]

The extra hour will be purely for Raw recaps

[Deleted]

Hell no.