Friday Night Smackdown, The New A-Show?

Friday Night Smackdown. The New A-Show?

Greetings to all, this is Pete writing his first ever blog on rumbleradioonline.com. For a while I have been meaning to write a blog, but a combination of not being able to think of a good topic and shear laziness prevented me for fulfilling this goal. But last night’s Raw finally gave me the topic I have been longing for. And no it wasn’t the terrorist attack on Vincent Kennedy McMahon during the Million Dollar giveaway. I do want to let the terrorist know, whoever is responsible for this unprovoked attack that we will hunt you down and…sorry wrong speech. Anyways what I do want to focus on is how the 2008 WWE draft has made Friday Night Smackdown the new A-show for the WWE.
I know, I know anyone who listens to the show (every Tuesday from 7pm-9pmCST WXAV 88.3FM) knows I have been saying that for years, and I have been. But finally WWE has made it official, and I will back it up.
1. Triple H and the WWE title. This by far is the move that will have the biggest impact on the three shows, if Triple H stays on Smackdown and doesn’t get traded back to Monday Night Raw. Whether you love him or hate him, Triple H is the man in WWE, as is John Cena. Triple H has been an institution on Raw since 2002, because of that the Raw crowd is very familiar with him, both as a heel and face, but because of his length on the show, Triple H has become stale. He has feuded everyone possible on Raw, Shawn Michaels, Randy Orton, John Cena, Vince McMahon, etc. There is nothing else for him on the show. The move to Friday Night Smackdown freshens his character up in a couple of ways. 1. He will be in front of a crowd who has not seen him in years. 2. He will have a whole new set of opponents to wrestle. For current WWE fans, they can see a dream match that they have been waiting to see for years. Triple H vs. The Undertaker, the two foundations one on one. Now tell me that will not sell a few PPVs. Also Triple H vs. Edge, we have not seen that match. Triple H vs. MVP, Triple H vs. Jeff Hardy, Triple H vs. Big Show, etc. This move for Triple H I feel add years to his career. The final point I would like to make in regards to Triple H before moving on is this, he is the WWE CHAMPION!!!!!! Friday Night Smackdown for the moment has two world titles. Obviously I do not expect this to last too long, either Triple H or Edge will lose at Night of Champions so Raw has a world title, but remember the uproar when Cena was drafted as WWE champion and Smackdown had no world title. There are a lot of questions and possibilities with this move, but in my view they are all good ones.
2. Jim Ross, the new lead commentator on Friday Night Smackdown. Nothing can be said about the importance of this move. JR without a doubt is one of the greatest commentators of all time. Now he did look super pissed when he found out, but good old JR is a pro; and I do think he will stay on Friday Night Smackdown. I might get a little heat for this but I am going to say it, JR and the King had not been good for a while, so this break up is good. WWE needed to freshen things up. I do realize that Jim Ross is the voice of Monday Night Raw and always will be but who saw this moving come?! No one, not even good old JR, and that is what the WWE draft needed. The draft needs that feeling of unpredictability, something WWE has been lacking for a while. Last night was truly a night where anything could happen and did, that is why this move is so important. Think of what also does for Friday Night Smackdown. Quite possibly the greatest wrestling commentator is now calling Friday nights. Think of JR calling Undertaker vs. Edge. Backstage, think of the knowledge JR can pass on to the young guys about how to use proper psychology in the ring. His years of experience are going to be invaluable to that roster of younger stars and the first person to benefit from this will be Mick Foley. Foley’s game as the colour guy is going to rise tenfold because of working with Jim Ross and it will happen in a very short amount of time. We got a preview of this too, last night as JR and Foley called a couple of matches together. I do want to be the first to say, the Jim Ross, Mick Foley announcing team is a keeper, in my book.
3. Ken Kennedy/Jeff Hardy. Smackdown just got the two biggest up and coming stars to its roster. Raw didn’t make out too badly though with Batista and CM Punk. If the Raw writers let Punk be Punk he is going to be a huge star. Batista is already there, and he will greatly benefit from the change of scenery, but the biggest question mark for Raw is Rey Mysterio. Can Rey stay healthy? If Rey can stay healthy, Raw got a huge star. But and this is a big but, if he can’t, what then? Rey has had two major injuries in as many years, one to his knee the other to his elbow. As a high flyer, these injuries can be devastating to his career. So we will just have to wait and see with Mysterio. But I digress moving back to Smackdown. Smackdown has its question mark as well and that is Jeff Hardy. If Jeff Hardy can stay clean, Smackdown got the crown jewel. For years the WWE crowd have loved and supported the Hardys, but especially Jeff. Jeff has always gone out there and gives 1000% every time and because of that the crowd loves him. Over the last year, Jeff has shown that when given the ball, he can run with it. Jeff is one of those few guys who do not need the mic to get over. His big question, and it is huge, is whether or not he can stay clean. If he can, Jeff Hardy will be World Champion. Ken Kennedy, he too is a star on the rise. Since he got moved over to Raw though, he kinda of got lost in the shuffle, but he is going back to the show that made him a star. I seriously believe by the end of the year, he will be main eventing Smackdown. Kennedy is a total package, he is awesome on the mic and he can get it done in the ring, just give him time and he will get there.
So there you have it folks. My reason why Smackdown is the new A-show for the WWE, but I do realize this can all change in a heartbeat. Just like in 2004 when Triple H was drafted to Smackdown and then got traded back to Raw. But as I see it, the draft did exactly what it was supposed to do last night, and that was shake the WWE world up. I do want to hear from you. You can respond hear at our blog at www.rumbleradioonline.com, hit us up on the Chicago Pro Wrestling boards at www.chicagoprowrestling.com, or email us at wxavrumbleradio@yahoo.com. I am starting to go on the boards more often, so you can catch me there. I’m sure whoever has the best response to this blog; we will have so cool prizes for you. Until then, keep living the dream.
Pete