THE WEEKLY SCOOP SLAM! By Philip McKane
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What’s Going On SmackDown?
I had originally planned to talk about tag team wrestling but after watching SmackDown this week I’ve changed my mind. I’m going to postpone the tag team column in order to talk about my thoughts on the SmackDown brand.
Okay so the big question is, Is SmackDown horrible? No, it isn’t. Is it good however? Hell No! Each week I’m growing increasingly frustrated with the show as it has so much potential to be were it once was. Back in the Summer, I loved SmackDown! I really did. Why? It had a direction. It was going somewere positive. Can we honestly say that now? Really?
Lets think back to SmackDown during the summer and what was going on. We saw CM Punk develop into an awesome heel and fued with someone who became one of the most popular stars in the WWE (Jeff Hardy) in what was actually a really good fued. It wasn’t perfect, but it was fresh. It was two completely fresh superstars having a fued that we’ve never seen before (god forbid) over something we could actually believe in. Then you had John Morrison rising to the top and almost ready to pounce onto the main event scene as soon as Punk/Hardy was over, as well as Dolph Ziggler who was doing great. So how did they ruin it?
First of all, Undertaker came back. Now don’t get me wrong, I am a huge Undertaker fan. Always have been. But he should be nothing but a special attraction now and he definitely has no place in the World Heavyweight Title picture. He doesn’t need the belt! So what do they do? They put the belt on him! Just as soon as CM Punk was getting over huge with the crowd having a great title run, it all ends. Why? Because they can’t seem to keep the belt off Taker. It’s ridiculous! It destroyed everything they had worked so hard to create over the summer! So not only did CM Punk lose his spot but John Morrison went further down the ladder as well. This also pushes Dolph Ziggler down too and maybe even Drew McIntyre. Isn’t this what they’re trying not to do. How many reports have their been about Vince screaming at the writers, “Why can’t we create new stars?” Well that’s the reason why Vince. Anytime that there seems to be a new star on the horizon he gets squashed! CM Punk has lost most of his credibility and is now fueding with a referee! He lost to R Truth the other week! Enough said?
Another reason SmackDown is going down hill is Batista. Sorry to any hardcore Batista fans out there (all three of you) but the guy does nothing for me at all. I have no idea why this guy ever got a push other than his physique, because he really has very little else to offer. Wrestling skills? Let me describe a Batista match; right hands, spear, spine buster, batista bomb, 1,2,3! That’s it! Character wise? I think I’ve seen more natural charisma in a tree. Have you heard him talk on the “Don’t Try This At Home” promos? I challenge you to pick out what he says because I sure as hell can’t. Anyway, taking all of this into consideration he really has clogged up SmackDown as he really adds nothing to it. Even his heel turn (that I was initially excited about) has really added nothing to the show so far. But We’ll see.
And my final reason is the general direction. It’s going nowhere. Do they have any plans for the future? I doubt it. I would have said Undertaker/Jericho for Wrestlemania but since they pretty much gave that match away on SmackDown last week, I doubt it will happen and even if it does, it’s lost a lot of value. What’s CM Punk going to do? Is there anything lined up for him other than fueding with referees? I don’t think so. Right now guys like Punk, Morrison and maybe even Ziggler should be getting their time to shine in the main event scene but it’s not going to happen anytime soon with guys like Taker and Batista around.
As always, feel free to email me any feedback you may have. You can also add me on Facebook as well. I will try to respond to as many people as possible.
