My Take On 01.13.06: Helping Smackdown
Posted by Larry Csonka on 01.13.2006
In this edition on My Take On, in light of recent events I try to help Smackdown with some things to do and most importantly one thing NOT to do. (Possible Smackdown Spoilers Included!)
What a FN week in the world of wrestling eh kids? They decide to pull the trigger on Cena losing the title and Edge's money in the bank for the big title change. Big Dave tears a tricep again and now his career, no matter what the WWE says is in jeopardy. Smackdown is at a pivotal point right now, and here are some suggestions of what they can and should not do to help things.
Rey Mysterio
It has been obvious through his booking that Rey Mysterio is not seen as a Cruiserweight to the WWE higher-ups. If he was, he wouldn't be on Smackdown feuding with Eddy Guerrero and teaming with Big Dave. The feud with Guerrero solidified Rey as an upper tier performer to WWE fans who had been conditioned to think, "smaller sucks, bigger is better." Then Eddy passed away, and Rey seemed to slide into his slot along side Big Dave.
And he was accepted in that role. He was accepted along side Big Dave in the big matches, and it is undeniable that Rey has always been over with the fans. The man is truly one of the top faces in the whole company and connects with many different levels of fans; kids, women, teems, older men and so forth. Even with the style change Rey has undergone over the years due to numerous knee injuries, he manages to put on exciting matches. With the roster dealing with injuries and a certain amount a stagnation (until this past week when they decided things needed changing) pushing Rey to the top isn't the worst idea in the world, and one they need to seriously consider.
Let My Cruisers Go!
With the roster slightly depleted and lacking star power, they might as well do something different. They need to use the Cruiser Division more to help fill out the shows and add some quality matches, let's see who's left in the CW division.
In the division we have: Kash, Noble, Kendrick, London, Crazy, Psicosis, Nunzio, Funaki, and Scotty.
Kash is a good choice for a champion for now because he can talk and will get over the fact that he is an asshole. But he is injured as well, so there is another problem. If he is injured, they cannot do another LAME Cruiser battle Royal, they need a legit tournament to draw proper interest But if he can go, feuds with Noble, Kendrick and London would make for great matches, but matches with Crazy and Psicosis would be good matches with better heat. Nunzio, Funaki, and Scotty are basically the jobbers of the division but Scotty does get a great pop and can work, I just hate the gimmick.
I wish that they would adapt the old WCW philosophy and open the show with a tag or 6-man Cruiser match, or put on an opening CW match and then another one later. If they were actually put on Smackdown for more than a few weeks they may actually **GASP** get over! In a time when the "heavyweights" are depleted and need some time to rebuild their physical beings and storylines, the Cruisers could help fill the show out.
Turn Loose the Tag Teams
Much like the Cruiserweights, they need to take this time to focus on the tag teams a little more as well. It seems like a no-brainer with the shape the show is in, they need an identity and they need to do this. Raw has shit for a tag division, and SD has a lot of tag teams. Let's examine that.
In the division we have: MNM, The Dicks, The Mexicools, The Gymini, Regal and Burchill, Vito and Nunzio and LOD 2k6.
Now on paper this isn't the most spectacular of tag team divisions. I loath the latest incarnation of the "LOD," the Gymini are jacked up roid-heads that tend to hurt people more than help put on good matches and Vito and Nunzio are the total job team. MNM is a good choice for champions and they can entertain. The Mexicools are inexplicably over, which is good. The Dicks have a shitty gimmick, but will put on good matches and Regal and Burchill are greatly underused. As I said earlier, Raw has shit for a tag division. There are people, like me that still really enjoy tag team wrestling. They should take the time now to expose these tag teams to the audience more, more matches, some personality profile video and such. Use what you have, it's a simple concept.
Do Not Super-Push Bobby Lashley
I cannot stress this enough, do not push Bobby Lashley to the moon. First of all they made the mistake of bringing him up way too early. This is something that the E is getting famous for. Then they put him in the Survivor Series match on Team Smackdown, and Job him out first. He should NOT have been on the team yet, too much too soon. Now with Batista out with a potentially career ending injury, Lashley is probably giving Vince a giant hard on and he is going to want to push him to the moon.
DON'T DO IT! For the love of God Vince use that cranium for a minute and think this through. Lashley is nowhere near as over as Batista is, and he sure the hell isn't as good as Brock in the ring; yet. Lashley needs some time, he needs cultivating, developing and possibly a mouthpiece. Bobby Lashley; with his size, speed and amateur background could be the future of the WWE staring us n the face, but the future is not an immediate thing. They need to make sure they are slow with him and not just blow him up and push him to the moon. It would be a he mistake.
My Take On:
And there we have it. As I said this is a pivotal time for Smackdown. They have to deal with a lot of things that are unexpected, injuries are a bitch and can pop up at anytime. I don't expect a Cruiser or tag team push because the creative team and Vince don't seem to care about either. But I was wrong about them at New Year's Revolution, so maybe I am wrong here. I hope I am and I hope that they can turn things around.
