WWE SmackDown: Creative Cracks on the WrestleMania Fastlane

Since last year’s Superstar Shakeup, WWE SmackDown Live has seemingly suffered a steady decline. Now on the Fastlane to WrestleMania, can it turn things around?

At one point in my wrestling fandom, WWE SmackDown Live was must-watch, top priority television. Believe it or not, that was only a year ago. AJ Styles was matched to perfection with Dean Ambrose and John Cena proving perfect foils for him both on the mic and in the ring. The Miz was experiencing a renaissance run and opposite Dolph Ziggler, had just re-elevated the Intercontinental Title once again. Alexa Bliss was the latest female superstar too, turning heads weekly with standout promos in a division filled with a real desperation to prove their worth to the wrestling world. Basically, it was an all-round great time for the revitalised blue brand.

However, the Superstar Shakeup brought some changes and since then, a gradual decline has seemingly taken place. Though it may be the popular route, I absolutely don’t attach this fall to Jinder Mahal’s world title push as frankly, what’s come since has shown that the issues go much deeper than the talent standing in front of the camera. SmackDown’s summer had a range of issues and Mahal’s booking was simply one of them. The discussions around Jinder’s skill level have gone on long enough and personally, I’m a fan but either way, Punjabi Prison main events aren’t a good fit for anyone, I don’t care how good or bad they are.

Elsewhere, the brand’s strongest performer AJ Styles found himself in a meandering programme opposite Kevin Owens (more on this later) and their huge new acquisition Charlotte was hidden in unremarkable multi-woman tags. Usos – New Day excluded, SmackDown’s summer lacked conflicts worth watching and it made for a show without much gravity and emotion, it just didn’t feel particularly important. November represented a time for change though and within two weeks, both Styles and Charlotte claimed gold. The instant response was excitement as fans looked for some new directions but looking back now, it’s fair to say that any momentum has since been lost.

We are now firmly on the Fastlane to WrestleMania and sadly, SmackDown couldn’t feel colder. As Women’s Champion, Charlotte has consistently found herself lacking a villainous foe that people truly believe in. I think Ruby Riott is a tremendous talent and I feel Carmella has a lot to offer, too, but both have experienced such stop-start booking that it’s prohibited either from having a dramatic rise like Bliss did 18 months ago. Though Ruby has only been up for just over 10 weeks, she already feels like she’s been treading water somewhat and that’s a real shame.

As for Styles, it’s been disappointing. I loved his Clash of Champions rematch with Jinder Mahal but since then he’s been astonishingly re-programmed with Owens (as well as Zayn) and their prior struggles have continued in some ways. I 100% believe that Styles and Owens can have a great match together and even more, a captivating programme, but truth is, in their combined six months opposite each other, it’s never been about them. It’s always been about Shane McMahon’s conflict with Owens and Zayn or more recently, his infuriating issues with Daniel Bryan.

I completely understand that Shane is popular but there are very few wrestling personalities in the world that I want to see perform in-ring microphone segments every single week and unfortunately, McMahon isn’t one of them. Moreover, his problems with Bryan have consistently felt so pointless that their whole dynamic has really hurt the whole show in my view. At their best, Shane and Daniel were a babyface authority team working together to make their brand different. It was simple but it created a dynamic that allowed SmackDown to be the people’s brand, a perception only helped by AJ and Dean featuring as its two top talents.

Following the United States title as of late has been even more befuddling. After losing his Money in the Bank briefcase, Baron Corbin captured the US strap but after just a couple of months, he dropped it to Dolph Ziggler in a triple threat also including Bobby Roode.

Ziggler walked out on the title though and this led to a tournament. Roode won this tournament and the US crown with it but thus far, Ziggler hasn’t returned to reclaim it and instead entered the Royal Rumble (briefly) before now finding himself wrestling Corbin for a shot at the WWE Title. Oh and by the way, neither Ziggler nor Corbin are in SmackDown’s brand new Top 10 List….

This isn’t an article produced out of hate or anger but instead genuine disappointment. As I’ve already said, not too long ago SmackDown was thoroughly outperforming RAW weekly. With great matches, strong promos and believable stories, it really was the show to watch after the 2016 brand split.

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I will say that throughout the decline I’ve covered above, there has been a renewed focus on the blue brand’s tag division and that’s been an undeniable positive. Other than that though, SmackDown feels like it’s lost its ‘Land of Opportunity’ identity and now very much on the Fastlane to WrestleMania, it needs to re-find it sooner rather than later.