THE REAL CAUSE FOR SMACKDOWN'S LOW RATING
By Doug Brown on 8/13/2008 10:01 PM
WWE Smackdown took at huge blow this past Friday when the ratings fell to a 2.0. Years ago, in the days of Steve Austin and the Rock, that number would have been unthinkable. However, times have long since changed. Wrestling analysts have been trying to point the finger at possible causes such as the Olympics, and families getting one last vacation in before the kids go back to school. In this columnist's opinion, they are overlooking the most obvious. The fans are sick of the Edge-Vickie Guerrero storyline.
The Edge-Vickie relationship has dominated the brand's storylines since Survivor Series. The entire thing has been a recreation of the McMahon-Helmsley regime, which basically consists of a heel male wrestler corrupting and then using a female authority figure to gain more power for himself. They then proceed to screw over the babyfaces week after week. That has been eight months now. During that time Smackdown's ratings have dropped to all time lows. They briefly went back up into the upper twos, and almost to the lower threes during the Undertaker's brief World Title run. Then came Vickie stripping the Undertaker of the belt. Smackdown's ratings have been in the lower twos ever since.
Much like Triple H back then, while Edge has done his part, he has been saddled with a woman of limited acting ability. Although, Vickie has improved, I still believe that she is not ready for this high profile of an on-camera role. Most internet analysts site what a "heat machine" she has become. The question you have to ask is, "What kind of heat?" Is it heel heat, where you have a good villain that you want to see get their comeuppance, or it is X-Pac heat, where you just want the character off your TV set? I say, and apparently the ratings are agreeing with me, that she has X-Pac heat. I think if it were any other female in the role that was performing as badly as Vickie is, they would be ripped to shreads each week. A large part of the reason Vickie gets a free pass, and some even try to claim she is good to great, is because of who her husband was. While I applaud WWE for wanting to take care of the widow of one of their stars who is no longer with us, I think it would be in Vickie's best interests, and in Smackdown's best interests, to find a backstage role for her. There is only so much more over-the-top shrieking, horribly fake evil laughing, stumbling over lines, and pregnant pauses during speeches that we can take. The only person more embarrassing than Vickie is Mike Adamle.
While I say that the fans booing Vickie loudly is a rejection of her character and the storyline with Edge, that brings up the obvious comparison of John Cena on Raw. Last year, Cena held the WWE Title for over a year. During that time, he was booed out of many arenas (mainly overseas, Canada, and in New York). However, unlike with the Vickie-Edge storyline, Cena's reign did improve ratings for Raw, and WWE also had one of their better business years in quite some time. Under Cena's leadership, Raw climbed into the upper threes, and on some occasions hit low and mid fours. That says to me that whether people liked him or not, they still cared enough to tune in, and find out what happened to him. With Edge and Vickie, the exact opposite effect has occurred. The storyline has gone on so long, that people have stopped caring, and are looking to other forms of entertainment on Friday nights. Much like with a large number of things in WWE, they set their promotional machine on overkill. The fans are tired of the general managers being overly involved in the show, and the Edge-Vickie relationship regularly takes up five or six segments per episode. WWE should look to its number three brand for guidance. While, both Raw and Smackdown episodes have been down in recent weeks, ECW has been on the rise. One of the things that can be attributed to that is they keep Teddy Long's involvement to a minimum, and just let the wrestlers wrestle. What a concept!
WWE Creative also shares some of the blame on this, because the booking has been really strange at best. Nowadays, WWE seems to do a wedding angle at least once a year. Weddings in WWE are notorious, because something big usually happens that causes the wedding not to take place. Instead of doing the wedding, they decided this time to do only the reception. Triple H comes out and reveals that the scumbag Edge cheated on his new wife with the wedding planner. Instead of making Vickie a sympathetic figure, she still attempts to help Edge win at the Great American Bash. If he would been facing anyone except Triple H, he probably would have. Next, they decided to bring back the Undertaker, and put Edge against him in a Hell in the Cell match. Then, on the Cutting Edge, comes the pep talk and subsequent beatdown of Mick Foley. Edge follows that up by pretending to help Vickie and Chavo, only to splat his nephew-in-law with a Conchairto, and then flip his estranged wife out of her wheelchair. These segments might have worked better if Edge was turning babyface, but I do not think that was the idea. Vickie and Chavo are still heels, the fans could have cared less about Edge taking them out, and therefore that lost the effectiveness of the angle. The audience appeared to be losing their patience with them as well with all of the audible catcalls that were picked up on the microphones. Some were wanting Vickie to slap Edge, and others were wanting him to attack her. All they created was more confusion. The way they should have booked this is simple. After all the stuff that Edge and Vickie have put the Undertaker through, the audience should be wanting the Dead Man to return and beat the snot out of the Rated R Superstar. The audience should not be wanting Edge to win. After being a cowardly heel all this time, we are now supposed to believe that he has gone psycho, and actually looks forward to Summerslam.
While some have already proclaimed it, I do not agree that Edge is the company's top star. He is however, the company's top heel. Edge does a great job of openly courting the fans hatred. With the exception of Toronto and New York City, he is mercilessly booed out of every building they visit. I have no doubt that the Hell in the Cell match will be one of the best ever. If I may give WWE Creative some advice, for Edge to step forward, they have to get him away from Vickie. In the long run, it is better not only for Edge, but the Smackdown brand as well.
Random Takes:
John Cena vs. Batista - It should be good, but this match is happening way too soon.
Shawn Michaels - If Sunday is his swan song, it's been a hell of ride!
Mike Adamle as Raw General Manager - He is still not very good, but at least it is better than listening to him stumble through matches.
Randy Orton - They should change his nickname from the Legend Killer to the Scarecrow.
C.M. Punk vs. JBL - I actually liked that segment on this past Monday's Raw.
Todd Grisham and Matt Striker - Grisham is an upgrade over Adamle (who wouldn't be?), and Striker may be my new favorite color commentator of all time.
John Morrison and the Miz - Since they never got beaten for the belts, how about having Teddy Long proclaim them the new ECW Tag Team Champions?
Matt Hardy - The ECW brand is better just by having him on it.
Tommy Dreamer - If he would have jobbed to Colin Delaney on ECW, I would have never watched that program again.
Colin Delaney - How did he make it through the recent round of roster cuts?
Triple H vs. the Great Khali - The Game may be Khali's best chance for a good match.
Jim Ross and Tazz - Wrestling's best broadcast duo is finally together on Smackdown.
Maria pins Victoria - Maria whines about going to Smackdown, and then they let her beat the company's best female worker. That is just wrong!
Brian Kendrick - The new Flyin' Brian is the spitting image of the old one.
Jeff Hardy vs. Shelton Benjamin - This match is living proof that Benjamin is the most underutilized talent on the roster.
