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Is Smackdown more important from WWE's point of view?

2K views 20 replies 19 participants last post by  austin316 G.O.A.T 
#1 ·
Right now, their priming Sheamus to be the next big draw. Team Hell No is feature primarily on Smackdown. Plus, they have the power to add or subtract boos. So in a sense, they decide who goes over and who flops (or they hope they do). Plus, Monday from 8 - 11 isn't exactly a child's prime time, where as 8 - 10 on Friday night is pretty good for your average kid. Does anyone else see Smackdown as the cash cow, and Raw as the story mover and more for the older audience?
 
#4 ·
what the hell are you talking about? No. Smackdown right now is almost like FCW, getting training for when you actually get to the real deal, which is Raw. Also all the superstars get 'over' on Raw, cause despite how much someone might get pushed on SD, people barely watch it, maybe the replay on Raw but yeah.
 
#7 ·
ive always viewed smackdown as second tier wwe programming, you take what you get with it. you have a couple big stars on it and alot of people who arent over, or just need attention to get over and then move to Raw, its sort of like a farm system for the WWE, honestly I watch SD more as i cannot stay up and watch raw in canada as it is on until 115 am and i have a job, i enjoy the programming but I do not see it as top talent or anything special.
 
#11 ·
How do you come to that conclusion?

The top guys are not only on Raw but also on Raw's House Shows and Smackdown is taped.

How can the taped show on a network with less viewership capabilities be more important than the live show on a more wide reaching network?
 
#15 ·
I don't think WWE view it as more important than Raw, certainly not. Raw is definitely where they pour most of their efforts and concern, led chiefly by Vince McMahon himself.

However, Smackdown is important. It's important because it's often where WWE experiments with certain talents, where some bolder storylines take place (it's been a little while, though) and where certain guys get to become stars (Daniel Bryan, and to an extent Ryback was "prepped" on Smackdown before jumping over to Raw in the summer... ditto Damien Sandow, Antonio Cesaro, etceteras...) and it's important because it is a cash cow, annually generating an average of $150-200 million dollars for Vince McMahon.

Raw is significantly bigger, but that isn't to say the Smackdown part of the WWE business is unimportant, because it absolutely is not.
 
#18 ·
wow, I really ruined a lot of people's days by asking this question. So, thanks for the answers.
 
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