[Contrarian]

- Look for John Cena and CM Punk to work a lot more SmackDown tapings in the future, with a lot of dark main event appearances. The feeling is that Randy Orton was sent to SmackDown for drawing power but now that’s not enough.

Among the wrestlers, the feeling is that they are stretching Cena thin and the comment was made that it’s no surprise Cena is getting divorced because he’s never home. There’s also a feeling among the wrestlers that WWE is running the top guys ragged and that’s never a good thing.

PWInsider

The "Feeling" is always too late for WWE.

 

[Goku]

Cena's getting divorced?

 

[ecabney]

Since Henry's career is pretty much deaded, WWE should just center SD! around their second most consistent ratings draw...D-Bry da GAWD. The 2.0 Era needs to make a return.

 

[DesolationRow]

The Orton-not-drawing-that-well-on-Smackdown news is about a year old now.

The brand extension is dead and Punk still seems hungry, so it's not surprising to see him probably working a bunch of Smackdown dark main events in the coming weeks.

 

[Chrome]

Orton not drawing well you say? Well, there's some shocking news. tunga

Assuming they would occasionally make appearances on the actual show and not just the dark main event, would definitely enjoy some more Punk on Smackdown, Cena not so much. I get enough of him on Raw.

 

[Carcass]

They just figured that out? They should've been doing this last year when they they had to tarp off half the seats cause no one wanted to see Orton

 

[Ray]

To be fair though, SmackDown would do much better attendance wise if it's hosted in bigger cities. Not cities that contain a population of 200,000 people.

 

[CamillePunk]

Wow, putting your top stars on BOTH shows?! What a concept!

I'd just like to point out that during the era which most wrestling fans agree WWE was at it's best (99ish-01ish), Raw and Smackdown were both on the air, there was no brand extension, and the main event feuds were progressed on both shows. With the roster so thin these days, perhaps it's time to go back to that format.

God help us all when Raw is 3 hours.

 

[Couch]

Remember when ratings/attendance were so low when Orton was champ they considered canceling Smackdown?

They don't call him Mark "Ratings" Henry for nothing

 

[charmed1]

Must feel great for the current Smackdown roster being told that people from Raw are coming to save there show. Way to make your roster feel like crap WWE! Great job.

 

[MizisWWE]

To be fair Edge, Dave, Rey, and Taker were easier to sell to a casual. Orton is good but he isn't overly fun to watch as a personality or an over the top unique character. Why would you pay to watch him when he doesn't stand out and can't keep you engaged by talking? Sure his wrestling had become top notch, but he hasn't developed that enigmatic personality

 

[imnotastar]

the fact nobody wants to see smackdown is far from orton's fault, he has no help, i bet everybody that does attend a smackdown event these days come to see orton, but one person cannot carry a show, you give me one person who did it and i'll green rep you, the smackdown roster sucks big time, that's wwe's fault, not orton's

 

[Lastier]

See you on Superstars, Randall!

 

[Silent KEEL]

You can't really blame Orton that nobody wants to come see him when it's rare that he even has a legitimate story being told on Smackdown. He's been irrelevant for almost a year.

 

[MizisWWE]

the fact nobody wants to see smackdown is far from orton's fault, he has no help, i bet everybody that does attend a smackdown event these days come to see orton, but one person cannot carry a show, you give me one person who did it and i'll green rep you, the smackdown roster sucks big time, that's wwe's fault, not orton's

Dave sold tickets

- Rey, Taker, and Edge were out hurt.
- JBL was retired
- Benoit and Eddie dead
- Kurt gone

He was wrestling the likes of Khali, but they had no attendance problem. Then again Batista was always the bigger star which is what it comes down to about Randy, he ain't that 2nd let alone 1b to Cena or HHh still after a decade

 

[TKOW]

RAW is going to three hours. The brand split is practically over. It's time for Smackdown! to come to an end.

 

[Foz]

Move Miz to SmackDown and have him and Orton feud it out. That'll fix Orton's "relevancy" issue.

 

[Agmaster]

48 hour reign. Nah, I can blame Orton all I want.

 

[CaptainObvious]

Must feel great for the current Smackdown roster being told that people from Raw are coming to save there show. Way to make your roster feel like crap WWE! Great job.

To be fair, I think everyone on the Smackdown roster knows that WWE doesn't care about Smackdown. When more people buy Cena merchandise at Smackdown house shows than an actual Smackdown Superstar, it's obvious. WWE doesn't book the show well enough for people to want to attend and Cena/CM Punk coming over won't do anything to help attendance because the poor booking will remain. Orton was a poor choice to lead a brand (he was never going to fill that role), but it made sense more than trying to ruin Cena's or CM Punk's momentum by giving them that spot.

And again, it shows how horrible of an idea it was to completely ruin Christian's momentum, who was extremely over as a face, with an ill advised heel turn to establish Orton as the top guy of Smackdown and ultimately reverse it one year later. But at least now WWE seems to realize Christian's value is as a face and are fixing that. Better late than never.

 

[TheBrit]

PWInsider

The "Feeling" is always too late for WWE.

Orton has never been a draw.

Does anyone know what Vince sees in him?