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Why Won't They Acknowledge It"
February 5, 2005 by Niels J.

For my fourth column I want to talk about something I have noticed over the last couple of weeks. I have been a wrestling fan for four years now, I started watching WCW back in 2000 because you couldn't watch any other wrestling over here, when WCW closed I started following wrestling on the net. In October 2004 I could watch Raw and Smackdown so as you probably can figure out I was very excited. I watched Raw and Smackdown until one day when I thought: "Watch going to happen on Raw tonight"" And I didn't care, I knew it was just going to be Randy Orton and HHH trash talking each other, the main event was going to be something with: Orton, HHH, HBK, Batista, Kane or Gene Snitsky. The only thing that I really cared about was watching Batista. Then next time I thought: "What's going to happen on Smackdown tonight"" And I suddenly got excited, excited to see JBL come out and do an excellent heel promo, The Undertaker against JBL, Big Show and Kurt Angle, John Cena and the rest of the great billed show.

I started thinking about this and noticed that every time I think what can WWE do better I automatically think Raw, in fact every time I think of WWE I think Raw. Raw is going to make a comeback because WWE really don't put that much into Smackdown which brings me to the next thing.

Paul Heyman one of the Smackdown head writers got in trouble with Stephanie Macmahon and got fired, he was rehired and brought back some great ideas. For example he suggested that Chris Beniot would win a match for once, he also brought back an idea to promote a stronger cruiserweight division, then also an idea I didn't think was so good, he suggested that WWE should take the title of JBL and give it to John Cena or Kurt Angle. Cena really deserves it, but JBL is one of my favourite wrestlers, because when he won the title I like probably many others thought NOOOOOOO, but after I started watching him on Smackdown and PPVs I began to like him, he is VERY entertaining in the ring and also on the mic, but anyway after Heyman came with these great ideas he was advised by some WWE superiors to check into a mental clinic because he was described as unstable and delusional.

I think Smackdown is the current better show just look at both shows champions: SD tag champs The Basham Brothers: I didn't like them at they're first title reign, but now when they don't have that psycho gimmick anymore and are a part of the cabinet they should be very exciting. La Resistance: BOOOOOOOOOORING, what more is there to say" CW champ Funaki: I doubted Funaki at first as the champ, but I think he has proved himself enough to be a good champ. The Women's champ Trish Stratus: The best Women's champ I think, but still I am no big fan of woman's wrestling. U.S Champ John Cena: Without a doubt the future of the WWE together with Batista, Shelton Benjamin, JBL and others. The IC champ Shelton Benjamin: He is also the future of the WWE I just think that he isn't quite ready yet, he is one of those stars that takes longer time to evolve Austin took 6 years, HHH 5 years and Shawn Michaels 7 Years (From entering the WWE), it is the same with Benjamin. The WWE champ JBL: He is one if not the most entertaining wrestler in WWE, he is one of those champs I just want to keep the belt because I never get tired of him even dough he is a heel. The Raw world champ HHH: I don't even want to mention him, I know some people say that we should stop complaining about HHH because of all sorts of things, but he is to much.

To finish with this: WWE doesn't treat SD very well, WWE are frustrated over people not appreciating the product, but they are only frustrated over Raw. Vince Macmahon has stated that Raw is the flagship and that's why they are trying to fix that so bad, just to show an example: WWEs deal with Austin about the movie was on a Wednesday which means that SD could have shown photos of it, but they waited a week to air it so that Raw could get it first. Why wont they just acknowledge that Smackdown is good and have great superstars instead of just saying that Raw is the flagship and that's it.

Many people maybe disagree with me but that is just my opinion and I hope you enjoyed it. Please send me your feedback.

by Niels J...

Rhey wrote:
Why the hell does Cena deserve the title" He's popular...thats it. He brings nothing good to the company, and I sincerly hope he pulls a Rock and leaves for a movie career. Other than that, you have a geat (and true) article...he fact that they waited 'till RAW to show the Austin segment truly proves your point, and JBL really is carrying SmackDown! WAY better than HHH is carrying Raw. Great work.

Jess wrote:
In response to part of your article, I have one disagreement. Well, more than one. First, I agree that JBL shouldn't lose the title to Angle.. I don't agree that Cena deserves it. I think that if they give the title to Taker, or if they want someone who's more into wrestling and younger, a good bet would be Booker T/RVD/Rey Rey. Now, I know wahat some may be thinking. "Jesse, you dumb-dumb, JBL already beat Booker T, RVD isn't good at promos, and Rey Rey's a Cruiserweight! Silly tart!" Well, If Rock can beat Austin after Austin beat him so many times then why can't The Booker-man beat JBL" RVD doesn't need mic skills if they put him in ladder matches and other types that meat his style. Big Show's not good with promos, but he keeps getting a bigger push than what he needs. Rey Rey.. well.. if your that small and have beaten Big Show, A-train, Scott Hall, and Nash, then you're not JUST a Cruiserweight, you're an elite. I believe that some interestic feuds will pop up if Rey Rey gets the title.. maybe same stuff when HBK first got his heavyweight reign, just more action.

As for Vince and the Creative's frustration on pushing the shows. Smackdown is taped, what messes up can be edited. If a wrestler says something wrong, it can be edited. Raw is live, so they strive to make that more excited for the fans at home watching on tv. They admit that Smackdown talent in general may be more athletic (with a few exceptions from both shows) but fact is, the greater (in value) veterans are on Raw to make Raw seem more exciting when it comes to SLs. Kane, HHH, Flair, HBK, Benoit, Jericho, every now and then Foley, and Hurricane(young veteran") On Smackdown they have Angle, JBL, Big Show, Undertaker, Booker T, and Eddie Gurerro.

Even number, but HHH, Flair, HBK, and Jericho were able to sell out arenas on their biggest angles while on Smackdown, they have Angle and Taker. Eddie made a good impact with the mexicans/latinos, but he never really "sold out" a show. Big Show seems like he could, but the match itself is usually pretty boring except a few parts. Booker T may have sold some out in WCW, but again, WCW was a place that used to edit their shows to make it seem like people were chearing for Hogan when they were booing(before nWo) and used to shift the audience to one side to make it seem like a full house. So I'm not gonna comment on Booker's drawing ability from the past, I just think that today he could be a considerable champion.

Johnny Speckman wrote:
Face it, RAW is the supieror brand and probably always will be unless WWE brings Paul Heyman back to the smack down creative team. Ratings prove the show did better when he was present. Heyman's ideas were a thing of beauty and they brought an edge to Smackdown that was lacking for years. As for Cena deseraving the title...i'm going to agree with the other responses. Cena deserves to be shown the door but that discussion is for another time.

As for your list of champions i think it needs work. I agree that the Bashams are and excellent tag team but so is La Resistance. The problem with La Resistance is that they dont have much going for them. What i mean by that is that they dont piss people off like they use to. They somehow got lost in the shuffle yet still win the tag titles from time to time. They are a great tag team but they just need a bit of direction right now. i should slap you around for ever doubting Funaki but i will say one thing against him (it kills me to do this) i dont like the fact that he never use to win, and now, with the exception of an amazing Royal Rumble qualifying match which was won by Paul London (my pick for next CW Champ) Funaki seems to never lose, but such is life. Trish is the best Womens Champ out of the current roster. (still pissed they released Gail Kim, personally i thought she was better then Trish) The less said about Cena the better. Shelton should get the push that they are giving Cena. Shelton is way more entertaining in the ring then Cena is. As of late when there is a Cena match i turn my TV off until it is over because i cant stand him anymore. Cena is not the focus of this response but i will say this, every match of his is the same thing. a 2 minute squash with no offense from his opponents. As for JBL i love the guy. its so great to see someone who i grew up watch wrestle mid card matches actually become Champion. Now WWE just needs to bring back Billy Gunn and have him fueding with Hardcore Holly over the Title. (of course im kidding but it would be a nice US title fued, better then anything Cena could do.) You dont want to mention HHH huh, well i do. Triple H is extremely good at what he does and for that he deserves to be in the top three all time Championship ratings which right now sees Ric Flair with 16 titles, Hogan, then Triple H with 10. he is as they say, the working heel and hes damn good at it.

As for RAW being the Flagship...the reason it is the Flagship is because it was WWE's first big television show. RAW was introduced in early 1993 while Smackdown was introduced in mid 1999. RAW is a live show which makes it more exciting. Did Smackdown win the Monday Night War" No it didnt. And as far as the footage of Austin goes, Smackdown is taped on Tuesdays which come before Wednesday when the confrence took place. Plus Austin was on Raw during the brand extension. Think back to any memorable Austin moment and chances are it happened on RAW. Conversely, think of any RAW moment and chances are Stone Cold was involved.

On a side note to Jess, Booker would be a great World Champion but as we all know Vince is a racist. If Big show beats JBL at No Way Out (and i hope he does because i dont want JBL to lose to Cena) then i see Booker as being a great opponent for him. Does anyone remember their last PPV encounter because i do. A memerable match to say the least.

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