WWE "Aware" of Poor SDL Performance

[Yaz]

I've always found the whole "star power" argument to be overblown. Yeah, maybe a big name like a Cena may get a few more casual fans to tune in, but most people who watch WWE are watching it fairly consistently week in and week out. They are no longer tuning in or filling out arenas because there is nothing of note happening on SD.

Things were going well for a bit, until the whole Randy Orton/Bray Wyatt feud took a turn for the stupid and around that time the entire direction of the show shifted. Jinder rose with zero build, and kept beating fan favorites in boring, predictable matches with boring and uninspired builds.

At the same time, AJ and Owens were in a feud that featured a lot of average matches for two guys considered among the best workers today, then Shane and Bryan got involved. During the entire Shane/Bryan feud, Shane is presented as an unfair dickhead boss who constantly belittles Bryan and questions his authority, but is somehow the good guy. This stupid story line was hammered home by how Byron Saxton went out of his way to suck Shane's literal dick each night on commentary and talk about how he was the world's greatest boss.

Then you had the US Title story post AJ and Owens. Corbin should have gotten the title much sooner. By the time he failed his MITB cash in, all his momentum had been killed, yet we are still supposed to buy him as a credible threat to anything that isn't a buffet that gives out shitty tattoos for eating all their food. Then they give Dolph Ziggler the title, because reasons, only for him to vacate the title and fuck off for about a hot minute before becoming the most uninspired #30 in the RR in my life. Oh and he is somehow back in the World Title picture so he can scream and do mean faces to show how serious he is. Now you have Roode who is mostly a face but not always in a feud with Orton, whose entire character these days is RKO, and maybe Jinder is in there too.

The women's division is "fuck, we have women on the roster, we need to book them. 6 woman tags on SD and fatal five ways for the title on PPVs it is!" The Riott Squad are clear heels and Charlotte, Becky, and Naomi are clear faces, but the other girls on the show just take whatever role is needed on a week to week basis. Its screams of the days when women were the piss break on PPVs.

For much of last summer, The Usos and New Day were the highlight of Raw and SD. Multiple great matches, memorable promos, and a feud so good you couldn't believe WWE was giving it to the tag division. Now you have The Usos and Gable and Benjamin, I mean The Bludgeon Brothers, I mean New Day again. The Fashion Police, once the best part of SD for many people, made the mistake of being cool and got punished. The Hype Bros broke up so Mojo could get a pre show US Title shot. Rusev and English made the fatal mistake of getting over without the permission of the writers. The Colons were never anything special, but I'm pretty sure Epico is dead at this point and WWE is using him as a coat rack. The Ascension were always shit, but WWE killed them for the sake of nostalgia.

Oh and Tye Dillinger exists as a meme.

Does any of the above sound exciting to you?

[Dave]

With Cena going back to Smackdown, potentially for a little while, it seems though WWE rarely taking steps to try and bring back some interest in Smackdown. But it does beg the question of that came first, the chicken or the egg.

Is the WWE putting Cena back on Smackdown because of the dwindling viewership and poor ticket sales? Is it a reaction the poor press that Smackdown has been getting on the road to WrestleMania? Or was that the plan anyway? To tease the idea of Cena not having a road to Mania even on Smackdown?

I fully expect Cena to have a major match with someone at Fastlane. Actually, I expect that person to be Shinsuke Nakamura for a place in the WWE Championship match. Which he will go on to lose. It gives them both something to do for the next couple of weeks until Taker returns and answers the challenge. It's predictable but it'll do.