Why is Smackdown considered the B show

the top guys go to Raw...and always stay on raw (like Cena being drafted twice...to SD then back to Raw)

Plus Raw is live (usually) and it tends to get better ratings. It's the flagship show and it's been around longer than SD.

Raw is Entertainment..SD is more focused on actual wrestling.

It wasn't always the case. If you look at the early PPVs following the brand extension in 2002, it was usually a Smackdown match that was the Main Event...

Red: Raw Main Events
Blue: SD Main Events

2002:
Backlash: Triple H vs Hulk Hogan
Judgement Day: Hulk Hogan vs Undertaker
King of the Ring: Undertaker vs Triple H
Vengeance: Undertaker vs Rock vs Kurt Angle
Summerslam: Rock vs Brock Lesner
Unforgiven: Brock Lesner vs Undertaker
No Mercy: Brock Lesner vs Undertaker
Survivor Series: Triple H vs Shawn Michaels vs Booker T vs Rob Van Dam vs Kane vs Chris Jericho
Armageddon: Shawn Michaels vs Triple H

SD won 7-2 that first year. The next couple of years would see the Main Events more evenly distributed, but SD still got more of them until they moved Cena to Raw and Batista to SD, establishing Raw as the A show.

even then Smackdown was seen, in WWE's eyes, as the B show. It always has been even when it was 'The Rock's Show'. the last time SD was considered on par was before WWE bought WCW and superstars were portrayed on both shows.

Stars go to Raw..everyone else shipped off to SD....until they reach star status..then back to the A show. and other guys..like Taker...and now Orton...are sent to (or in Taker's case stay on) SD to bump the ratings/viewership.

SD! has been the B show since it began.

SD! is like knockoff cereal: you can make it taste as good as you want, but it's still a knockoff. The real one was first, and more popular.

1. Raw was created first.
2. WWE itself treats Smackdown as the B show.
3. Perfect examples are John Cena, Triple H, and even The Rock:

Cena wins the WWE championship for the first time and where does he go? Raw. This year they teased him going to Smackdown but you knew that was never going to happen. He's still their guy.

Triple H got drafted to Smackdown once, disappeared after like two weeks and by the time he came back, he was on Raw again.

Back when it used to be called WWF SmackDown! they called it "The Rock's show". However, I think the last time he was on Smackdown might have been 2002. Nowadays he wouldn't touch it with a ten foot pole.

last in, not live. simple

Again, that wasn't always the case. First seven PPVs after the roster split saw SD providing the Main Event, proving it wasn't the B show, back then. The brands were in genuine competition with each other, each, from their creative teams on down to the rosters, trying to out perform the other. The Elimination Chamber Match was developed by the Raw creative team specifically to finally break SD's stranglehold and give Raw a PPV Main Event.

The brands were equal back then because they did it right for those first couple of years, each brand having it's own identity and feel, each geared to a specific audience preference. Raw was the Entertainment show centered around storylines and skits, SD the Wrestling show centered around long matches featuring what fans called the Smackdown Seven of Lesner, Angle, Benoit, Edge, Mysterio, and Los Guerreros. SD beat Raw in the ratings for quite a while.

Two things that benefitted from this format were the Women's and Cruiserweight Divisions. The women's Division was Raw's unique thing and draw, with the Cruisers being SD's. So, both were promoted heavily. The Raw writers had to write storylines and feuds for the Divas, with the SD wrtiers having to do the same for the Cruisers, resulting in high profile PPV matches for both every month at the PPVs.

Compare to now, with the Diva's Championship defended on both brands, but the Divas struggling for airtime and storylines, as they're no longer part of what defines one of the brands.

If they want to get SD back on track, they need to build it it's own identity, again.

Exactly, both shows are trying to be like eachother.



What I used to love about SD was the cruiserweight division, because it was so different to everything else shown on Raw.



When you look at 2002-4 they were completely different shows, would look like an entirely different company if someone didn't know better.



The star power was leaps and bounds better then, though.



Raw had Austin, Rock, Undertaker, Triple H, RVD, Booker T, Jericho, Shawn Michaels (later on), while SD had Edge, Benoit, Eddie, Lesnar, Angle.



What "stars" do we have now? Cena, Orton and now lately CM Punk. Sheamus is getting there, Henry's push will die down soon, Christian is getting burried back to mid card, Miz is awhile at the moment.

Rock was on Smackdown for most of his time during the Brand Extension, on SD he feuded with Undertaker and Angle, Brock, Hogan. on Raw, he had Austin and Goldberg. i dont count the 3 on 2 handicap as a feud cause that was Mick Foleys feud, Rock was just...in it

Yeah, the Foley thing was just one of Rock's brief guest appearances. Rock and Taker were SD during the early brand extension, as was Hogan when he was there (and still a draw). And, it had the Cruiserweights, making Mysterio huge and eventually a main eventer.

Also, the set up allowed the two brands to build stars, quickly. Aside from Mysterio, SD built Lesner and Cena, and allowed Benoit, Eddie, and Edge to move from midcarders into main eventers. Raw built Orton and Batista, and allowed the Divas to move up the card.

As for who could be stars, now... Let's do something with that Internet Championship. R-Truth is entertaining. Miz is doing good stuff. And, to get the Diva's Champion over, since they really obviously want Kelly to be huge... Y'know, this current storyline might be helped a little of Kelly would, y'know, say something. An in ring promo, a backstage interview, something. Even Gail grabbed the mic every now and then.

It may not have been that way immediately, but it didn't take long for WWE to separate the brands. Most of the bigger names eventually went to Raw.

Some guys who were able to carry SD were great performers (Taker, Angle, Benoit, EG, JBL), but they were proven veterans - well established on the mid-card & upper-card wrestlers.

SD has gotten younger & lesser experienced from top to bottom on WWE's stage (as it's the biggest in terms of entertainment... and we all know WWE is more about characters than wrestling). More than 90% of the SD roster isn't ready to be a headliner. Just look at this:

Zeke, D. Bryan, Heath Slater, J. Gebriel, Ted DiBiase, Usos, Brodus Clay, Khali, Jinder Mahal, Trent Barreta, Tyson Kidd, Yoshi Tatsu. With a list like this, no wonder we got stuck with Orton/Christian for the last billion years. Hell, how many of these guys could pull of a solid feud with Cody (matches, promos, the whole nine)?

The only guys that I'd say could pull it off, short-term, or for an extended period of time:

Orton, Kane, Cody, Henry, Wade, Christian (Undertaker is kinda excluded because of his wear and tear.)

Not everyone is meant to be a successful singles star *cough* Kofi Kingston *cough* Working with Evan Bourne is probably the best thing for him. They're an exciting duo. Clearly, the next step is creating and recruiting some teams for them to work with.