Topic: Smackdown Spoilers

[EDGECRUSHER]

http://www.cagesideseats.com/wwe-smackdown/2013/1/23/3906482/wwe-smackdown-spoilers-for-jan-25-the-royal-rumble-go-home-show

Sheamus def. Wade Barrett. Non-title match.

I don't care about the IC Title anymore because they ruined the goodwill Cody Rhodes brought to it, but what is the point of using one of Randy Orton's 3 clean jobs a year on Barrett to only have him lose to Sheamus for no apparent reason a week later?

[Prime]

[EDGECRUSHER]

Where did his eyes go? That's terrifying.

[Torgo]

Complaining about booking.

In 2013.

[KoppoKick]

Did Wade Barrett enter first?

[EDGECRUSHER]

Screw all you bastards, I am right. I will fight all of you.

[Pebble.2.0]

I concur, zero reason to give the belt away like that

[Zandrax]

I like the idea of an IC champion that actually wins. At least they've been doing well with Cesaro.

[EDGECRUSHER]

I concur, zero reason to give the belt away like that

It was non-title, like all IC matches. They just had Barrett lose.

[Prime]

Well shit. Didn't read the link, so it sounded like Barrett lost the title too. Still, those matches make the Champ look bad.

[EDGECRUSHER]

Fixed it.

I have given up on the "Stop making the IC Champ lose more than he wins" crusade, but Orton is one of the few guys who is booked well. This was just stupid.

[Handsome Padje]

Fixed it.

I have given up on the "Stop making the IC Champ lose more than he wins" crusade, but Orton is one of the few guys who is booked well. This was just stupid.

INT. RAW PRODUCTION MEETING. LAST WEEK

"okay we're gonna have a good Orton match for the crowd"
'who will be the opponent? Barrett is free'
"book it!"
'Randy goes over?'
"actually...we can't beat Barrett, he needs to look good"
'look good? what for?'
"the next stage!"
'and what is the next stage?'
"fuck knows!"

[freud mayweather]

INT. RAW PRODUCTION MEETING. LAST WEEK

"okay we're gonna have a good Orton match for the crowd"
'who will be the opponent? Barrett is free'
"book it!"
'Randy goes over?'
"actually...we can't beat Barrett, he needs to look good"
'look good? what for?'
"the next stage!"
'and what is the next stage?'
"fuck knows!"

"it's so great that we can work high!"

[FATSEXY]

Orton looks huge and puffy, he's back on some shit.
 
Why even have a fuckin' IC champ if you're gonna book him in non title matches? The point of a champion should be that he's better than other wrestlers. Fuck it, I'm out on all this bullshit, it's sad when the Divas title is the most well booked belt you've got. Well, hell, they are doing great with Punk, so that's some bullshit. Good talk, bro.

[FreebirdSTF]

It's like they have the manatees from South Park booking.  They do things that make little to no sense.

[Torgo]

It's like they have the manatees from South Park booking.  They do things that make little to no sense.

My guess is Wade did something backstage to anger someone.  Like, his arm accidentally brushed against something it wasn't supposed to.

[Chus-Kay]

My guess is Wade did something backstage to anger someone.  Like, his arm accidentally brushed against something it wasn't supposed to.

undertaker's wang?

[Pebble.2.0]

Orton looks huge and puffy, he's back on some shit.
 
Why even have a fuckin' IC champ if you're gonna book him in non title matches? The point of a champion should be that he's better than other wrestlers. Fuck it, I'm out on all this bullshit, it's sad when the Divas title is the most well booked belt you've got. Well, hell, they are doing great with Punk, so that's some bullshit. Good talk, bro.

Champion should not be fighting in non-title matches constantly.  Storylines should be about other guys trying to get a shot at said coveted title.  Champion talks shit, maybe gets into tag matches, waits for PPV to defend or the occasional RAW/Smackdown.  This isn't rocket science.

[FreebirdSTF]

Pebble is absolutely right.  Some argue that some of us are too enamored with the old way of doing business, but in this case it's a perfectly valid criticism.  There's no point in having these titles if you are going to treat your champions like that.  There's no point in giving Wade Barrett what should be a big win of Randy Orton just to kill his momentum at the next show.  It makes no sense whatsoever. 

OTOH, more guys need to be booked like Orton.  As EDGE and others have pointed out, he's pretty much bullet-proof.  He wins?  Fans think he's a big deal.  He loses?  Still a big deal. 

[Chus-Kay]

we've gone over this before.
 
there are probably 50 guys on the roster who don't have championships.  all of them would have been better choices for sheamus to beat than your newly crowed IC champ.
 
even if we have to have 20 or so guys be well known jobbers, that's what they need to do.
 
and the "jobbers" could work against each other on, say, main event.

[FreebirdSTF]

Right, but for some reason they always like to have their secondary title holders in matches they lose.  The worst part is that it helps absolutely no one.  Barrett winning the belt from Kofi doesn't matter because Kofi and the belt had not been booked to matter.  Guys like Sheamus gain nothing by beating a Wade Barrett.  It's stupid all the way around.

[Pebble.2.0]

totally, if anything the "jobber" guys should be fighting each other trying to elevate their status.  Even if they ge that title shot and lose/get shot down it is still an accomplishment to get that title shot.  Have Ryder and Heath Slater going at it to try to prove they are worthy of a shot, for example.  Even if they never win the title at least there is something interesting going on with two characters.

[FreebirdSTF]

They would do well to simply implement some guidelines to their booking as it relates to how champions/challengers should be booked and using secondary belts to give midcard and lower guys something to do like you just said.  Here's what I said as part of the Booking SAW series I did on my blog related to this issue:

Non title matches--Don't love them, especially for the secondary belts.  Too often they are used as a lazy way to justify why the challenger gets a title shot.  The challenger earns his shot through either his impressive record or a personal issue with the champion.  To me, that makes far more sense than neutering your title holders.

Also this...

Championships--These are of the utmost importance and enough reason to feud, no need for convoluted storylines to get individuals involved in a feud.  There are always nasty rivalries and feuds, but sometimes it's OK to wrestle simply because you want to move up the ladder

...and...

Enhancement talent matches--I do think these could be utilized better in wrestling.  The issue is though we now have a whole generation of fans who are conditioned to see nothing but matches between competitive wrestlers.  I do not think you can go all the way back to the old school local enhancement talent, but you can flesh out a reasonably sized undercard that essentially serves that purpose.  They can even be competitive in their matches, but ultimately the stars would prove to be better.  I think that would be a good way to save some feuds from feeling stale so quickly when it seems you have guys getting physical too often.  It would also help make sure guys in feuds are built properly as you would be less likely to need either to do the J.O.B. on TV for another talent.

...lastly...

Champion pinned or submitted--I may need clarification on this one, but to me it's all about when the story calls for it.  For one thing, champions and top of the card guys should be fully able to absorb clean losses from time-to-time.  If you want to get a deadly submission move over then a babyface champion may need to submit to a heel's move.  Of course, if the feud is built in such a way that it makes sense for it to include or conclude with a submission match you may need to your champion to lose cleanly via submission.  One thing you have to do to make wrestling better is take away some of the stigma of a "clean loss."  If you build your characters properly then there should at least be a group of guys that can beat anyone (including each other) any day.  Do you want "nonsensical parity booking?"  Absolutely not, but no one should ever be "unbeatable."

[EDGECRUSHER]

Yeah, Orton is definitely on something. I don't think WWE cares about that as long as it isn't a scandal.

[Torgo]

Yeah, Orton is definitely on something. I don't think WWE cares about that as long as it isn't a scandal.

I think they do care and that's probably why Wade was allowed to beat him clean on RAW.

He's on his second strike iirc, one more and he's outta there.