O’Shea Jackson Jr. believes WWE SmackDown desperately needs help against RAW and Netflix.
Appearing on The Ariel Helwani Show, Jackson was asked to comment on the blue brand’s direction and the general consensus on social media that it is struggling against the red brand.
Jackson said he feels SmackDown is currently struggling compared to RAW, largely because the red brand appears to be receiving WWE’s biggest stars, storylines, and momentum following the Netflix era changes.
He pointed to the handling of rising Je’Von Evans, Trick Williams, and Oba Femi as examples, noting that most of the standout talent ended up on RAW instead of SmackDown.
“I feel like SmackDown is fighting for its life. A lot of it is because Netflix gets all the cool toys. Yeah. Like, when I saw when Je’Von and Trick and Oba came over, I was like, ‘Alright, surely, surely they’re going to give them to SmackDown.’ No. Two out of the three go to Raw. And then, you know, they pass off Trick to SmackDown. But it was just like, man.
“And then when you look at it right now, Netflix is doing such a chokehold on, like I say, the cool toys, all the fun stuff. The World Heavyweight Championship used to be the second-place championship, you know, the number two. Cody Rhodes has the title with the company logo, the biggest. And like that’s not number one? It just feels off.”
O’Shea Jackson Jr. on WWE SmackDown women’s division
He also argued that WWE SmackDown’s women’s division has been weakened in recent months and said the blue brand needs stronger creative direction moving forward.
“SmackDown needs drastic help. The layoffs, you know, there were a couple that really stung, but you kind of carved out your entire women’s mid-card. There’s just a lot of decisions where I’m thinking like, ‘Alright, a bunch of NXT people are coming, but they all can’t go to RAW.’
“SmackDown needs help. And I feel like once they figure that out a little bit, you know, then they’ll have smooth sailing.”
Jackson specifically mentioned Giulia as someone WWE should focus on more heavily. He suggested that matches like Money in the Bank or Elimination Chamber could help establish her as a bigger star, similar to how Kofi Kingston gained momentum during the road to KofiMania.
He added that WWE has historically struggled with booking Japanese wrestlers consistently, although he praised IYO SKY as proof the company can succeed when the presentation is handled correctly.
“But yeah, they gotta figure out something juicy for SmackDown because RAW’s taking all the cool stuff. They got Roman now. Roman is back.”
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