The biggest winners and losers of last night's SmackDown (December 18)
The impetus for "change" that we saw on Raw came to SmackDown last night. Some things were definitely a step in the right direction. Others will take some time. What's peculiar is that SmackDown wasn't the brand that needed a ton of help - a few positive adjustments work just fine.
We saw some of that last night, but not everything connected. Who got the most and least out of last night's show?
Loser: SmackDown
It goes without saying - the decision to remove Paige from the General Manager role was a misguided and unnecessary one. Paige excelled in her role as general manager and was one of the positive things about the company. Paige was there when she was needed and out of the way when she wasn't. She didn't hog the spotlight from the actual talent in the company.
And why was Paige removed? So we could witness yet more McMahon family antics?
Shane alone was a detriment on that front.
This was definitively not the change that SmackDown needed, or the company in general. It's understandable what they're trying to do, but McMahon family segments aren't going to fix the quality in the programming, especially on the blue brand where they were mercifully few this year.
Paige was just the right kind of person to keep up the quality on the blue brand. The decision to remove her is puzzling and hasn't gone over well with fans.
Supposedly she's still going to be around, but whatever role she plays next probably won't be as beneficial for the show as the general manager role she was in throughout the year since WrestleMania.
Make no mistake, SmackDown is going to feel the negative reverberations of this in the times ahead.