Smackdown Title

So it looks like WWE is putting the strap on Randy Orton. To me that doesn't feel right. Orton still hasn't regained the momentum he had prior to HHH punking him out. Plus, with the injury of Batista, the death of Eddie, the absence of Undertaker, and the departure of Christian, Smackdown needs a fresh new direction in order to feel like an important show. If you have the same guys headlining, only less of them, the crowd notices and misses the absence of the guys who are gone. The better approach is to build around new people so the fans aren't constantly reminded of the guys who aren't there. This is essentially what WWF did when it elevated Bret Hart in 1992, and was the problem with WCW in 1999 building around Randy Savage, Kevin Nash and the like. The problem now is that the WWE roster is much thinner than it was in the past, because they have let a lot of really talented guys go, and they have buried many of the rising guys. There are only nine guys on SD who have the potential to be put in a high position right now: Benoit, JBL, Kennedy, Lashley, Booker, Hardy, Orton, Rey and Regal. If I were WWE, I would be tempted to do something radical. Perhaps have Shelton Benjamin beat Kurt Angle on Raw, "jump" to Smackdown, and win the title from Orton next week. That isn't a perfect solution either, obviously, but I think Smackdown needs a face lift, and the easiest way to do that is to create a new face of the promotion.