[zaga_fan]

Listened to Jim Ross today and he had a lot of good ideas on how this can work and how it will be a big hit IF done right.

He mentioned they should treat them as separate entities and have very little bleed-over.
Have Renee Young do interviews on Raw and Tom Phillips on Smackdown.
Put Byron Saxton on Raw or Smackdown, but not on both.

Ross said the main reason Smackdown has been considerably down in the ratings compared to Raw is the fact that it isn't a live televised event. He went on to say talent would be "on their toes" more if they knew it was live and it adds the "anything can happen" vibe from Raw to Smackdown.

Right now, the only reason someone would watch Smackdown would be to simply see the wrestling. If you're interested in seeing a storyline advance, you won't see that happen on Smackdown and with social media/dirt sheets available online, those who want to know what's going to happen find that out before SD hits the air.

Ross also mentioned they could add a "trade deadline" to boost ratings before the Wrestlemania buildup begins to keep interest in the product.