8 Fresh Ideas to Make WWE Raw and SmackDown Better

Although Crown Jewel 2025 was above-average in quality, Raw and SmackDown are still in desperate need of a significant shake-up.

Even in light of recent injuries, the rosters are largely solid overall, so a formal draft isn't necessarily the answer. Rather, it's the overall creative direction of both brands that has fans dissatisfied and calling for immediate change.

According to BodySlam.net, WWE has taken notice of the negative feedback online—specifically in regards to SmackDown—and intends to "make the show more enjoyable" by adding new blood to the blue brand's writing team while keeping Hall of Famer Road Dogg at the helm.

SmackDown's record-low viewership has been a cause for concern, and Raw's Netflix numbers aren't much stronger. Those metrics wouldn't matter to most if audience interest wasn't also down.

It's been apparent in the past that Triple H is capable of creating compelling content when motivated. No one thing will change the general perception of the product overnight, but there are little moves that can be made to get things trending back in the right direction.

These are eight fresh ideas that can improve Raw and SmackDown.

WWE took a business-as-usual approach to the post-Crown Jewel edition of Raw. It was a serviceable show on the whole, but there was nothing out of the ordinary about it until its closing moments.

Bron Breakker, Bronson Reed and Paul Heyman exiling Seth Rollins from The Vision was exactly the seismic shift fans have been clamoring for from the flagship show for months.

The World Heavyweight Championship picture in particular would benefit from a few fresh faces.

CM Punk and Rollins were clearly headed for one more match at Saturday Night's Main Event, but with The Visionary seemingly injured, per Dave Meltzer of Wrestling Observer Radio, this is the company's chance to go in a different direction.

Punk is owed a title shot after winning the No. 1 contender's Triple Threat match on Monday's Raw, but what would be the harm in putting the belt on Breakker next instead?

The Badass has been ready for a main event-level push for some time and would be believable in that role. WWE could easily hold off until WrestleMania 42 to crown Breakker, but if they want to make a statement with him as the new head of The Vision, having him win the world title would be an effective way to do that.

Chad Gable lacked direction coming into 2025 but experienced a career resurgence when he donned a luchador mask and debuted his El Grande Americano alter ego.

He was headed for a huge WrestleMania 41 match with Rey Mysterio before the WWE Hall of Famer went down with an injury the night prior to the event. It's unknown what the rest of their rivalry would have looked like beyond that point.

Gable also suffered an injury a few months later and was replaced in the role by Ludwig Kaiser. He's made the most of the gimmick, but he's been hindered by working with the same handful of faces in AJ Styles, Dragon Lee and Penta the past few months.

Putting two other masked men by his side hasn't helped the act, either.

It's possible WWE has kept it going for this long because it's adamant about circling back to Americano vs. Mysterio eventually, but the endgame isn't worth it. Americano has a short shelf life and isn't adding anything to Raw when he's featured.

Ditching the character entirely and finding something else for Kaiser to do on Raw would be in the best interest of WWE, the wrestler and the audience.

NXT call-ups shouldn't always be the go-to solution whenever Raw and SmackDown are suffering creatively, but if there's a plan in place for them upon being brought up to the main roster, then it doesn't hurt to try.

The men's side of the NXT roster isn't exactly stacked at the moment, but there are a number of names who could be called up tomorrow and be perfectly fine. Ethan Page and Ricky Saints are both champions and shouldn't be moved just yet, but Oba Femi and Tony D'Angelo could use a change of scenery.

Both men have done all they can do on the developmental brand, and their absence from NXT TV recently should be a sign they're main roster-bound.

As for the women, Jordynne Grace is overdue for a Raw or SmackDown debut after spending the last year on NXT falling short of winning gold. Moreover, Lash Legend has improved immensely over the years and would be a welcome addition to the midcard scene on either Raw or SmackDown.

WWE doesn't wait until the Royal Rumble or the night after WrestleMania anymore to call up NXT talent, so there's no excuse to not promote any of the aforementioned Superstars in the near future.

For whatever reason, SmackDown has done an abysmal job of utilizing a majority of its talented roster in 2025, specifically in the men's midcard scene.

Many performers with potential have fallen by the wayside, but it's time WWE got going with them again and gave them renewed singles pushes. This includes Carmelo Hayes, Rey Fenix, Montez Ford and Santos Escobar.

The sky was the limit for Hayes after joining SmackDown in the 2024 draft. His stellar series of matches with Andrade ensured he had a stable spot on Friday nights for months, only for him to be relegated to a nonsensical tag team with The Miz coming into the new year.

Rey Fenix had a great thing going with Andrade in the tag team ranks prior to the latter's abrupt departure, and following his strong showing against Sami Zayn for the United States Championship last month, he's ready to become more of a fixture for the blue brand.

Escobar has fallen short of capturing the U.S. title a number of times before, but repackaging him is worth a shot. As for Ford, The Street Profits have hit their ceiling as a team, and he's been ready for that next serious step in his career for ages.

On the subject of SmackDown, the main event scene on Friday nights is dire.

To his credit, Cody Rhodes has been holding it down on the blue brand to the best of his ability, but the lack of credible challengers to his Undisputed WWE Championship has hurt his latest reign.

WWE quickly got his feud with Drew McIntyre out of the way at Wrestlepalooza despite them barely scratching the surface of what they can do together, and Randy Orton has been a background player until recently.

The Viper's heel turn is obviously imminent, but that isn't enough to salvage SmackDown. The undisputed WWE title picture could also use another name to freshen things up and Jacob Fatu is an excellent fit.

Fatu wrapped up his rivalry with Solo Sikoa at the end of the summer and recently started targeting McIntyre, who he's scheduled to face on Friday. A win over the three-time world champion in WWE would catapult him toward the top of the card.

This is dependent on Fatu being healthy, but if BodySlam.net's report from earlier this week about an injury sidelining him for the remainder of the year, his aggressive push will have to wait.

Tiffany Stratton has had a stranglehold on the WWE Women's Championship since the start of 2025. She's still finding her footing as a face, but from an in-ring standpoint, she's delivered quality title defenses against the likes of Charlotte Flair, Nia Jax, Trish Stratus and Jade Cargill.

Cargill's inability to beat her for the belt despite winning the 2025 Queen of the Ring tournament has been surprising. She's had three unsuccessful title shots, leaving her with little choice but to turn heel.

Being a villain is what made her such a success in All Elite Wrestling in addition to how dominantly she was booked. She hasn't been presented in quite the same way in WWE, and it's high time the fans saw that side of The Storm.

Ideally, Bianca Belair would be a better choice to go rogue, but considering she's still sidelined with the injury she sustained at WrestleMania 41, the division needs a new top heel soon and Cargill should turn before Stratton.

It won't solve all of SmackDown's woes with the women, but it would make matters slightly more interesting.

WWE's main roster audience was initially introduced to Ilja Dragunov shortly following WrestleMania 40 when he was drafted from NXT to Raw.

The Mad Dragon floundered for his first few months on the red brand but had several standout performances in matches with Ricochet, Jey Uso and Bron Breakker.

A torn ACL cut his hot momentum short last summer, but a report from PWInsider in late August indicated the 32-year-old was on the verge of being cleared for competition. Nearly two months later, though, there is still no sign of him on Mondays.

It's safe to assume he hasn't resurfaced yet because Triple H hasn't come up with a way to bring him back, but that's part of the problem. The former NXT and NXT UK champion should be more of a priority considering what he's capable of and would be an exciting opponent for intercontinental champion Dominik Mysterio.

In fact, Dragunov being the one to unseat Dirty Dom would be a fantastic return for him. Imagine the matches he could have with Penta, Sheamus, Rusev, AJ Styles and others.

Of course, Dragunov rekindling his rivalry with Gunther is a must, but that doesn't have to be until later down the line.

Fans have been burned before by the breakup teases for The Judgment Day, and there were even significant changes within the group's structure upon Damian Priest and Rhea Ripley being booted at SummerSlam 2024, but the group isn't what it was and the next chapter should be them getting closer to going their separate ways.

They're currently in possession of the Intercontinental Championship, AAA Mega Championship and World Tag Team Championship, but nothing is being done with the latter two titles. Losing them would force the faction to evolve and regroup, ultimately leading to its long-awaited demise.

Prior to Liv Morgan's injury over the summer, she and Dominik Mysterio appeared to be on the outs with the rest of the stable. Finn Balor had just recruited Roxanne Perez and a mixed tag team match was surely on the horizon.

Morgan getting hurt likely caused a change of plans, and as a result, The Judgment Day has been spinning its wheels for months. Morgan and Mysterio will be breakout babyfaces when the time comes, but there can be meaningful movement in Morgan's absence as well.

Raw has relied upon the faction for too long and the coming months should see them slowly start to be phased out in favor of fresh storylines.

Graham Mirmina, aka Graham "GSM" Matthews, has specialized in sports and entertainment writing since 2010. Visit his website, WrestleRant, and subscribe to his YouTube channel for more wrestling-related content.