There are certain people on both Raw & Smackdown who should be de-pushed, preferably as soon as possible. The reasons why should make it pretty obvious.
Let's start with Smackdown. The two biggest pains in the neck on the Friday show have basically the same gimmick from different directions.
On one side, there's Drew McIntyre. The "Sinister Scotsman", on his 2nd tour of duty with WWE (he had a cup of coffee as Dave Taylor's tag partner/protege in 2007), McIntyre has coasted on one thing, that he has gotten the endorsement of WWE Chairman Vince McMahon, who isn't exactly the sharpest tool in the shed creatively. The last guy that McMahon had similarly endorsed is now in TNA (Elijah Burke, aka Pope D'Angelo Dinero). 2 weeks ago, McIntyre was "deported" because his visa expired. What the viewers didn't realize at the time was that this plot twist was an unfortunate coincidence, because McIntyre really did have visa issues, which have since been resolved, and of course, rumors have him back at tonight's tapings, which adds to the frustration of his gimmick. They'll say Vince came to the rescue again, or at least that's what McIntyre will claim. However, with Vince incapacitated in storyline by Nexus on Raw around the same time, this could backfire on McIntyre, and Teddy Long can say that he knew all along that McIntyre's been lying about his link to Vince, and that Drew will be traded to Raw for a playa to be named later, just to get rid of him once and for all.
On the other, there's the two-headed "Sex & the City" wannabe, "LayCool" (Layla El & Michelle McCool). They chased Mickie James out in April after 4 months of relentless teasing, exacerbated by Mickie's tardiness on the spring European tour. They stole a women's title opportunity from the luckless Rosa Mendes a few weeks later to take the title from Beth Phoenix. Now, they're playing their high school games with Kelly Kelly, and at the same time, they're the proverbial square peg in the round hole, mentoring Kaval on NXT. They don't belong there, obviously, but what keeps them where they are is Michelle being married to the Undertaker, and gaining some of his political stroke. Off-camera, Layla's still the bubbly, fan-friendly diva she was when she won the Diva Search 4 years ago, which wins her points with the front office. However, the act has gone stale. There aren't too many others for "LayCool" to pick on, though a face turn for Serena seems to be on the horizon to even out the face/heel balance on the women's side. Also, I don't see these two "BFF's" remaining together too much longer, not with Michelle's ego.
And, then, there's Vickie Guerrero, professional heat leech. She's hooked onto Dolph Ziggler, and after an initial burst vs. Christian, Ziggler has fallen right back down the ladder. I've not seen the last three Smackdowns, reading the spoilers ahead of time, and I see that Ziggler has his eyes on someone in his own age group in Rosa. Good for him. He has to have in the back of his mind the fact that the last guy Vickie had in her stable, Eric Escobar, was cut a few months ago after getting no heat at all. Last year at this time, the wicked widow was on hiatus. Right now, they either need her to turn face or send her away for a longer period.
Over on Raw, there is the Miz. The 2-time US champion only has the belt now because he was booked to be at a trade show last month, and Vince McMahon felt it would look good if he went as a champion, negating the earlier edict the chairman issued to put more emphasis on his African-American talent. Of course, to make up for R-Truth losing to Miz (and now on the DL with a groin injury), they put the Divas title on Alicia Fox, so it's not so bad. Problem is, Miz is a one-trick pony. He's the uninvited dinner guest who won't leave, and throws it up in your face how awesome he thinks he is. His reality show resume works for him, but for all the work he's done the last 5 years to mold himself into his present self, he's still remembered for "Real World". He's not really ready to carry the ball as a main eventer, but there's no way Vince gets rid of him. TNA would scoop him up in no time.
On the opposite side of the fence are people like Rosa, like Zack Ryder, Yoshi Tatsu, Primo Colon, and the Dudebusters, who are starving for air time since ECW dissolved. Ryder is on NXT, along with Miz & "LayCool", but his rookie was eliminated last week. With his skills, Ryder should be more of a player, but Raw's not the place for him. He's been winning on Superstars, but that's not going to translate into anything because the Thursday show is the least watched of the 4 WWE shows, due largely to the relative unavailability of WGN America in a lot of markets. I mentioned the likely pairing of Rosa & Dolph Ziggler earlier. That might just work out as a win-win for both of them.
It's time that Vince changed the way he organizes his programs, and more evenly distributes air time for all of his talent, so that everyone gets a chance to shine. In 2010, he really has no choice but to do so, instead of engaging in petty fits of pique, banning certain moves allegedly because of ex-employees now working for TNA, and other small stuff.
Let's say someone like Ryder steps up to the plate and gets thrust into the main event on Raw due to an unforeseen injury. He's already proven he can work with people like Christian (now on Smackdown). Let's see what he can do with people like Randy Orton & John Cena on a regular basis. We need change, so let's not talk about it. As Cena would say, let's be about it.
