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At Survivor Series 2018, in a battle of supremacy between the two brands of the WWE, Monday Night Raw and Smackdown Live, we expected a close contest between the two. What we were offered was a total annihilation of the blue brand with a 6-0 rout (6-1, if we count the 10-on-10 Traditional Survivor Series Elimination Match in the mix). The blue brand was absolutely decimated and buried on that night at the Staples Center in Los Angeles.
The reality is, however, different from what the WWE wants to show its fans. We are witnessing a scenario wherein for a number of weeks in succession, Smackdown Live has been miles ahead of Raw, the flagship show of the WWE in terms of the wrestling and the storylines. Let us look at the reasons as to why Smackdown Live has been trouncing the weekly episodic game in a convincing fashion, while Raw fails to keep the audiences engaged.
1. Treatment of the tag team division
The quality of writing has been the biggest point of difference between the two brands. This is truly signified by the treatment of the tag team division. On Smackdown Live, we have a real battle of supremacy between three of the best tag teams in the world right now: The New Day, The Bar and The Usos.
Each team is capable and viable to win against the other two, which shows in their bookings as well on a weekly basis. The biggest question is which team is the best and the most important tool is wrestling. Nothing more and nothing less.
On Raw side of things, the writers are resorting to toilet humour. Authors of Pain (AOP) were a dominant force back in the NXT, who rarely needed any external shenanigans to gain an advantage over their opponents. What seemed like a one-off incident wherein their manager Drake Maverick (also the General Manager of 205 Live) pissed in his pants during the match at Survivor Series, which distracted the AOP's opponents and led them to victory, has now become a regular fixture of Drake Maverick's character.
In a terrible display of wrestling writing, on the 3rd November episode of Raw, Maverick pissed on Bobby Roode's robes to distract the team of Roode and Chad Gable and helped AOP win in a cheap fashion.
2. Treatment of the women's division
On Smackdown Live, we have in our hands a compelling story involving Becky Lynch, Charlotte Flair and Asuka. At TLC (Tables, Ladders and Chairs), we will have the historic first-ever women's TLC match for the Smackdown Women's Champion.
"The Man" Becky Lynch, despite her recent unfortunate injury, is still one of the biggest attractions of the WWE. Charlotte Flair has always been one of the headlining athletes in the women's division for years. Admittedly, Asuka has been bogged down by the way she has been booked in 2018 with her loss at Wrestlemania 34 at the hands of Charlotte and her subsequent shift down the pecking order.
However, her victory in the Battle Royal on the 27th November episode of Smackdown Live has certainly given her a new lease of life, which she would look to capitalize on.
On the other hand, on Raw, the women's division has been struggling due to the injury of Alexa Bliss. Despite the presence of Ronda Rousey, perhaps the biggest and the most high-profile signing in the history of the WWE, the quality of wrestling and stories have been found wanting. Currently, Rousey is being challenged for her Raw Women's Championship by Nia Jax.
However, Jax has gained a reputation of being one of the unsafest and sloppiest workers in the company, amplified by the injury to Becky Lynch right before Lynch's historic bout against Ronda Rousey. Then we have the underutilized talents of Sasha Banks and Bayley, who have been horribly booked over the past 18 months.
Instead of having them wrestle their hearts out and giving them a chance to be at the top, they are booked for 'Open Forums' which are filled with juvenile humour.
Post WWE Evolution, the women's division of the WWE is at a critical juncture at this stage. While the blue brand has been expertly showing off their skills as wrestlers and as believable characters, the red brand is lagging behind in character development and quality of wrestling.
3.
The importance given to authority figures
On Smackdown Live, Paige has played a rather understated yet impressive role as the General Manager of Smackdown Live. She has interfered only when it has been necessitated by the situation and has chosen to play the supporting role to perfection. From time to time, we do see Shane McMahon, the Commissioner of Smackdown Live, feature prominently in storylines.
However, even he has stayed away from being the epicentre of the proceedings. In this way, they have allowed the wrestlers to take the centre stage and do what they do the best: Wrestle.
On Raw side of affairs, The General Manager-elect, Baron Corbin is the centre of attraction of the entire show. On a three-hour show, being on camera for almost an hour is no coincidence. With the constant interference in almost every match, WWE is surely trying desperately to generate heat for the heel authority figure, building up for an eventual beat down by Braun Strowman.
However, in the process, wrestling is being undermined on each and every step. The biggest problem is that Corbin has not been one of the more popular figures on the roster and this sudden push to be the biggest heel in the show feels underwhelming.
4. The competition between the heels and the baby faces
No sport can afford to have one-sided contests on a consistent basis. This is especially true for professional wrestling, wherein the compelling back-and-forth action is the backbone of any particular storyline. Smackdown Live has been able enough to fulfil this necessity in each of its storylines.
With hard-hitting wrestling at the forefront, the blue brand has managed to keep storytelling and wrestling side-by-side. There is no dominant force per se on the show. The babyfaces and the heels are able to get their sweet share of the pie alternatively in a battle of wits and muscles.
On Raw, however, it seems we have a plethora of heels who convincingly dominate the babyfaces on a weekly basis. The central storyline of Raw at the moment is the dominance of Baron Corbin and his associates, Drew McIntyre and Bobby Lashley.
Due to the recent injury to Braun Strowman, we currently have a situation wherein the only challengers to Corbin's reign of terror at the moment are Finn Balor and Elias, both of whom have not been established as main-event stars by the WWE creative through their inconsistent and at times, illogical booking decisions. This means we witness total dominance by the heels on a repeated basis which is certainly making the product stale and predictable.
