5 Reasons Why SmackDown is having a better year than RAW

There is no doubt that Smackdown has produced better shows than Raw this year. Everything including the storylines and matches is better in Smackdown. Whenever you tune in to the show, you know you will get to see something interesting.

There are various reasons because of which Raw has taken such a drop in the ratings as till last year Raw was considered as the sounder show of the two. Some of the episodes get really boring and repetitive. Even a special appearance from The Undertaker and Shawn Micheals did not affect the ratings much. On the other hand, Smackdown is having one of their best years in terms of overall performance. Let's look at the possible reasons as to why Smackdown is having a better year so far.

#5 Not revolving around The Authority all the time

Throughout the year, Raw has involved an Authority angle in their storyline in some way or the other. After Royal Rumble, it was Stephnie McMahon (Raw Commissioner) and Ronda Rousey with former threatening to control the latter as she is her 'employee' now. It also involved Kurt Angle(General Manager) who had personal grudges against Triple H and Stephnie McMahon. The feud overall was good as the main motive of it was to establish Rousey as a dominating and fearless wrestler, which worked.

After the feud ended at Wrestlemania 34, it achieved its purpose. But the authority angle still continued in the form of Baron Corbin. Stephnie made Corbin Raw's constable to keep an eye on Kurt and they started having verbal dispute every now and then related to booking issues. It gets repetitive and it has nothing which fans have not seen before in WWE.

It is not the same on Smackdown. The limelight is with superstars only as there is only one General Manager, Paige who makes all the matches. Smackdown's commissioner, Shane McMahon also not gets involved in it.

#4 Better heels

Each storyline in any wrestling promotions revolves around two types of characters, Babyface and Heel, and WWE is no different. If we look at the respective rosters right now, Smackdown clearly has better heels in the form of Samoa Joe, Miz, Shinsuke Nakamura, IIconics and Randy Orton.

Raw lacks in this particular wrestler type. Their heels never felt that dominating. They have potential in the form of Drew McIntyre, Alexa Bliss, Dolph Ziggler, and Kevin Owens but they are not booked properly. Kevin Owens was the top heel last year when he was in Smackdown, but in Raw, he has just been used to get squashed by Braun Strowman. The two best heels of the company right now, Samoa Joe and MIz is also in Smackdown.

#3 Better storylines

Storylines are the backbone of any storyline. Any feud is considered legendary based on their storyline. Though there is not a big gap in this particular section, Smackdown takes a close lead in this one too. Raw did have some exceptional feuds this year like Roman vs Lashley, Alexa vs Rousey, Seth Rollins vs Ziggler, and the on-going feud between Roman and Strowman.

On the other hand, Smackdown can boast of feuds like Bryan and Shane vs Owens and Zayn, Orton vs Jeff Hardy, Asuka vs Charlotte, AJ Styles vs Nakamura. The on-going feud between Aj Styles & Samoa Joe and Charlotte & Becky is the best thing going on right now.

#2 Not using television time optimally

Raw runs for 3 hours and Smackdown runs for 2 hours. Raw is clearly facing the problem of filling all those 3 hours with quality matches. Many times they just throw in meaningless tag team matches in between the shows to fill the air time. That is why many fans lose interest in the middle as this matches are neither interesting nor does this mean anything moving forward.

Smackdown on the other hand in using their allotted 2 hours very well. WWE books matches and promos evenly and since the time is less all matches are booked properly. You would see fewer jobbers fighting in Smackdown than in Raw.

#1 Dominant Champion

Till now, Aj Styles had held the WWE championship for the whole year and I don't think anyone is complaining. He is the dominating and fearless champion that every fan wants to see. He has great matches consistently and his promo skills are up to the mark too. His on-going feud with Samoa Joe is one of the best in the recent past.

On the other hand, Raw's Universal Champion was absent for most of the show till August. Brock Lesnar, despite being the champion did not appear on Raw regularly. He did not defend his championships in many pay-per-views, unlike AJ Styles, throughout the year, which really damaged the Raw brand.