4 Reasons why SmackDown Live! is the 'A' show now

There has been a low key competition between SDL and RAW ever since the brand split earlier, which is convenient. With a plethora of talent scattered across both the brands, it'd be possible to have a sublime product. But this is WWE, so let us not dwell on that. Amidst bad booking, SD Live has been an exception, showing up RAW on a weekly basis. Tuesday nights have become more enjoyable as a result. Here we look at 4 reasons why SD Live! has become the A show as of late.

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#1: 2-Hour format

The biggest gripes about RAW is its 3-hour run time. While RAW feels like a chore to sit through, with all of its fillers, sloppy writing, and bad humor, SD is a breeze. Its short run-time gives it a compact feel and saves itself of saturation. Angles don't need to be stretched out, there are no long-winded promos to bore us to death. Everything is crisp and to the point. With logical booking as of late by the SD Creative, it has become more enjoyable than its flagship counterpart each and every week.

#2. The constant presence of WWE World Heavyweight Championship

A world champion who shows up every week- that's something you don't see on the flagship show that is RAW. A constant presence of the top title provides a purpose for the top stars, unlike on RAW. People love a main-event with the World Championship on the line,and wrestlers love COMPETING for the World Championship. And this is exactly what SD live provides -a WWE World Championship match every once in a while. AJ Styles has defended his title seven times this year itself, against a variety of superstars. This elevates other superstars as well as the entire brand.

#3. Presence of bigger stars

While RAW hosts megastars like Goldberg or Lesnar, they're only around to collect a fat paycheck. Look at the Smackdown Live roster now, which boasts of a regular presence of legends like Randy Orton, Jeff Hardy, AJ Styles, Samoa Joe, etc. This gives the blue brand a sense of importance. It has become a place where living legends slug it out week in and week out. Don't tell me you'd like to watch Mojo Rawley over AJ Styles or Jeff Hardy any time of the week.

#4. Land of opportunity

Smackdown Live! has quite literally become a land of opportunity. Who would have thought that Rusev would be in a world championship match after years of jobbing? This certainly wouldn't be possible on RAW, where the main event is completely filled with Roman Reigns. On the blue brand, however, talented superstars like Sami Zayn, Jinder Mahal, Big E etc have gotten championship opportunities.

This keeps the main event scene fresh and dynamic, with no staleness creeping in unlike its red counterpart.