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Raw and Smackdown might always battle each other for brand supremacy, but they are both ultimately a part of WWE. Wrestlers switching brands can sometimes really help or hurt the shows.
2018 saw the return of Daniel Bryan as a World Champion and the loss and regaining of the Universal Title by Brock Lesnar. The Shield also reunited and then broke up, and Nia Jax became the Big Show of face/heel turns. Ronda Rousey and Becky Lynch also brought the women's division to the forefront with their feud prior to Survivor Series.
Rusev Day captured the hearts of millions of fans and we witnessed the main roster debuts of Sanity, Andrade 'Cien' Almas, the Authors of Pain and the IIconics.
Drew McIntyre and Bobby Lashley also returned to WWE after stints away, though the former spent some time in NXT . Rey Mysterio returned in the Royal Rumble and then joined Smackdown.
We also witnessed the first-ever all-women's PPV in Evolution.
What is the state of WWE heading into 2019?
Smackdown Tag Team Division
Grade: B-
Current Champions: The Bar (Sheamus and Cesaro)
The Bar won a four team tournament to become the number one contenders to the New Day, and then they won the titles on Smackdown 1000.
As has been the case with the Bar, the Usos and the New Day, all three teams have dominated the tag team scene of Smackdown and Raw.
While it's true that they are the most reliable tag teams on the roster and usually always deliver, we've seen the teams battle each other almost to exhaustion over the last two years. The Bludgeon Brothers were starting to break that trend, but WWE was forced to rely on their three go-to teams because of the injury.
Rusev Day was red hot at points in 2018, but WWE failed to capitalize on their growing popularity by putting the titles on them. Because of this reluctance, WWE missed an opportunity to create another reliable tag team. It also would have allowed the Rusev/Aiden English split to play out even further.
Sanity was called up and has been on Smackdown like five times in 2018. And the same goes for Gallows and Anderson. The Colons are talented in the ring but have never connected with the crowd.
Had Smackdown built up Sanity as monsters and given Rusev Day a face run with the belts, it would have helped build up the division. Like I said, the Usos, New Day and Bar are all great teams; I'm just bored of their constant feuds over the titles.
The division is top heavy and has the potential for depth with some of its other teams, but the depth hasn't been utilized that well. That won't change after TLC.
Smackdown's Men's Division
WWE Champion: Daniel Bryan
United States Champion: Shinsuke Nakamura
Overall Grade: C+
Daniel Bryan and AJ Styles are the real reason this isn't a lower grade. My grades aren't indicative of the ability of wrestlers in a division, it's just representative of the booking and depth at each level.
Styles has carried Smackdown in his two title reigns after dispatching potential overbearing heels Samoa Joe and Shinsuke Nakamura. Since neither was given a title run, they both lost some luster.
Daniel Bryan defeated Styles for the belt before Survivor Series, turning heel in the process. Since he switched sides, it left Smackdown bereft of believable main-event babyfaces.
A lot consider Jeff Hardy and Rey Mysterio as main-event caliber faces, and they once were, but in today's WWE, both are better utilized to put younger talent over. It hasn't happened as both have primarily been used to put over someone who doesn't need to be put over: Randy Orton. If they cannot defeat Orton, why should they be considered title threats?
The Miz is in limbo right now and might be turning face in order to feud with Bryan. Rusev had a title shot and failed. WWE doesn't have the faith in him it did when he first debuted as an Anti-American heel.
Samoa Joe has become little more than a sneak attacker who doesn't win his feuds. His feud with Styles was similar to that of Nakamura in that it spanned three PPVs and killed any main-event credibility for either man.
Nakamura managed to win the US Title from Hardy, but has rarely been on television. He's being underutilized and appears headed for a feud with another underutilized star in Rusev.
The only other feasible way to strengthen both the mid-card and the main event is to either push Big E as a singles star (Kofi already has been one and Xavier is better as a tag wrestler) or break up the Bar. Cesaro is a great tag team wrestler, but he is so much better as a singles star. He has had the crowd behind him before and he still does.
Big E could be a credible future champion. He's hilarious, good on the mic and fantastic in the ring.
While those two suggestions would weaken the tag division, there are teams in the wings waiting to pick up the slack like Sanity, Gallows and Anderson and new tag teams that might form.
Heck, even having Rusev either win the US title or challenge Bryan at some point would help things.
Smackdown's Women's Division
Smackdown Women's Champion: Becky Lynch
Grade: B+
A lot of the success of the women's grade goes to three women above. Becky's carried the division since the summer and Charlotte delivers in any match she's in. Asuka should always be in the title picture, regardless of Vince's surprise that the crowd cheered more for her than Charlotte when Becky picked her replacement for Survivor Series.
The only problem with the fact above is that it makes it really hard for the other women of the roster to up their game. Lana isn't the greatest in the ring but is a good character. Carmella has improved since turning face but still isn't on the level of Flair, Lynch or Asuka in terms of in-ring ability.
The IIconics are still new to the main roster and although they have great characters, they've been used sparingly. Both Sonya Deville and Mandy Rose have potential but they're both still finding their footing as singles' stars. Rose, Carmella and Deville have all improved in the ring but not at a main-event level rate.
Naomi has been champion before, but I have trouble understanding her on the mic. She's extremely athletic, yes, but she needs to speak more clearly on the mic. She also needs to ditch the Rear View and the move where she jump kicks her opponent constantly.
Zelina Vega has been more of an active competitor lately than her client, Andrade Almas. She is good enough in the ring but isn't high in the pecking order. And is Nikki Cross a member of the roster or not?
The depth is there for the division but I just feel that the some of the women need to better grow into their roles. Once they do, the depth will span from top to bottom in the division.
That's a good thing for Smackdown because one of the above three women will likely be holding the belt through Wrestlemania 35.
Raw's Tag Team Division
Raw Tag Team Champions: Chad Gable and Bobby Roode
Grade: D
The booking of this division has been some of the worst in the WWE.
The Authors of Pain were great heel champions, but they just lost their titles to Gable and Roode on Raw. It might just be a quick switch before TLC to add another match to the card last minute. AOP should be treated like the most dangerous team on Raw and will likely regain their belts at TLC or Raw the following night. Or they'll murder Drake Maverick.
The Revival has been made into a joke with their rivalry with the Lucha House Party. They're great wrestlers like Seth Rollins said. They should be booked much better.
The B Team had a limited shelf life as champions and are better suited as a comedy act a la another team, Breezeango. Fandango is out with injury leaving Tyler Breeze with little to do. Another team of singles stars, Drew McIntyre and Dolph Ziggler, were only a team for half the year.
The Lucha House Party are fun to watch but only in matches that don't waste teams like the Revival. They should have kept them on 205 Live.
The Ascension could have been a serious threat had they not been booked like jokes upon their debut. Constantly getting run down by JBL didn't help their cause but they did have potential as a decent team. There weren't 'many teams like them when they debuted, but JBL helped make sure they weren't taken seriously.
This division truly lost out on the Superstar Shake Up and wasn't helped with Matt Hardy's injury. Also, having so many teams comprised of singles' wrestlers didn't help. This is the division in WWE that is the most in need of repair.
Raw's Men's Division
Universal Champion: Brock Lesnar
Intercontinental Champion: Seth Rollins
Grade: B
If Roman Reigns was still the Universal Champion, this could easily be a A. Lesnar's notorious part-time status devalues the Universal Championship but also increases the value of whoever holds the Intercontinental Championship. Even if Seth Rollins wasn't holding it, he'd be the top dog on Raw.
Losing Reigns hurt in more ways than many would like to admit, but him finally winning the title helped in two ways. Firstly, his never-ending quest for the Universal title ended. Secondly, he was a full-time champion. The list of potential challengers is deep (Balor, McIntyre, Ambrose, Lashley, Elias, Strowman, Corbin) but none have been booked as true threats outside of McIntyre. Since the IC title has acted as the top prize on Raw by default, the lines between those in the mid-card and those in the main-event scene have been blurred.
The division is probably one of the deepest in the WWE in terms of talent. Even the disabled/MIA list could fill the main event scene with the likes of Reigns, Kevin Owens, Sami Zayn, Matt Hardy and Bray Wyatt on it.
Factor in Apollo Crews, Dolph Ziggler and Jinder Mahal and the challengers for both titles seem never-ending.
Raw's Women's Division
Raw Women's Champion: Ronda Rousey
Grade: B+
Smackdown and Raw are both in great shape in terms of the women's divisions. Smackdown has three of the best women in WWE in Asuka, Lynch and Flair. Raw's division seems a little deeper, though.
Bayley, Jax, Bliss, Natalya, Sasha Banks, Mickie James and Alicia Fox are all former champs in their own rights. Bayley, Bliss, Jax and Banks will always be on the cusp of challenging for the title when healthy.
And let's not forget future champion Ember Moon. She's only been on the roster for about a year but obviously has tons of potential.
And then there's the Riott Squad. Riott also has the look of future title contender while Liv Morgan and Sarah Logan will have time to grow into their respective characters.
All in all, Raw's women's division is in good shape heading into next year and it might get even deeper when/if call ups are made.
Conclusion
While it's understandable that not every division will be deep in the company, the roster has never been as full of talent as before.
Names like Finn Balor, Samoa Joe, Randy Orton, Elias, Braun Strowman, Big E, Bray Wyatt and Drew McIntyre are super talented guys who aren't even champions now.
When you can boast a roster of that caliber and none are holding singles' gold, things appear to be in good shape.
The main deficit, as it usually has been, is in the tag divisions.
Too many teams were either made of singles stars that broke up (Ambrose and Rollins, Ziggler and McIntyre, Wyatt and Hardy) or are under-booked (the Revival, Sanity, Gallows and Anderson). It's true that Vince never took much stock in tag team wrestling and it shows with the discrepancies in both divisions.
Right now, the women's divisions are doing better than ever and that might lead to a first-ever main-event slot in April. All in all, the WWE is in good shape heading into next year and will likely sign a bunch of talented wrestlers once again.
I'm expecting most of the free agents to be signed to NXT, thus necessitating several call-ups from NXT. With those call-ups, even more depth will be created.
