WWE Raw vs. Smackdown Live: Which Was Better? (15th, 16th October, 2018)

Last week, Monday Night Raw triumphed over SmackDown Live thanks to DX's return and Dean Ambrose walking out on the Shield, this week's Raw teased Dean Ambrose's whereabouts, The Brothers of Destruction responding to DX and Ronda Rousey and the Bella Twins confronting each other after the Bellas attacked Ronda.

Meanwhile, SmackDown was preparing to have one of it's biggest episodes ever with it 1,000th episode. We were getting the reunion of Evolution with Batista and Ric Flair appearing alongside Randy Orton and Triple H, Edge returning for 'Cutting Edge' and Rey Mysterio back in WWE.

So, which show was better? To determine the winner We'll be looking at the best match of the night for both shows, the opening segment, the mid-card, the tag-team division, the main event and any surprises or shocks that may have happened on either show. Then, at the end of it all, we'll be able to tell you who wins when it comes to WWE Raw vs SmackDown Live.

#1. The Opening Segment

Can Truth TV kick off every SmackDown Live please?

Raw: The Dogs of War opened Monday Night Raw with an in-ring promo claiming they had destroyed the Shield last week, and that Reigns, Rollins and Ambrose were done as a team. Rollins and Reigns (without Ambrose) interrupted and contested that claim, and then Rollins challenged Drew McIntyre to their World Cup Qualifying Match right there and then.

SmackDown: R-Truth and Carmella kicked things off with 'Truth TV' and had liberal amounts of dance breaks. They are then interrupted by Stephanie McMahon, Shane McMahon and Vince McMahon separately but the segment ends with all three McMahons partaking in a dance break with Truth and Carmella.

Which was better?: One was a serious 'high-stakes' opening and the other was just a big of silly fun with the added bonus of seeing a silly Vince McMahon. It's a tough one but I think I'm leaning towards Stephanie McMahon trying to floss.

Winner: SmackDown Live

#2. The Mid Card

Rey Mysterio returned and fought the United States Champion

Raw: Seth Rollins was wearing his Intercontinental Title but it didn't really become a focus at any point during the night, with 'The Architect' doing battle with Drew McIntyre over a World Cup Qualifying spot instead. Rollins won the match with the surprising help of Dean Ambrose

SmackDown: Meanwhile on SmackDown things had improved drastically because they actually let their United States Champion Shinsuke Nakamura appear and wrestle on television. Sure, he didn't defend the title, instead also competing in a World Cup Qualifying Match against a returning Rey Mysterio and naturally lost.

Which was better?: The Rey Mysterio Vs.Shinsuke Nakamura match has led to the announcement that the two will meet again for a title match at Starrcade, so by default SmackDown wins for being the first show in such a long time to put of of their mid-card titles on the line.

Winner: SmackDown Live

#3. The Tag Team Division

Raw: Raw's tag-team champions Dolph Ziggler and Drew McIntyre still found themselves stuck in the feud with the Shield, although the dissolution of The Dogs of War makes it unclear if they're even still together as a tag-team. Raw didn't really have anything in the way of additional tag-team matches with the Authors of Pain destroying someone pretending to be Kurt Angle instead.

SmackDown Live: SmackDown champions The New Day defending their titles against The Bar in a rematch of their Super Show-Down title match except things ended very differently. The Big Show made his way out for his #974th heel turn and Chokeslammed Kofi Kingston through the announce table, allowing Sheamus to pin Big E to help The Bar become five-time Tag-Team Champions.

Which was better?: SmackDown makes it three for three so far with a great match between the two teams as well as an obligatory heel turn for the Big Show on its 1,000th episode. Good stuff!

Winner: SmackDown Live

#4. The Women's Division

Ronda 'eviscerated' Nikki Bella with a knock on her failed relationship with John Cena

Raw: Raw's main women's division segment was the confrontation of words between Ronda Rousey and The Bellas that saw things getting more than a little personal and Rousey struggling with incredibly out-of-place verbage. It was a decent segment that did the job of getting people interested in the feud and it came with Rousey throwing some security men around for good measure.

SmackDown: SmackDown had a great 'Cutting Edge' segment with Edge trying to reason with Becky Lynch that if she carries on like this she will burn all her bridge and will be lonely. Becky told Edge to leave her ring and make sure he doesn't injury his beck on the way out to a huge pop (honestly, the crowd just will not hate Becky.) Charlotte then came out leading to a brawl between the two women.

Which was better?: Honestly, SmackDown's segment as probably performed better, with Lynch, Charlotte, and Edge killing it in their roles, but the Raw segment had a lot more to do and I think it accomplished those things, cementing the Raw Women's Title match as the main event of Evolution.

Winner: Monday Night Raw

#5. The Main Events

Raw: Monday Night Raw ended with The Dogs of War, and not the Shield, being the trio to fall apart with Drew McIntyre and Braun Strowman's tense relationship finally bubbling over leading to the two coming to blows. The only issue was that seeing these six men fight in the main event of Raw is getting a bit repetitive now.

SmackDown Live: The SmackDown Live main event was literally The Undertaker walking to the ring for five minutes, saying that Triple H and Shawn Michaels will 'Rest in Peace', literally just that and nothing else, and then walking to the back again.

Which was better?: SmackDown Live really suffered for being a two-hour show and trying to cram in as much nostalgia and storytelling as possible, making that 'Taker main event bizarre and cringeworthy. So the spoils go to Monday Night Raw here.

Winner: Monday Night Raw

#6. Shocks and Surprises

Batista lays down a challenge for Triple H

Raw: There were a few little shocks and surprises on Raw. Apollo Crews coming out and getting that Elias rub was nice to see albeit unexpected, Ambrose pushing Rollins away and almost coming to blows with Rollins and Strowman and McIntyre actually coming to blows. But nothing too major.

SmackDown Live: The Evolution reunion may have been advertised in advance but Batista's fantastic promo and the resulting tension certainly wasn't. Batista ran through each of the other Evolution member's accomplishments but finished by saying that Triple H had never beaten him, resulting in a tense staredown. This seemed to be the start of a 'Mania match for the two man and I'm here for it.

Which was better?: SmackDown Live's Batista Vs. Triple H match tease was the best 'shock and surprise' of the week. So SmackDown was better than Raw here!

Winner: SmackDown Live

#7. The Best Match

Raw: The best match was probably the Seth Rollins Vs Drew McIntyre match purely because I'm a little tired of seeing Reigns, Rollins and Ambrose Vs. Ziggler, Strowman and McIntyre in six-man tag action and the Ziggler/Ambrose match was more about the finish and how we got there than the match itself.

SmackDown Live: There were two contenders on SmackDown, the tag-team title match between New Day and The Bar and that Rey Mysterio return match against Shinsuke Nakamura. I feel the latter just pips it because they put on a good match and I was disappointed when it was over as I would've liked to have seen more.

Which was better?: I'm going to have to say Rey Mysterio Vs. Shinsuke Nakamura was the best match of the two shows purely because it had the added bonus of being Mysterio's return and also because he and Nakamura seem to work well together.

Winner: SmackDown Live

There's a clear winner this week with the scores being 5-2

Winner and best show this week: SmackDown Live

Which show do you think was better this week, SmackDown Live or Monday Night Raw? Leave your thoughts in the comments section below!

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Edited by Shiven Sachdeva