However, just because Raw is the "A" show, that doesn't necessarily mean that it's been better. In fact, since the brand split first came to fruition about three months or so ago, despite a red-hot start, Raw has undoubtedly continued to drop in quality, to the point where Smackdown now continually produces a far superior product to Raw week in, week out. Let's look at some of the ways how Smackdown is indeed better than Raw:
Better depth in the women's division—When it was initially announced that Raw had acquired both Sasha Banks and Charlotte, many people (including this writer) were left wondering: how would Smackdown fare? With arguably the top two female wrestlers in the company heading to the red brand, would Becky Lynch be able to step up as the central cog in the women's division? Moreover, how would the wealth of young talent on Smackdown such as Alexa Bliss and Carmella be able to step it up? In recent weeks, however, it's become more and more clear that Smackdown know exactly what they're doing with the women's division, creating multiple quality feuds that fans have a reason to get emotionally invested in. Raw simply cannot make the same claim. While Dana Brooke vs. Bayley has been built absolutely horridly, greatly endangering the potential of a woman whom many thought could become the company's female John Cena, and Nia Jax is nowhere to be found as of late, Smackdown has breathed new life into Naomi, showcased the massive potential of Alexa Bliss and (to a slightly lesser extent) Carmella, and even gotten Natalya on television! Granted, they could still do much more with Nattie, one of the most experienced women in the division, but as a whole, Smackdown is doing a phenomenal job making ALL their women relevant and giving them interesting feuds/TV time. Raw, on the other hand, has much work to do in this department.
IC title feeling valuable again—If I had told you four months ago that the Miz would be one of the hottest acts in the company, you'd have said I was crazy. However, after winning the IC title from Zack Ryder the night after Wrestlemania, Miz's never-ending Intercontinental Championship World Tour was consistently one of the best things on WWE programming for a solid two months. The Miz would come out, delivering quality promo after quality promo, all the while displaying all the tools an excellent heel needs to get himself over with the fans. Add to this the fact that he was able to put on excellent matches along the way, as well as engage in a fantastic feud with Dolph Ziggler, helping the Show-Off return to relevancy for what feels like the first time in years (more on that below), and Miz was easily one of the best acts in the company, all while holding a traditionally midcard title.
Midcard feuds people actually care about—The likes of Baron Corbin, Bray Wyatt, Randy Orton, and even Heath Slater are all engaged in meaningful pushes/storylines that fans have actually been given a reason to care about. While Corbin's has arguably been more about him simply squashing whoever he feels like squashing than anything else, it's still an extremely effective way to slowly build him up as a threat. Meanwhile, guys like Bray Wyatt and Randy Orton have been embroiled in a bitter rivalry that's contained some unique storytelling and psychological warfare. While, yes, there have been elements of this feud that have been hard to watch, it's also contained more than its fair share of compelling moments, such as Harper returning during No Mercy and Randy seemingly aligning with the Wyatts on this past week's episode of Smackdown. No matter what you think of Wyatt's booking up until now, this is an interesting twist that will undoubtedly get fans to invest and tune in. Finally, when you get Heath Slater over as one of the most popular superstars on the brand, you know you're doing something right. The charismatic one-man brand had been a directionless (albeit entertaining) jobber for years, but arguably no one has benefited more from the brand split than Heath, babayyyy! Essentially, while Raw generally treats secondary storylines and midcard performers such as the Club, the Cruiserweight division, Neville, Sami Zayn, and countless others as if they're unimportant, Smackdown gives fans a reason to be invested in many superstars at once, simultaneously making them all feel important. (Side note: they could still do better with some tag teams, as well as a few singles guys, but as a whole, Smackdown is much better than Raw is with regards to this).
Remaking/creating stars—Pre-brand split, it's fair to say that guys like the aforementioned Dolph Ziggler, Miz, Jack Swagger, Baron Corbin, Heath Slater, basically the entire women's division, and many other current Smackdown superstars were floundering on a roster stacked to the brim with talented guys and gals. There just wasn't space for all of them to show off their considerable skillsets. However, as they now find themselves on a much less crowded, two hour-long platform, superstars like the ones mentioned above have a much greater opportunity to form a legitimate connection with the audience. By placing a large majority of these guys in at least somewhat meaningful feuds, WWE provides them with a chance to showcase themselves to fans, which should ultimately be the goal of any wrestling promotion with its performers. Again, despite the fact that there are some exceptions to this rule (especially tag teams—they need to work on that), Smackdown has done a much better job of not only rejuvenating older stars like the Miz and Ziggler, but also establishing ones like Carmella, Bliss, Corbin, and more.
Authority figures are not overbearing—right after the brand split, one of the things that Daniel Bryan made clear was that, on Smackdown, authority figures would not be a major part of the show. For the most part, thankfully, he's been right. While Raw continues to parade Mick Foley and Stephanie out on a weekly basis, generally multiple times per show, Daniel Bryan and Shane O'Mac have generally allowed the superstars to get a majority of TV time, only making appearances themselves when necessary. Frankly, this is how it should be. Fans don't tune in to wrestling to watch authority figures exert their dominance over beloved superstars. They tune in for the wrestlers. WWE has relied far too much on the overbearing authority crutch over the past few years, and while Raw continues to lean on that crutch, giving Foley and McMahon more TV time than a majority of its roster who are performers, Smackdown gives its performers a chance to shine, not allowing larger-than-life bosses to steal the spotlight in the manner that the red brand does.
Much fewer instances of awful segments—Let's look at this from a logical standpoint: if you're WWE, you want to produce as much high-quality television as possible, with the lowest amount of low-quality, cringy television possible. Therefore, you'd want to avoid purely awful, unimportant, cringy segments as much as possible, right? Somehow, the booking team behind Monday Night Raw apparently fails to understand this, regularly providing fans with some of the worst pieces of television on the show in years. For example: the Old Day *shudders*. That sort of stuff is what sometimes makes me legitimately ashamed to be a wrestling fan, and it has absolutely NO place on WWE programming. For a company that tries so hard to prove that it's not out of touch, horrific segments like this seem to suggest otherwise. While Raw has consistently been producing moments like that week in, week out (Bayley vs Dana two weeks in a row, the Club for a solid month straight, etc.), Smackdown has avoided such cringefests, stead focusing on producing quality television that both WWE and fans of the business as a whole can be proud of.
Mauro—with all due respect too Corey Graves, Mauro Ranallo is easily the best commentator on WWE TV right now. The man's just untouchable. Armed with a seemingly never-ending arsenal of relevant pop culture references, legitimate wrestling knowledge, and a litany of awesome catchphrases, Mauro is the epitome of what a commentator is supposed to be: an element that enhances the product. While other commentators are often guilty of taking too many irrelevant sidebars, and often making themselves the focus of the broadcast more than the wrestlers, which is the opposite of what should be done, Mauro generally does a good job avoiding this, instead helping the audience to focus on the talented performers in the ring, something that a large majority of WWE's other, more experienced commentators could learn a thing or two from. While Kevin Dunn is undoubtedly in the ear of all the commentators, often acting as the driving force behind some of the worse elements of commentary, Mauro does an excellent job of covering what he needs to cover, all the while enhancing the product and lending a genuine enthusiasm that the product truly needs.
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