Can we discuss the disparity between Raw and Smackdown now?

[Dave]

Well, can we?

I have to preface this post by saying that I have been really enjoying some aspects of Smackdown recently. I don't consider myself to be a huge AJ Styles fan but I am willing to tell you that I have been really picking up what he has been throwing down recently. Beating John Cena has been the makings of AJ Styles and he has been a very good aspect of what is going on during Tuesday nights. That said, there is a huge disparity between Raw and Smackdown in terms of talents and in terms of belief from the WWE. In this post, I want to try and illustrate this as best as possible and get some discussion going as to how best to address this imbalance.

First of all, I want to give you a complete rundown of all of the talents on each show.

Spoiler

Raw:

Male Superstars:

Big Cass
Big E
Big Show
Bo Dallas
Braun Strowman
Brock Lesnar
Cesaro
Chris Jericho
Curtis Axel
Darren Young
Enzo Amore
Epico
Finn Balor
Goldust
Jinder Mahal
Karl Anderson
Kevin Owens
Luke Gallows
Mark Henry
Neville
Primo
R-Truth
Roman Reigns
Rusev
Sami Zayn
Seth Rollins
Sheamus
Sin Cara
Titus O'Neil
Triple H
Xavier Woods

Akira Tozawa
Brian Kendrick
Cedric Alexander
Gran Metalik
Jack Gallagher
Johnny Gargano
Noam Dar
Rich Swann
TJ Perkins
Tomasso Ciampa

Women's Superstar's:

Alicia Fox
Bayley
Charlotte
Dana Brooke
Lana
Nia Jax
Paige
Sasha Banks
Summer Rae


Smackdown:

Male Superstars:

Aiden English
AJ Styles
Apollo Crews
Baron Corbin
Bray Wyatt
Chad Gable
Curt Hawkins
Dean Ambrose
Dolph Ziggler
Erick Rowan
Fandango
Heath Slater
Jack Swagger
Jason Jordan
Jey Uso
Jimmy Uso
John Cena
Kalisto
Kane
Konnor
The Miz
Mojo Rawley
Randy Orton
Rhyno
Simon Gotch
Tyler Breeze
Viktor
Zack Ryder

Women's Superstars:

Alexa Bliss
Becky Lynch
Carmella
Eva Marie
Naomi
Natalya
Nikki Bella​

If my count is correct, Raw has 51 active superstars: be it men, women or cruiserweight superstars. Smackdown, on the other hand has 36 men and women that fill their respective roster. Which brings me to my first point. Having watched Raw last night, I couldn't help but notice that a lot of the wrestkers listed didn't even get any screen time whatsoever. People like The Big Show, Goldust, R-Truth, Darren Young and Jinder Mahal went completely unused and talents like Sami Zayn only got to interrupt the end of Jericho's promo. Conversely, I totally believe that most of the superstars on Smackdown will have something to do tonight. Because the fact remains that Raw has too many superstars to fill a 3 hour Raw and Smackdown doesn't quite have enough to fill a 2 hour show.

The sad fact about all of the Brand Extension stuff, is that the WWE wanted us all to believe that things were going to be equal. But I think we knew from the moment that Raw got 3 draft picks and Smackdown got 2 that wasn't really the case. The other thing that didn't get much attention was that Raw always got to go first. So they were taking, not only, more talent but also bigger name talents. The biggest example of this I can give is back at Backlash. The show ended about 45 minutes before the usual mark because there was absolutely nothing the WWE could do to fill the time. Smackdown just does not have the talent to cover such a time frame and have already reached out for more talent to address this (Read: Jack Swagger). When you compare the card that Backlash had to the projected card for Clash of Champions, there is absolutely no doubt about which show has more big name talent.

So, my questions is this: We all knew that Smackdown would get the raw deal when it came to the draft (no pun intended) but why does it have to be so apparent? Raw also got the Cruiserweight division added to their ranks on Monday night and, in that, have a whole new pool of talent to dip into to fill their three hours of air time. So if they want to give the Cruiserweights some more time on Raw, it surely frees up some time for some of the talent already on Raw to go to Smackdown and make it look as if the WWE actually care about the blue brand a little.

Like I said, I think Smackdown has been doing fine with 2 hour slots on TV but it is when it comes to stretching to a 3 hour PPV that it becomes very apparent that Raw will forever be the favoured show. I'm not asking for a huge overhaul of the shows, I just want to ask the question, what can be done to address the imbalance?

 

[Papa Pillman]

I agree with you that Raw clearly has a far stronger and deeper overall roster in every division. And SmackDown Live really doesn't have a deep enough roster to do their own solo PPVs every 4-6 weeks.

With that said, SDLive has been the brand which has clearly had the stronger booking and more focused direction between the two shows, and has managed to produce a comparable(or arguably even superior) TV product despite the much more shallow roster.

 

[Aeon Mathix]

I enjoy Smackdown a lot more than Raw, as I started watching back in 2003 when Smackdown was THE show with guys like Lesnar, Angle, Edge, Mysterio, Guerrero, Benoit etc. I've always had a sweet spot for the Blue show.

When I first read early reports of draft picks I was somewhat excited as Smackdown was getting Styles and Cena while Raw was getting Reigns and Rollins. Ok, great moves so far. But then the draft hit and it was clearly lopsided. The main guys on each show are fine with me with it being a pretty good main event scene on both shows.

The problem lies within the midcard. I have cannot fathom why guys like Cesaro and Zayn were not drafted to Smackdown where they could thrive but instead get thrown on Raw to fill slots but are being underutilized. There is all this concern with guys like Cesaro not being able to carry the show as a World champion due to mic skills, lack of connection whatever reason has been given over the years, but what harm would it have done to give guys like him to go to the show you are not pushing as the flagship to give him a go as a world champion? That's what was cool about the brand split back in the day. Guys like Swagger and whoever got a chance to shine while the other show had the bigger star and title. If it failed oh well, if it succeeded great lets move the guy to the more prominent show when the time comes.

The cruiserweight division on Raw was good in the theory that they have 3 hours but the problem that has plagued this since it's inception is that WWE really doesn't know what to do for 3 hours minus the opening and ending which even then is rather hit and miss most of the time. It wasn't the best execution of the division this past Monday because it didn't feel like it made an impact, it felt like one of Raw's biggest problems with that being that they were just filling in time. There is plenty more to do than have Sheamus vs Cesaro every week or Titus vs Young and all of that crap, but Raw simply doesn't know what that is. Have longer matches, have character development stop just throwing these guys out there for a couple minutes with no rhyme or reason.

That's what smackdown has been excelling at. It may be the weaker show in terms of names, but look what they have been doing with these names they have been given. They only get 2 hours but they are making the most of it (better than Raw anyway).

What needs to happen is guys like Cesaro, Zayn, even Big Show need to get to Smackdown and help flesh out the show and actually have something to do so thing's aren't repetitive and they aren't just there filling a slot. It's wrestling basic 101.

 

[Deoxyribonucleic A.C.I.D.]

RAW has another problem, though. They might have the deepest roster, but half of them are jobbers, has-beens or unproven talents. And their main event scene consists of people who are basically upper-midcarders. Meaning that they are not people who are draws, who will sell out arenas.. yet.

There was a thread once, asking if the booking makes the draw or the superstar.
I said that the booking creates the superstar and then the superstar creates the draw. Smackdown, has both the superstarts and the stories. That's why it's such a compeling story.

RAW, has neither and what RAW needs right now is a big shift in creative, because the guys they have, they won't just turn into megastars because you put them at the top of the card. No. They need booking and stories. I think it's still fresh, because you know, RAW also has the new world title and it's not that easy to take a new world title for granted because they said so.

RAW is like a completely new, rebooted company, but they need something to pull the fans. They need a major shake up. Smackdown has me intrigued in every aspect of the show. Because SD brings both wrestling and drama.
RAW, brings only wrestling and only wrestling is not enough. It needs stories and depth. It's like the talents are carrying RAW to their backs while the creative just throws a random story out there.

Also, why does Mick and Stephanie have to be together like all the time?
When will they realise that Roman is plain boring as a face?
CoC had only two weeks of build-up.
Everyone on RAW seems to have dropped one level down, while everyone on SD got a level up, out of nowhere really. Styles and Ambrose are over. Miz and Ziggler are over. Usos are interesting. Freaking Heath Slater is over.

Owens, Charlotte and Jericho are carrying RAW right now. Even New Day and Enzo & Cass have fallen off. All the momentum the Club had is gone. Rusev looks like a chump. Rollins must be the most asshole babyface ever. Reigns still has that look of mr. cool guy that you want to slap out of his face. RAW needs a reboot, ASAP.

The 3 hours thing is fine, given the depth and the coming of the Cruiserweights. They just need stories.

PS: About the imbalance. It doesn't matter. The roster they have and they will have for the next 3 years have the potential to fill 5 hours of television every week. It's nice for Smackdown to feel like an underdog. But RAW has used its advantage in an attrocious way. There's no advantage any more. SD has beenblowing RAW out of the water. Athough 3 hours is still too much, for my taste at least. It feels like forever and there's not much you can do every damn week, to make the whole 3 hours watchable.

 

[MoRtAnDaD]

SDLive! has the benefit to be a two hours show, thus dont need a bigger roster. But it has the biggest names, except for Lesnar (but doesnt count coz he is part timer).

The 3 biggest names on WWE, are Cena Orton and AJ, we can argue all we want if they are great performers or not, but they are the biggest names for sure.

 

[Psykohurricane55]

Looking at both roster , while raw as the deepest roster between the 2 shows, smackdown as the better main event level guys, the focus they give to the women's division makes me want to watch the women's division more then raw especially since i'm starting to get sick and tired of seeing charlotte as the champion and this feud with sasha banks is getting boring.

The tag team division on smackdown is getting better ever since the uso's turn heel. A.J. styles as proven that he is a main event talent compare to kevin owens who's still feel like an upper mid card guy since winning the universal title.

The fact is smackdown actually got guys that can help elevate the younger midcarders into a main event spot which if you take lesnar out of the equation, raw just doesn't. The other problem with raw is that it's still the same old booking style that they've been doing for years now and nothing change. The cruiserweight division should have been a big deal last night and it got book like it was a filler match just before the main event.
For some reason, they think that just because they brought guys from the CWC that everybody that watch raw knows who they are because everybody watch the CWC on the wwe network which is a mistake because not even half of their audience actually watch the CWC on the network so they have no clue of who these guys are and it showed on tv last night when they crowd didn'T react to anything they did except for a pity ''This is awesome'' chant at some point during the match.

Raw is the show that'S book to look like it always did and the fact that it'S three hours isn'T helping them at all

While Smackdown as been book to help the guys that normally wouldn't get a chance to shine that chance and that'S why smackdown as been constently better then raw every week.

2 week ago when smackdown had their go home show for their backlash ppv, i was excited to see the ppv on sunday.

This week after the go home show before clash of champions, i'm thinking, this will just be another 3 hour edition of raw and i'm not excited to see it. i might be good, but nothing feels like it'S must see tv and it sad when you think of all the talent that they are wasting on raw.

 

[hhhfactor]

In looking at both brands in retrospect, you would think that
1).Smackdown got a really good main event scene with the likes of Bray Wyatt, John Cena, Dean Ambrose, Randy Orton, and AJ Styles, Alberto Del Rio. The problem is Randy Orton was out with an injury causing him to miss the Backlash pay per view and costing Smackdown ratings. Alberto Del Rio left and John Cena is only part time with all of his other side projects. That leaves Dean Ambrose, Bray Wyatt and AJ Styles to truly main event Smackdown and their pay per views. (Rumors of Randy Orton wanting to only wrestle part time) After so many matches back and forth, fans are going to get stale of seeing the same matches day in an day out.

Raw on the other hand has Brock Lesnar, Seth Rollins, Chris Jericho, Roman Reigns, Kevin Owens, potentially Cesaro, Big Show, Rusev, Mark Henry, Sami Zayn, and Sheamus. With Brock Lesnar wrestling part time that still leaves enough depth for Raw to show case matches and feuds that we have never seen more , thus having a decent pay per view like Clash of the Champions.

Overall: Smackdown needs some more main event players or high mid card wrestlers that can show case talents to let high ups know if they could potentially main event.

2). Raw has the roster depth to put on a great show week after week. But unfortunately, recycles the same 15 wrestlers week after week (Sami Zayn, Chris Jericho, Roman Reigns, Seth Rollins, Kevin Owens, Alex Rusev, Darren Young, Titus O' Neil, Charlotte, Bayley, Dana Brooks, Bayley, NEw Day and Gallows and Anderson).

You have a 52 man roster, though even after the draft many talent members are under utilized. When the last time Summer Rae, Jack Swagger, Curtis Axel, Mark Henry, Big Show, Sin Cara, Aaron Neville, Alicia Fox wrestled or even had a feud? You are building up Nia Jaxx, Bo Dallas, and Braun Stroman by having them defeat jobbers week-end and week-out, but when are you going to give them some talent to wrestle?

Smackdown on the other hand, has just about every talent wrestle week-after-week. The problem is that their roster is so shallow that they don't get a chance to really build any one up. For example, Smackdown got Baron Corbin and Apollo Crews up from NXT. Both of these men have tremendous talent and could really be put into some solid feuds. The problem is they win one week, lose the next three weeks, and occasionally pull out a win against each other. There is not enough superstars to truly build them up.

Overall: Smackdown needs some more talent. Maybe taking advantage of the under utilized talents from RAW.

I think the brand split has a great opportunity to develop characters, create storylines, and really allow fans to get behind their superstars. But they need to be more realistic. I am proposing Raw to have only 4 belts: Cruiserweight, Women's, Tagteam titles, and championship. Every week writers need to sit down and figure out not only how to build a program around each belt, but create superstars who are going to be viable opponents. For example: after New Day loses their belts Anderson and Gallows who is going to be the next tag team to step up for a title shot?????

Smackdown on the other hand, needs to increase some of their match lengths. They have the opportunity to put on some great head to head matches. Unfortunately, looking at the two tag team semi final matches (Uso Brothers vs. American Alphas and Hype Bros vs. Rhyno and Slater) were extremely short. Really that was the semi-finals!!!! They also need four belts to focus on...tagteam titles, women's title, World title, and either Intercontinental or U.S title. Get away from every title match being a every available tag team or women wrestle in one match and start building some solid feuds. When the last time Acension or Vaudevillians got some air time to be credible tag teams? Instead, they are used to lose to every tag team constantly.

 

[George Steele's Barber]

I don't get it. SD got John Cena, Randy Orton, Daniel Bryan, the WWE Title, AJ Styles, one of the most over faces in Dean Ambrose, Heath "I have the best storyline in wrestling currently" Slater, one of the most over heels in The Miz, the more tolerable McMahon kid, and Becky Lynch (Ok, the last one was more personal). SD did fine in the draft. I would argue they did better. I would also argue that they have unused talent just like Raw.

Furthermore, who says PPVs should all be three hours long? Fans are getting two a month now. Do fans really have to sit for three hours to enjoy a show? I may argue that some of these PPVs are too damn long and they extend matches and put pointless matches on a card just to fill time.

So I completely disagree with the premise of this thread. Both shows are pretty even on talent. Raw is more of wrestling and promo show and SD seems to be more storyline and personality driven. They are not terribly different but not the same.

 

[Jack-Hammer]

I think most of us felt the same way when the draft came about but I don't think most of us really care all that much now because SmackDown Live has almost always been the better booked, more focused show with better overall storytelling. When it's all said & done, when it comes down to it, I don't think most of us care as long as we're entertained by what we see.

As has been mentioned, Raw is a 3 hour show and that's an additional hour of time to for a weekly television program. Raw would have a much cleaner, more concise show, in my opinion, if it trimmed back down to 2 hours. The 3rd hour of the show almost always draws less than the first 2 hours anyhow, thus bringing down the overall ratings & viewership as a whole. However, seeing as how Raw will be 3 hours for as long as Vince wants it or is in charge, having a larger roster isn't at all surprising considering they have more TV time that has to be used.

When it comes to overall star power, I'm not so sure that Raw has the advantage anymore. I think it has more to do with the lingering perception that most of us have that Raw is the superior show or, at the very least, the show that WWE puts more effort into. Before the WWE Draft, that was most certainly the case and had been since...well really almost since the very beginning as Raw was the first show, the "flagship show" of WWE. The blue brand was always a taped show, fans would read about the spoilers online and, as a result, there simply wasn't as much energy or buzz about SmackDown as Raw. Take tonight, for instance, we saw Dean Ambrose pin John Cena clean in the center of the ring. It's memorable because it happened on SmackDown Live, it's memorable because Cena very rarely loses clean and it's memorable because the blue brand is no longer a taped show but happens live each week just as Raw does.

From an overall perspective, the red & blue brands are on a more level footing than they've probably ever been. Both shows actually, finally, have a different feel to them, a different sort of look and even different booking styles. Raw is usually the show where "bigger stuff" will probably go down and happen first, just as it always has been. As a result, every once in a while, there'll be an episode of Raw that most people, if not damn near everyone, will agree turns out better than the SmackDown Live episode the next night. At the same time, while Raw might be where more "bigger stuff" happens, SmackDown Live is a show that has the more consistent storytelling, booking and overall quality product that will probably make it the better show 7 or 8 times out of 10.

 

[Sean Valjean]

While on paper their rosters are uneven, that's wound up being almost a moot point because while Raw has quantity in superstars, Smackdown has quality in booking/storytelling. Much of that has to do with having less time to screw things up, but Smackdown's angles actually have direction whereas Raw often feels like it's booked on the fly as they show airs.

The lack of talent is Smackdown's biggest weakness. Thankfully, there's an easy solution: just add more superstars. They're doing that now with Hawkins and Swagger debuting. The Crusierweights REALLY should have come to Smackdown, and the only reasoning I can think of to put them on Raw instead is "it's the flagship show". But once Smackdown gets more talent, the two shows will be closer to even - on paper, at least.

 

[Navi]

There might be an in balance in the rosters with the amount of wrestlers, but the big difference here is SD is using what they have and making it work. RAW on the other hand seems to be going the same old, same old, and coming in second each week.

The most glaring example of it happened on this weeks RAW. The highly touted cruiserweight division finally arrived with not much fanfare. Where was the new cruiserweight champion though, nowhere to be seen. Now a lot of casual fans don't watch the network and probably doesn't even know what Perkins looks like, so he will debut at COC and this will be the first time some of them will see him. There should have been a big deal made of it. Perkins should have been there with the belt, the match (which was fine, but went too long) should have happened at the beginning of the show. It was treated like an afterthought, and put on at the beginning of the hour where they lose the most viewers. SD would have done it differently, especially with Bryan running it there. He thought the cruiserweight classic was a big deal when it happened, and would have made sure that their debut was treated as such.

RAW even though they are the flagship has relied on a formula with has cost them viewers and ratings this year. Half of the roster isn't used at all. We have a boring best of 7 series Cesaro and Sheamus two of the better wrestlers on the roster, problem is there is no chemistry at all between them. Both either be in other feuds or trade one of them to SD. New Day has lost a bit of their edge, Gallows and Anderson have had their legs cut out from under them and the women's division is all about Charlotte, Sasha and Bailey. Now those three women are three of the best, but even they can become tiring over the long haul. Oh and not to mention wrestlers like Sami Zayn are just sitting there twiddling their thumbs.

RAW's main event scene is also kind of atrocious. Owens was a fine pick as champion but who is he feuding with, a somewhat babyface I think Seth Rollins and Roman Reigns. And can anyone explain why Roman Reigns beat Owens this week while he's supposed to be feuding with Rusev for the US title? They have to keep the Shield members apart, they've been feuding with each other for the last two year's, thank God Ambrose got away from it and is doing fine, thank you very much. I know Balor's injury threw them into a tailspin, but shit if all they have left is the Shield feuding with Owens, how long can that last.

SD's main event scene is much better with Styles as the top dog and in a feud with Cena and Ambrose. Much more entertaining, and if it doesn't work, they have Orton and Wyatt to fall back on to throw into the mix. RAW doesn't have the star power at the top that SD has.

So the rosters might look uneven on paper, but as I said SD is making it work basing the show on the wrestlers and the story lines. RAW is making it all about Stephanie/Foley/Rollins/Reigns and kind of ignoring everyone else. That's why SD is the better show to watch and why RAW's is doing it's worst numbers in over two decades.

 

[King Patrick Star]

Here are some options to make Raw and Smackdown “equal”.

Take away the 3rd hour of Raw. Either take away the 8 PM to 9 PM slot or the 10 PM to 11 PM slot. Well they won’t do this because of the money they make in ads.

Add a 3rd hour to Smackdown. They could do this and make more money in ads. This would also force the WWE to move some Raw SuperStars to Smackdown.

Add another Championship Title Belt to Smackdown to counter the Cruiserweight Championship Title. I’m not saying give Smackdown the Light Heavyweight Championship Title, but it can’t hurt. However, I will say do not bring back the European Championship Title Belt or the Hardcore Championship Title Belt. Then again, a new version of the Hardcore Championship Title Belt, using a destroyed and defaced Spinner Belt would look pretty damn cool, especially if Cena were to be the new Champion.

After all this time of watching WWE TV (since 1989 to be more specific), and seeing how the WWE does 50% of what I like and 50% of what I don’t like, I’ve come to terms with not getting everything I want. Suggestions can only go so far. If I see something I would change, I just implement my changes in WWE video games.

 

[LSN80]

I looked at the time this thread was posted because I wasn't sure if it was before or after Smackdown from last night, because Smackdown put on another excellent show last night after Raw was quite mediocre.

Backlash was an excellent show, and WWE has followed up on that with two very good episodes of Smackdown live. Backlash went off the air at 10:40, which is early, but not alarmingly so. And they were able to pull off a very good show with the Usos wrestling twice, one of the main events being changed, and no John Cena. That's a nice accomplishment, if you ask me. Smackdown doesn't need as much talent as Raw, because it's only a two hour show to Raw's three. That being said, they certainly have the better of the top level talent in AJ Styles, Randy Orton, Dean Ambrose, the Miz, Bray Wyatt and a part time John Cena. Are they top-heavy? Sure. But it's a much stronger lineup at the top then what Raw puts forth.

The area Smackdown is going to have to be careful with is in giving away all of its big matchups now and saving none for later. It's a delicate balance to be found between taking their time with a nice long feud, and oversaturating fans with stale matchups(see John Cena vs. Randy Orton). Because Smackdown has far less depth, we could see matchups such as Miz vs. Ziggler become monotonous in time. Depth is definitely a concern as there aren't many credible challengers for Miz on Smackdown, so a feud such as this one could last beyond its shelf life. At this time, the matchups they're putting out there feel fresh. Orton vs. Wyatt, Cena vs. Ambrose vs. Styles and Miz vs. Bryan(and his surrogate)are all strong feuds that have me excited for their payoffs.

So for now, I'm enjoying what I'm seeing from Smackdown. Last night was one of the best 2 hours of wrestling I've sat through in some time, and it doesn't surprise me it was Smackdown that produced it. Whether it lasts remains to be seen but for right now, I look forward to Smackdown far more then I do Raw.

 

[Isaac Kaye]

The area Smackdown is going to have to be careful with is in giving away all of its big matchups now and saving none for later. It's a delicate balance to be found between taking their time with a nice long feud, and oversaturating fans with stale matchups(see John Cena vs. Randy Orton). Because Smackdown has far less depth, we could see matchups such as Miz vs. Ziggler become monotonous in time. Depth is definitely a concern as there aren't many credible challengers for Miz on Smackdown, so a feud such as this one could last beyond its shelf life. At this time, the matchups they're putting out there feel fresh. Orton vs. Wyatt, Cena vs. Ambrose vs. Styles and Miz vs. Bryan(and his surrogate)are all strong feuds that have me excited for their payoffs.

They're getting close to this already. With only 6 women drafted we've had a 6 pack challenge, number one contender match and then a tag match which they've dragged out for another week with what was pretty much a non-finish. That leaves Natalya and Naomi as the only two left with no storyline - so do they feud by default? You're right, they need to stretch out feuds for as long as possible if they're gonna run with such a shallow roster. If they chuck people in the ring every week, sooner or later the storylines are gonna lose steam. Orton Wyatt has plenty of mileage in it yet because they've not been in together yet.

But it's a fine line. If you have too many guys, then some will get lost in the shuffle. 2 hours is the correct amount of time. What worries me is that there seems to be this obsession with having top guys wrestle every week. They should at least protect them a little if they're gonna run PPV's every 4-6 weeks.

You can't escape the reality that RAW has a stronger and deeper roster - but that doesn't mean SD doesn't have top guys too. And they are the superior show at present due to the quality of the booking and story lines. That said, they could do with a couple more guys to bolster the midcard, and if Paige is coming back, she needs to go there too.

 

[ShinChan]

Disparity in rosters was quite clear at the time of draft.

Raw is still being advertised as "Flagship Show" clears all doubts of equality. The thing is that Smackdown has more quality as compared to Raw. Quantity is surely less and so is time period.

At Raw, we get filler segments like three wrestlers are engaged in squash matches now.

So yeah they were unequal and still are but Raw was supposed to lead while in reality, It's Smackdown which is leading, at least for me.

 

[ztwhite]

Not sure if it's really a roster issue, as much as a creativity issue. Simply put, Smackdown has a better lead writer in Ryan Ward (who I know personally, having worked with him in Cleveland several years back) and Triple H seems to be the main brain behind the machine. Keep in mind, Ward was also the lead writer on NXT before being promoted to Smackdown over the summer, and many of us would argue that NXT was the best WWE product for a long period of time.

It's also hard to look past John Cena's willingness to 'job' to A.J. Styles or Dean Ambrose in recent weeks. He knows he's a part-timer now, and he's doing what he can to help push full-time guys to the top. It's being reflected on TV.

Talking Smack has also added an element that I'm not sure anyone in the company expected. The Miz and Daniel Bryan stuff has been gold... and it all started on the Network with a viral video that followed. And yes, The Miz is THE BEST heel in the company, right now, although I could make a strong argument for Kevin Owens and/or Chris Jericho.

On a personal note, I CAN NOT wait until Dolph Ziggler turns heel and becomes a bad ass.

Heath Slater and Rhyno stuff -- funny -- really funny, IMO. Having the Uso's turn heel has saved the tag team division on the blue brand. Even tough it's puzzling why American Alpha is not used in a greater, and stronger, capacity.

Raw is what it is... and likely always will be. It's not a wrestling shows as much as it's an entertainment show, or tries to be. It's always going to be the flagship and a casual wrestling fan is much more likely to tune in on Monday night instead of Tuesday night. The creative team is charged with coming up with entertainment segments, while wrestling often times takes a back seat. Cesaro said as much in his 'shoot' promo following the draft. Personally, I think the choice of GM for Raw also reflects that attitude. Mick Foley has a much better ability to entertain -- or at least try -- than Daniel Bryan.

This past Monday really left me scratching my head when it came to the Cruiserweight Division. First, T.J. Perkins was not on the show and he's the champion. Your first night out of the gate and you feature four guys who lost the tournament. While I personally enjoyed the match, not having the champion on the show when the division debuted was head scratching. Then, there's a report floating around that they're trying to tame down the performance in the ring, with less flips and rope work. WHY? Did anyone running creative for Raw watch the CWC? There were easily a half dozen match of the year candidates in the tournament. It was some of the best in-ring action the WWE has ever had, IMO, and I've been watching wrestling for nearly three decades.

But, and it's a big BUT, everything comes full circle. It's only a matter of time until the tide turns and Raw becomes the best show to watch and Smackdown reverts back to fast forward material on the DVR.