4 reasons why SmackDown Live is faring better than Raw
At Survivor Series 2018, in a battle of supremacy between the two brands of the WWE, Monday Night Raw and Smackdown Live, we expected a close contest between the two. What we were offered was a total annihilation of the blue brand with a 6-0 rout (6-1, if we count the 10-on-10 Traditional Survivor Series Elimination Match in the mix). The blue brand was absolutely decimated and buried on that night at the Staples Center in Los Angeles.
The reality is, however, different from what the WWE wants to show its fans. We are witnessing a scenario wherein for a number of weeks in succession, Smackdown Live has been miles ahead of Raw, the flagship show of the WWE in terms of the wrestling and the storylines. Let us look at the reasons as to why Smackdown Live has been trouncing the weekly episodic game in a convincing fashion, while Raw fails to keep the audiences engaged.
1. Treatment of the tag team division
The quality of writing has been the biggest point of difference between the two brands. This is truly signified by the treatment of the tag team division. On Smackdown Live, we have a real battle of supremacy between three of the best tag teams in the world right now: The New Day, The Bar and The Usos.
Each team is capable and viable to win against the other two, which shows in their bookings as well on a weekly basis. The biggest question is which team is the best and the most important tool is wrestling. Nothing more and nothing less.
On Raw side of things, the writers are resorting to toilet humour. Authors of Pain (AOP) were a dominant force back in the NXT, who rarely needed any external shenanigans to gain an advantage over their opponents. What seemed like a one-off incident wherein their manager Drake Maverick (also the General Manager of 205 Live) pissed in his pants during the match at Survivor Series, which distracted the AOP's opponents and led them to victory, has now become a regular fixture of Drake Maverick's character.
In a terrible display of wrestling writing, on the 3rd November episode of Raw, Maverick pissed on Bobby Roode's robes to distract the team of Roode and Chad Gable and helped AOP win in a cheap fashion.