SD Live Is Way Better than RAW

[Pay Per Ghost]

I am invested in Carmella/Elsworth and Naomi/Lana to begin the show. The USOs and New Day intrigue me (that rap-off was bit of a hit and a miss).

The way AJ is burning, HE should be facing Brock at Mania and going over..

His tussle with KO has me hooked and is there any one better than Owens on the mic? Cena is Cena, in the peak of his career, work and stature wise. Good to have Rusev back and I guess creative should take the good from the Jinder build and rub it here.

Speaking of Jinder, my word... I believe his legitimacy, he has the old school foreign heel presence and it's a plus that he's built like a Praying Mantis On Roids.
Him and Orton are having a fantastic program so far. It's so good that it made Aiden English look like a million bucks, who in all fairness is giving this silly gimmick a good go. Orton keeping that insane table spot is exciting and dangerous and while Shinsuke, Dolph are finding their place, someone like Corbin has stepped up.

Breezango is the tits.

I can't stop fawning over how f'ing good SD Live has become mainly because the people there are just segmenting the shows perfectly. It's the flow that drives home a good storyline and SD Live is fuckin' A at it.






RAW has the Brock angle. That's it.

 

[Navi]

I too think Smackdown Live is a better show overall but for different reasons. First of all they give people a chance to either shine or crash and burn. Jinder Mahal has taken the belt and as the OP stated come off looking like an old school heel. Orton is doing some of his best promo's right now and is working well with Mahal. For a guy who's known for phoning it in, Orton has stepped it up a notch.

The Styles/Owens feud should give us some barn burner matches not to mention promo's as Owens is one of the best on the mic. I also like the fact that it looks like Nakamura and Corbin will be locking horns sooner rather than later. Nakamura is someone who can go with anyone there and will probably hand Corbin his ass in a sling. Again some good matches to watch out for.

Breezedango has some of the best stuff going right now. Tyler Breeze in a dress is a scream and Fandango is absolutely hilarious. The have hit stride with the Fashion Police, now just let them win a few matches, okay.

Can't wait to see the blow off match if they let it happen between Becky Lynch and Ellsworthless. That should be one of the best things they could give us. I think she wants to knock his block off, so let her do it.

The only misses are the tag division isn't getting much attention. With teams like American Alpha waiting in the wings, they should be featured much more than they are. Also what has happened to Luke Harper, he's disappeared off the face of the map. The guy is great and a credible challenger to Owens for the US Title. Or let him feud with the returning Rusev.

The Naomi/Lana feud is really doing nothing for me as well. Naomi is much better than just handing her someone who has a grand total of three matches in the ring. Her championship run has been a shambles of sorts, I can see her losing the title in a short time as they are doing nothing with it. More emphasis is being placed on the other women than the champion. Kind of feel sorry for her in a way.

Overall though I don't find SD Live a chore to sit through like I do RAW. Maybe it's because it's only two hours and it seems to fly by, or might be the storylines are actually making sense. Cena coming back to mix things up can only be a bonus. But yea the OP is right, RAW has Lesnar and that's about it. Their main event scene is stagnant.

 

[Jack-Hammer]

Well....yeah. I mean...I think it's fair to say that most people have had the opinion that SmackDown Live is the overall better show almost from the moment the brand split took place.

I think Raw is better in 2017 than it was in 2016 and I do enjoy a good deal of what's happening. I like Miz vs. Ambrose, I like the Hardy Boyz vs. Sheamus & Cesaro, I like Reigns vs. Strowman, Raw's Women's Division is getting back on track, Samoa Joe has done an excellent job of making me want to see him face Brock Lesnar, Balor & Rollins seem to be waiting in the wings for something significant.

However, for me, just about everything about the blue brand just has a fresher feel to it and simply doesn't seem as restricted as Raw is. Maybe because Vince doesn't see SD Live as much of a priority as Raw, he allows creative to have more freedom? I'm not saying that's the case, but it seems like it. I also like that angles and storylines seem to have more time to be fleshed out, they don't just scrap it if it doesn't get the reaction they're hoping for right away and that's what has to happen sometimes. Even though the blue brand doesn't have as much time as Raw, SmackDown has been consistently better at making the most of the time it does have and with talent on the roster. The storytelling and booking has been far more consistent than Raw, the brand specific ppvs for SD are almost always better. Raw is generally viewed as the show where more "big things" happen while SmackDown Live is basically the better put together show from top to bottom.

Jinder is coming along and while it might not be everyone's cup of tea, I think he's doing a good job. Corbin being Mr. MITB was the right call as he's been. Sami Zayn, even though he comes up short quite a bit, is a heavy fan favorite who keeps building credibility win or lose, Owens & Styles are shining, Nakamura is already embraced as a heavy fan favorite, Chad Gable impressed a lot of people with his match against Styles, Breezango are legitimately funny, New Day & Usos are both really good in their spots, Carmella has really blossomed as a character the past few weeks and the Women's Division as a whole on SmackDown has a good deal of stuff going on, Ellsworth is fun to dislike, even the Hype Bros have grown on me somewhat. Probably my two significant complaints about SmackDown Live at this point is that they could do more with American Alpha and I'm of the opinion they should put Harper and Rowan back together as a team.

But yeah, since going live and since the brand split, SmackDown has really turned into an overall really together 2 hour wrestling program.

 

[Kodo Sawaki]

Better then RAW at the moment yes. But refuse to believe that show that has Ginger Indian and Big Booty(who defends her belt on live TV in "so 5 years ago" "piss break" match) as two main Champions could be that good. Add that Carmella of all people is next in line for Championship reign, Cena is doing reruns of 2 years ago matches and people like Charlotte or even Nakamura are kind of lost in translation right now and you can see they are really not that far behind RAW in horrible stuff.

 

[Richard Blonoff]

Smackdown has been more willing to try different things. I'm not just saying this because Jinder is champ. Look at the current storylines going on.

Jinder vs Orton hasn't been that great, but they are blowing it off in a gimmick match that is an actual gimmick match instead of just a gimmick PPV.

Owens vs Styles is a battle between two of the best in ring performers going today.

Usos vs New Day is switching it up with different segments. Also in the tag division, Breezango is killing it in segments and hopefully the trashed office storyline goes somewhere.

I have zero interest in anything related to Naoimi, but the rest of the division has been featured and booked mostly as equals.

Corbin is beating guys up and hold MITB and looks to be headed to face Shin.

lets not forgot Cena is coming back to kill Rusev again. This one isn't great, but it's just a token USA vs evil foreigner feud to get Cena reserablished....not that he needs it.

Oh and Maria and Mike Bennet keep making out.

Raw's title feud has been far and away better than Smackdown. Joe is looking like a legit killer and has been booked stronger than just about anyone going against Brock. After that, it's not great.

Roman is getting the shit kicked out of him by Braun, who is getting a face reaction based on the fact that he is getting the upper hand over Roman. It's fun, but the reactions should be the exact opposite.

Then you have a nostalgia tag team in a drawn out feud between charismatic black holes.

Miz and Dean fighting over the IC title for what seems like the last year, only this time with half of the Social Outcasts involved.

Alexa and Sasha being pushed at the expense of every other female not named Nia.

Oh and sometimes Neville shows up and screams at Titus.

I mean jut compare the two and top to bottom Smackdown is better. Yes, Raw has the better world title feud by far, but that only goes so far in a three hour show.

 

[The Samoan Heritage]

I wouldn't say Smackdown is the better show. In the last few weeks or so, I would have to give the edge to Raw.

SD is a mess currently.
-No one cares about their world title feud or the competitors involved.
-They have talent like Tye, Harper, Rowan, and American Alpha not doing anything and going weeks without ever being seen.
-They booked their women's champion to be an afterthought.
-Owens title reign has been pretty lackluster and because of the focus on the MITB match, the KO/AJ feud lost some steam.

Raw I have to honestly say, I like it. Could be better, but it's descent.
-Goldust and Truth's feud hasn't been too overexposed and feels pretty old school.
-I am loving the Titus Worldwide. It has given two guys with zero character something to work with.
-Strowman and Reigns is good
-Joe and Lesnar have been great! (though I fear the obvious results)
-I don't see Cass as a believable heel, but Enzo really got me invested in this feud.
-Miz is on his A game and I am usually entertained...until Ambrose comes out.
-I like the sorta-intertwined feuds of Hardys/Balor and Sheamus/Cesaro & Sampson.
With that said, Raw is failing miserably with Bray vs Rollins, as well as the Women's title picture. AND THE REVIVAL NEED OPPONENTS.

My opinion will more than likely change after Sunday's ppv, but I've enjoyed Raw, for the most part, more than SD.

 

[OYDK]

Sometimes I think Smackdown gets overrated by us internet folk, especially since, in my opinion, it really hasn't been that much better than Raw over the past few months. The problem with Raw is mainly lazy ass writing. It feels like The Hardys/Shecaro and Ambrose/Miz have been fighting over their respective titles for 10 years at this point. You're telling me that there's NO other tag team or midcarder that can benefit from being in a title feud? There's only so many times you can see a program without anything changing (except title changes) until it becomes a chore to sit through. That's WWE's MO though. Instead of really fleshing out a 4-5 month feud, you get two matches, a title change on the third and than a fourth because rematch clause with nothing else changing. Balor is battling Samson for pretty much no reason and the Wyatt/Rollins feud makes absolutely no sense because they haven't took the time to give us any reason at all for why they all of the sudden hate each other.

Raw had Bayley... friggin Bayley and they've managed to make her damn near irrelevant. As Yaz alluded to, the Raw team can never seem to make more than 2 or 3 teams/women matter at one time which is damn annoying. Strowman/Reigns and Brock/Joe are pretty much the only things that I can say actually interest me on Raw right now.

But Smackdown has its own problems as well, at least for me. I don't like Jnder Mahal or Naomi. I've found the Orton/Mahal feud to be incredibly boring and everytime Naomi is on my TV, the only reason I get excited is because I know I can make myself giggle by making fun of her. Tag Team scene is non-existent but New Day did thankfully give it a shot in the ass when they returned. Corbin is the definition of meh and he's likely to be the new WWE Champion sooner rather than later. That being said, Smackdown does do some things much better than Raw. They've made almost every woman in their division feel like a big deal, they were smart enough to give us Owens/Styles which is guaranteed good television, and the show in and of itself is structured so that it flows much more smoothly than its counterpart. Plus, I can enjoy Smackdown when I watch it live. I literally have to tape Raw nowadays just so I can fast forward through half of the show.

So in conclusion to this long-winded essay-like rant/post, Smackdown is better than Raw, but not as much as some make it out to be.

 

[Dagger Dias]

Smackdown for nearly the entire first year of the new brand split, other than VERY brief moments when Raw had better stuff, has been the better brand. Raw has had its ups and its downs while Smackdown has been far more consistent. They found a formula that for the most part works pretty well. Raw has focused more on the "entertainment" side of things with more "big moments" happening on the red brand. Smackdown has focused more on the in-ring action and given opportunities we would never have seen otherwise without this new brand split. Smackdown's gone down in quality a bit lately, so that does need to be mentioned. I wasn't a fan of Jinder becoming a World Champion and hope he loses the title soon whether it be to Cena in a record breaking 17th time or through a Corbin cash-in, or even to Orton in the Punjabi Prison match. Naomi VS Lana is one of the worst Women's Championship feuds in recent memory. When disregarding these things, the blue brand has continued to be the superior brand.

Raw has had a lot of idiotic booking. Lesnar as Universal Champion for longer than one PPV cycle was a horrible idea. It was awful when he was World Heavyweight Champion a couple of years ago so I cannot fathom why they would do it again, especially when the fans have made it VERY clear that the majority do NOT want Roman Reigns as the top guy let alone the guy who will "save" them from Lesnar. The Raw Tag Team division has been boring other than the nostalgia from the return of the Hardys. Don't EVEN get me started on the Cruiserweights. The Raw Women's division has been excellent between the history Charlotte and Sasha made, as well as now with Alexa Bliss being at the top of the division. Although even the women have been through terrible booking decisions such as how they ended Charlotte's PPV Streak and how Bayley has been booked....

In short.... Smackdown is fun enough to still watch without skipping much other than the commercials despite it having some odd booking recently, yet most of the content on Raw is a chore to watch unless I DVR it to watch later so I can fast forward past all the stupid stuff.

 

[Cena Is A Punk Rocker]

It ultimately boils down to the fact that Smackdown at two hours is much easier to take in as a fan. A three hour Raw every week feels like a chore. There is too much filler for my liking where as Smackdown gets pretty much to the point every week.

 

[ShinChan]

Smackdown used to be good. I would say that before Wrestlemania, it was pretty good since brand split. Now, I'm doubtful.

Main event scene at Smackdown is meh. Totally uninterested.

Main event scene at Raw is actually somewhat intriguing now. Thanks for the great booking Samoa Joe received.

Women Division, Raw easily wins. Smackdown's champion doesn't make me feel anything. Just meh like WWE Champion. On the other hand, Bliss, Jax and Banks are actually interesting.

Tag Team scene. Breezango is fun. Usos Vs. New Day is good. Cesaro/Sheamus are good and having a good feud with Hardys. However, the booking has been somewhat lazy.

Midcard is pretty same as well.


Multiple intriguing storylines on Raw. 2-3 on Smackdown. So, Raw is better.

 

[Deoxyribonucleic A.C.I.D.]

Well.... The future is on RAW. The real future of the WWE. Rollins, Reigns, Ambrose, Cass, Wyatt, Balor, Strowman. Those are the players that Vince is looking to build his product around.

SD's future? Just Owens and Corbin. Maybe Zayn and Nakamura, too, but I don't see Zayn ever becoming a long term main eventer and Nak is 36 to 37. Styles is pushing 40. He's not someone you can invest into. He's here for the present.

If we're talking about long term wrestlers that will carry the WWE brand, RAW has them all.

But yeah, SD is better. And it buffles me. Since RAW has the future, shouldn't RAW produce better storylines?