Why Smackdown LIVE Continues To be the Better Show

In the summer of two thousand and sixteen, we saw the return of the WWE brand extension. With new general managers and commissioners, it was time for the roster to once again be split in half and for RAW and Smackdown to go head to heaD. While Stephanie McMahon and Mick Foley took over Monday night RAW it was brother, Shane McMahon and former WWE Champion Daniel Bryan who took control of the now Smackdown LIVE. In July we also saw the return of the WWE draft, something that I personally have always been a fan of. It's  a fun and slightly unpredictable night that marks the beginning of a new era. There was definitely a "new era" feel on the night. There was a buzz and level of excitement that only the draft can generate and I mentioned last year that this was one of the highlights of the wrestling year. However, I also mentioned that I was very disappointed with how the Smackdown LIVE Roster was shaping up. While we had big names such as Randy Orton, Dean Ambrose, AJ Styles, Bray Wyatt, and of course John Cena the roster was weak and I feared that Smackdown LIVE would rely strongly on keeping a solid show consistently going week in and week out. Over on RAW we had some pretty big names and plenty of up and comers who while may not have been established as big big roster names or had a championship run they were destined for amazing things and it was only a matter of time before they were pushed to the top.These stars include the likes of Finn Balor, Kevin Owens, and Sami Zayn. When you keep mind the roster also consisted of Roman Reigns, Seth Rollins, and Chris Jericho they were shaping up to have a strong set of talents. We also had stronger tag teams over on Monday Night RAW, both Sasha Banks and Charlotte along with Paige and Nia Jax all making a very strong women's division and not to mention the RAW roster was always going to have twice as many superstars than Smackdown LIVE. However, as we sit here almost eight months in and we're in a situation I never could have predicted we would be in as the blue brand have provided from day one a much stronger weekly product and have week in and week out been highlighted by fans as the A show. In today's blog post we are going to be taking a closer looking into why Smackdown LIVE has become the better show and why I believe it will remain that way in two thousand and seventeen. This is a post I'm super excited to write and upload and I cannot wait to see what you guys think and if you agree. As always any recent blog post will be linked bellow and of course, you can let me know which show you prefer and why by leaving a comment bellow or by tweeting me over at @TezangiVictoria.

Less Is More

I think we can all agree that one of the biggest differences in why these shows are so different is the amount of time both shows run for. The extra hour on Monday Night RAW is one heck of a drag and is one of the main reasons the show overall is suffering. You would think that with the bigger roster, more tag teams, more women, and of course the cruiserweight division they would be able to fill those three hours with strong, entertaining, and gripping weekly content but they just don't. They have the talent and they have time they just don't use either properly. The WWE could very easily make Monday night RAW the show it needs to be and keep everyone entertained. Unlike Smackdown LIVE they have more time to show more from the women's division and of course have an entire cruiserweight division to use but they have failed with both since the brand split. The cruiserweight division is something we nee to talk about on is own but if they could provide those guys with more time on RAW we will see stronger matches and all round better stories being told but they don't use the time well what so ever. Instead, we are stuck with throw away matches that are completely meaningless, time-wasting and the fans have zero interest in. This isn't something Smackdown LIVE have to worry about. Every single week the show provides us with new, fun, exciting and entertaining content. I genuinely look forward to every single Smackdown LIVE show because I know I'm going to get something different. We're seeing here what we saw contribute to why NXT has been such a success. The fact they are working on just two hours mean we just are not getting the same thing every week. We have different superstars in the spotlight every week and the shows feel unique all the time. It's refreshing knowing that every week you're going to get different superstars in the main event. One week we may see the focus very heavy on the women's division while another week it could be the tag teams or John Cena. You're never tuning in and knowing that the same four guys will be in the opening and the ending of the show. It does mean that the matches aren't as long but Smackdown LIVE are using their time much much better and telling stories week in and week out. Also, the fact that the show is shorter it does mean that pay per views feel even bigger and more important and must see at times.

Women's Divison 

Women's wrestling has come a long long way over the past four years or so. The rise of NXT brought along the rise of women's wrestling. It was the place to go for brilliant wrestling from female talent. It was the show to watch if you wanted to see genuinely entertaining storylines and gripping matches. The likes of Paige, Summer Rae, Charlotte, Becky Lynch, Bayley, and Sasha Banks all contributed massively to the rise in women's wrestling and the past few years has seen the Divison skyrocket. When the brand split announcement was made  I was actually worried about the women's division. At that point in time we didn't have many female talents up on the roster as it was and so to split them in half I worried we wouldn't have enough women on each roster to have fantastic, standout matches. My worries only increased on draft night when it became clear Monday night RAW had drafted the stronger and more popular names to their women's division. These include Paige, Charlotte, Summer Rae and Sasha Banks to name a few and I remember tweeting out my frustrations that they had drafted Banks and Charlotte to the same show. While the pair has since gone on to make history and deliver some of the best women's matches we have seen in the WWE I was convinced on draft night Sasha would be heading over to Smackdown LIVE. She made it very clear she wanted to be a part of the blue brand and it did feel like the perfect it for her. By the end of the night, Smackdown LIVE consisted of Naomi, Natalya, Eva Marrie, Becky Lynch and NXT call ups Alexa Bliss and Carmella with a returning Nikki Bella joining the divison a little later on. It was clear which brand had the stronger women's division, however, within the first Smackdown LIVE show after the draft it was clear that there was room for improvement and progress and the potential was clear. If you have been reading my blog for long enough you will know that for weeks, months even I was moaning about how the women's division on Smackdown LIVE was being booked. While on RAW we have Sasha Banks and Charlotte tearing it up in the main event and making history there was a very slow progression over on Smackdown LIVE. Shorter matches and weaker storyline's meant that I struggled to jump on bored with the work being provided by the SD LIVE women's division. What I did pick up was the fact that the slow build up meant that each character was getting enough attention to really establish themselves. One of the issues Monday Night RAW had was the fact they were only really showcasing two talents from the division while over on Smackdown LIVE every single woman on the roster was being showcased and they were all involved in a storyline.

Months down the line and I can honestly say that I genuinely am enjoying the work from the Smackdown LIVE women's division in comparison to the work from the Monday night RAW women's division. I, of course, will not deny the fact that Sasha Banks and Charlotte have over the past few months provided some phenomenal matches, making history and raising the bar extremely hard but the hard work that has been put in to build up the Smackdown LIVE women's division has been far more effective. Every single woman on the roster feels like an important part of the show. They all feel important and the division is full of women who actually do have something to do. Every single woman has an active storyline that fans actually care about and gain an interest in every single week and the same just cannot be said for Monday Night RAW. The problem we still have with the red brand is the overall poor use of the division. While we sure have four strong women taking centre stage there are plenty of women being mistreated and underutilised. The storylines are weaker and the focus doesn't seem to be on the wrestling as much. This is something I will get into later on in the post but it really is a big problem. More recently we are seeing the division grow whether it be literally with more women making their way to the roster or the storyline's and matches getting much better. A couple of weeks back Alexa Bliss and Becky Lynch main evented when they competed one on one for the women's championship in the first women's steel cage match on Smackdown LIVE. On the same night, one of the best female competitors in WWE history made her return as Mickie James revealed herself as La Luchadora. It really has been great seeing how far the division has come over on Smackdown LIVE. The mic time the women are getting has been fantastic and has allowed them to elevate and show more of their character while also pushing their feuds and making them a lot stronger. The matches are getting better and with the division growing, I honestly do predict that by the end of the year it will be Smackdown LIVE we all look to go to for brilliant women's wrestling.

The Land of Opportunity 

From day one Smackdown LIVE has pushed itself as the land of opportunity. It's the place where anything can happen and everyone is given a fair and equal opportunity and I have to say that this has been a hundred percent true.  Throughout the past eight months, we have seen some amazing wrestling and phenomenal storylines build up over Smackdown LIVE and this falls strongly on the fact that we are getting different men in the spotlight every week. While on Monday night RAW we have literally seen the same four superstars open and close the show (Roman Reigns, Seth Rollins, Chris Jericho, and Kevin Owens) we are genuinely being given something different every week from different superstars. We, of course, have our main eventers who do come across as the bigger stars but the fact that they are all spread out across the roster makes the whole show feel bigger and more must see. It feels as though we are watching a more unpredictable and prestigious show. Again, just like in the women's division, everyone has a place and everyone feels as though they are doing something.  What has also been so brilliant is seeing how well they have used certain superstars given certain men a push they most probably would not have gotten if it wasn't for the brand split and being drafted to Smackdown LIVE. Take the Miz for example. He is someone that I have written about a lot over the years here on my blog and over on twitter. I have moaned and bitched plenty of times about how poorly he has been used and how stupid the WWE are for wasting him. However, since the brand extension, there has been no denying the fact that The Miz has been one of the best and most entertaining stars in the WWE. Time and time again I have spoken about how captivate I have been with the Miz's work and I can honestly sit here right now and say that he remains one of the best superstars in the WWE. Finally, after all, these years the company are doing the right thing with him and he certainly deserves it. He has cut some phenomenal promos that have grabbed the attention of the entire WWE universe and has been a part of some of the best storylines of the past eight months. Every single thing he has done since the brand split has been gold. He's gone from being a mid card performer to one of the best in the business. He has re-established himself completely proving to have one of the best and most consistent characters on the roster. His matches have been stellar, he did some fantastic work making the Intercontiental Championship mean something again and has established himself as a main event star worthy of a world title run.

Dolph Ziggler is another Smackdown LIVE success story. He's someone that the WWE really have taken their time with and worked on creating a strong and captivating storyline and given his character the push it has needed. Honestly, the past eight months have seen Ziggler do some of his best work of his entire career. While the first month or so were tough. His feud with Dean Ambrose didn't get over as well as it should have despite the strong mic work from the show-off and the championship match at SummerSlam was one of my least favourite of the year. However, after feuding with the Miz, Ziggler found himself in a position he has deserved to be in for a while. He was put in a storyline where he could really show some passion and the storyline was actually one of my favourites of twenty sixteen. I finally found myself hooked on what Ziggler was providing. You could feel his passion and his mic work really did amaze me. They took the time out to put Ziggler in the spotlight and let him loose on the mic just like they did Miz and it worked. The pair gave us a fantastic set of matches and a brilliant storyline. Everything he did in those first few months were all a part of building up his heel turn and again it was a fantastic idea. That slow approach allowed the turn to make sense and actually mean something rather than rushing into it a few weeks in. We got to learn more about Ziggler and his journey first and then see him grow into a different character that seemed like a natural flow and transion. This is something we just ain't seeing on Monday Night RAW. The WWE are sticking to the same men in the spotlight and are not taking the time to build up multiple superstars slowly. Sure they have done a solid job with Strowman but apart from that, they have stuck to the four guys we previously mentioned and putting them in the spotlight. Every week fans are moaning about getting the same content from the same superstars and that just isn't a problem on Smackdown LIVE. We have every guy doing something whether it be your John Cena and Randy Orton's, Your Dolph Ziggler's and the Miz or guys like Baron Corbin who are getting the right slow approach build up they need.

Storyline's 

Finally, storylines. There is no denying the fact that the storyline's over on Smackdown LIVE have been a lot stronger. Of course, Monday night has produced some great work particularly between Banks and Charlotte, the New Day, and Chris Jericho but there's that all fight feel on Smackdown LIVE that we don't get over on RAW. It really does feel as though every man and women wants to hold a championship, they all want to make an impact, they all want to be in the main event,

everyone is hungry for success. This boils down to storylines and the WWE just keeping them short and simple.  You tune into Monday Night RAW and you're getting some of those crazy over the top storyline's and they can overshadow a match and a feud altogether. Sure, storyline's are important. A good storyline is key in drawing in views and attention for a match and it's what can change the effect of a match massively. If the storyline isn't strong the match isn't gonna be as great as it could be and that has been proven time and time again. However, similar to NXT, Smackdown LIVE have stuck with keeping storyline's simple but effective. Of course, we have seen some dramatic, storyline's over the past eight months but nothing has felt over the top or overdone and it has meant that they have given us some outstanding storylines and matches. I know we have spoken about him a lot recently but let's take a look at Dean Ambrose VS The Miz. This isn't something the WWE over one. They used Renee Young a little in the storyline but it was enough. They didn't go overboard and make it into a big thing. We didn't get Renee Young in the ring or even a massive cat fight between her and Maryse, she played her role and that was it and it worked. That tiny little move meant that a basic storyline was made genuinely unpredictable and exciting. This is a common theme with Smackdown LIVE and it really is working.

I know I say it all the time but Smackdown LIVE really is killing it and there seem to be no signs of that changing anytime soon. We are getting unique and entertaining work every single week, more title changes, unpredictable turn of events and so much more that Monday night RAW just isn't providing. There is also the sense of things can only get better. We are still seeing the roster grow, there is still so much more work that can be done to make this even better. They are struggling to top RAW with the ratings but if they continue to deliver shows like they have been I really can see that changing. In the next year, we can expect to see the women's and tag team division continue to grow and get better, more superstars to make their way to the roster and even better pay per view shows. As always I would love to know what you think, so feel free to leave a comment bellow or go ahead and tweet me at @TezangiVictoria telling me what you are thinking of Smackdown LIVE and whether or not you prefer it to Monday Night Raw.