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Why Do You Like Smackdown Over Raw?

Why Do You Think Smackdown Is The Better Show?

7K views 80 replies 58 participants last post by  Lariatoh! 
#1 ·
So I think that after about a month of the brand split, I think it's safe to say that most people find Smackdown to be the better show and the reason(s) for that can be focused on a few, central theme that often get brought up in this discussion. So the whole point of this thread is to take those popular ideas and see which one(s) are the driving force behind Smackdown's praise as of late.
 
#5 ·
Two hours is a big part of it. The show as a whole just flows better, because there's really no time for filler. They've also done a pretty good job of making everyone feel important, from the big players like Ambrose all the way down to people like Carmella. Their roster may be smaller but they've made the most of it.
 
#6 ·
It's just a better booked show.

Two hours is obviously another big plus and despite having JBl and Otunga on commentary, Ranallo really makes the show all that much better too. He is the best commentator they have but him calling the matches and putting superstars over, making them seem important brings off such a sports vibe, it's almost as if Smackdown is being portrayed as a sport whilst Raw is quite simply a soap opera of entertainment.

They're building feuds with promos between superstars and keeping the superstars away from eachother when it comes to ring work. Ambrose/Ziggler was a great build where both men went up against eachother with a promo. I mean Rollins/Balor paled in comparison when it came to build up. No matter what, watching Raw no matter how good it may be seems a chore with that extra hour whilst you get half way through Smackdown, you're entertained and you're about 30 minutes away from the main event.

You also have Shane and Bryan who are well liked, who people tend to care about and a face dynamic in terms of an authority role is a lot easier on the fans and the superstars. We'll obviously see if Smackdown can keep it up but it's obvious they're doing something different to Raw and the ratings are increasing.
 
#11 · (Edited)
There's no singular reason. It's a multitude of reasons. 2 hours, much less filler, a better roster that is well balanced and it's clear who the main eventers and mid carders are. The talent is used better. The stories are built up well. The commentating team is better and they pay much more attention to the wrestling aspect which allows for better matches. Oh and their titles look better. MUCH better. What doesn't help is that Raw, with some of the good things they do have, have been doing a lot of bad things as well and this is a three hour show we're talking about here.

If I really had to point out a singular reason, it would have to be the roster. I truly cannot for the life of me understand why Vince thought Raw got the better roster of the two. I actually give a shit about Dean Ambrose. I give a shit about AJ Styles. I give a shit about Cena, Orton, Bray, etc. I like Smackdown's tag team division. There's a good balance there, you've got the clear favorites in American Alpha but they're not at the point yet where you can buy into them dominating everyone else, so you've got other tag teams you can work in with them and put on competitive matches and you can buy into it just like that. Raw has three big time tag teams in Enzo/Cass, New Day and The Club. I don't even know who the other tag teams are on Raw apart from the Dudleys, and apparenlty they're retired (or I don't know, I don't give a shit). Same problem with the divas division. Bayley being on Raw will help but even then you've got Charlotte, Sasha, and Bayley. Who else is there to give a shit about? Nia Jax sucks at everything imaginable, Paige at this point has a bleak future ahead of her and I have no fucking clue who else is on their divas division. All of Smackdown's divas have me interested in some form or fashion. And do not get me started with Raw's main event. All in all Raw drafted horribly. And with Balor now being injured and their main event being thin as hell, Smackdown doesn't have Cena for a while and they've still got more than enough people to give us a healthy and fresh main event scene that's going to feature a pretty highly anticipated feud between AJ Styles and Dean Ambrose.

Seriously, Vince, what the hell where you thinking?

Two hours is obviously another big plus and despite having JBl and Otunga on commentary, Ranallo really makes the show all that much better too.
I think Otunga is being horribly underappreciated on these boards so far. He actually pays attention to the matches and explains what wrestlers are attempting to do, and it allows for a much better understanding of the match from an audience perception. Watch the match between Becky and Alexa this past week. Otunga did a fantastic job calling that match in my opinion and it was an absolute joy for me to watch. He paid attention to detail and pointed out the important aspects of the match (such as Becky attacking the arm early in a subtle way, it was brilliant for him to point that out).
 
#7 · (Edited)
Better writing.
Two hours.


Those are my two biggest. Regardless of what anyone claims, engaging stories and characters drive professional wrestling in North America, and SD is doing a better job at creating (and showcasing) their performers while RAW is the Rollins, Reigns, Charlotte/Sasha (soon to be Bayley) showcase. SD opens with unveiling their new titles and Heather Slater manages to steal the segment. That, in combination with the better writing and two hour run time which ensures the show doesn't overstay its' welcome makes SD the easier product to digest currently. To tie all of this together, I'll simply point to Carmella and Nikki.



Nikki returns as a heel to a nice reception and pins Carmella -- who is struggling to get over as a face -- at SS, mocking her immediately afterwards. SD rolls around and Carmella blindsides her during an interview before their match, effectively turning heel. The point of them having a match? To facilitate the double turn and make both women look better. This wasn't filler due to the show only having two hours (which is closers to 90 minutes when you factor in commercials.) It served a purpose and the writing/booking acknowledged both women were miscast and stopped the bleeding before it became life threatening. That is especially huge for Carmella, who now finally has heat and heads into the title match in two weeks looking much better than she would have if the plug had not been pulled on her face run. They go even further to push this feud over the edge by having her attack Nikki again on TalkingSmack. I feel like Carmella hates Nikki. I feel the jealousy and resentnent.



Compare that and Dolph's rage which saw him harrass Styles all night due to AJ's mocking him at the start of the show to Rusev over on RAW not acknowledging the man (Reigns) who pinned him, disparaged his wife, unborn children, and beat him mercisslessly on Sunday to the extent that he couldn't compete. In that same angle, compare Stephanie's character losing all of her disdain for the man she claimed was an embarrassment a month ago, assaulted her father, brutalized her husband, and speared her before taking the title from her man. Her reasoning for forgiving and forgetting all of that? Because Rusev was mean to Mick Foley and verbally insulted him.


Lol.


It's the little things.
 
#9 ·
I'm still on the fence about SDL being the "better" show. Women are still an afterthought, tag division is shallow, mid card is almost non existent and there is too much focus on the GMs.

Is it more sufferable than RAW? absolutely because its much shorter, but I'm going to give this few more weeks before I call this a good show.
Better is not enough for me, it needs to be good.
 
#12 ·
But they're trying to make all three of those better. Like you say, they've been live and part of a brand split for about a month yet they opened the show with the two new titles (which they didn't have before last week) and are starting to make the divas and the tag teams matter.

I still think they should have used each brand for certain divisions. Raw is going to have the Cruiserweights for example, I'd have LOVED for Smackdown to be the go to place if you want to watch some great Tag Team wrestling but it looks like we're obviously going to get Tag Team matches on both rosters.

They're trying to make the mid card matter. The Miz broke Twitter earlier in the week with the promo he cut on Talking Smack. That will be the platform they use to elevate that title.

Rome wasn't build in a day, I think after a few weeks we're going to see some established tag teams putting on GREAT tag team matches, especially considering we have the likes of American Alpha there, who gave us a great match on Smackdown. I think the mid card could do with some NXT call ups though. They really should be putting the likes of Samoa Joe, Austin Aries, Bobby Roode in that upper mid card and occasionally in a main event feud, then also fill it with the likes of Corbin, Ziggler, Orton, Crews etc.
 
#10 ·
The poll misses the biggest reason for me. While "Better Focus On Stories & Promos/Less Pointless Matches" comes close, in reality both shows have just as many (proportionately) promos and "pointles" matches.

What Smackdown has is better stories, better character development, greater continuity, better longer-term planning (so far), as well as walking the reality/shoot-line more gracefully than Raw.
 
#13 ·
Only 2 hours long, making it a lot easier to sit through regardless.

The storylines, while not perfect, are more well booked and more intriguing. Generally every match has a purpose in a storyline somewhere, too.

There's also less matches, with more promos and character building segments instead.

Do also agree with the better authority figures, a better main event scene and Talking Smack, though.
 
#14 ·
Most of the stuff seen in the poll is why it's better but I would like to add something that isn't in the poll.

Everyone is looking strong. Just take a look at the difference.

On Raw, you had Sami Zayn vs Seth Rollins and because they wanted everyone to look strong so Sami looked like a idiot with his injury and Seth Rollins like a loser because he couldn't beat someone who was only on one leg.

Now, Smackdown ? You had AJ Styles vs Dolph Ziggler. It was a competitive match where AJ Styles won clean and both men looked strong because they gave their best and they didn't tried to find any excuses. It was just legit competition and the better man won.

Also, a little thing that I enjoy is how they are booking Ambrose. The champion isn't in every match, he is only in a few matches so you really feel like you must earn a match against him and when he does wrestle, it is actually really cool and you are excited.
 
#15 ·
#1, it’s shorter. Raw would be a lot better if it was only 2 hours.

But to me, the writing is better. The show flows a lot better. They use their entire women’s roster as opposed to just their top 2-3. The tag division, while not the best, is fully utilized while Raw has to count on their top 2-3 tag teams doing the same thing every week. You have better mic workers and a stronger main event scene.

On Raw, you have better overall wrestling talent but with injuries and a longer running time, sometimes the show can drag.
 
#17 ·
I think the commentary teams are a wash since Raw got Graves.
2 hours versus 3 hours is definitely a point in favor of SDL.
Stephanie as an authority figure is definitely a mark against Raw, while DB is a point in favor of SDL.
Talking Smack has been gold, and it's completely optional, too--big benefit to SDL that also helps build stories, matches, and talent.
SDL women's division is simply more interesting right now, and seems to have more room and upward potential. Getting Bayley is a benefit to Raw, but there's just not much you can do with the current women's division on Raw, it seems.
I also think SDL's ME scene is more interesting, too, and also like the women's division seems to have more room and potential.
Now that Raw has it's own title, I'm not sure the championship being on SDL is that big of a deal.
SDL has, at least so far, been better in the story department, too. It feels like there's less filler on SDL when compared to Raw.

Also,
✅ Becky Lynch
 
#18 ·
Better writing with the former NXT team
Better women's division as they put all of their women in the spotlight instead of just the top 2.
More interesting tag team division with new teams like American Alpha, Hype Bros, Breezango. Also like having the Usos there for veterans and I expect a heel turn soon.
Continuity in story lines, against this is about the writing. Little things like Bray having a stare down with Orton while he was coming to the ring the week prior to him confronting Orton and starting a feud.
Talking Smack is more entertaining than 3 hours of Raw.
No Roman Reigns
No Stephanie McMahon
No Michael Cole(even though Otunga sucks, Mauro kicks Cole's ass as play-by-play.
No filler

Really its just all around a much better show. Raw feels old and stale to me. Enzo and Cass bore me and their matches suck, New Day is New Day, Roman Super Reigns still doing his thing, Main Event scene is baron, women's division got an upgrade with Bayley but she is the only woman on the roster I care about while I love Becky, Alexa, and Nikki on SD. You can tell Raw has the old writers. Just feels stale and boring.
 
#23 · (Edited)
Raw just feels so overproduced,lifeless and boring. The Comedy just doesn't work or isn't that funny. Their Women's division revolves around few instead of many. Women that should be featured more that aren't (Summer Rae and Alicia Fox). The mid-card lacks any sort of direction at the moment. There's maybe 2-4 Tag teams that feel like they matter. The main event scene is lacking big time.

Smackdown has a more fun atmosphere providing a healthy blend of serious and comedy which makes the show flow better. The Promos and stories are designed to enhance the wrestling and further the characters to make it feel more important. They don't have the overpushed talent, but they have quality talent that could really shine if truly given an opportunity (Aj Styles, Becky Lynch). The comedy is legit funny and it feels like it works for all ages. You could add a couple more women, mid-card talent and tag teams while elevating a mid-card guy to main event. They have a pretty good main event scene that get treated like main eventers.
 
#26 ·
None. The real answer is that Smackdown gave almost everyone a reboot. Everyone being featured feels fresh.

Dean Ambrose pre-draft was the lunatic comedy fringe in the mid-card, now he's a cocky and confident champion acting as a tweener and only fighting on occasion.
Ziggler went from midcard hell to upper mid card/main event status in the form of one match and one promo. He rejuvenated himself with an altered look, giving good back-and forth promos which he sruggled with, and character advancement as this fake underdog whose more interested in stealing the show than winning.

Orton returns from a year long absence as a cocky yet still badass face. He's put in good work apart from the Lesnar match which is out of his control

Styles loses the chicken shit heel character hiding behind the BC and establishes himself as a top heel with a new comedy yet confident character pinning Cena clean.

Cena is still Cena but retu
 
#28 ·
Two hours just flow much better... couple that with the focus on storytelling, no filler matches, and promo time, Smackdown is much easier to sit through. I wish the entire roster was on one two hour show. The quality would be so good, but what can you do?

I think Raw's structure will improve once the Cruiserweight division starts up, but I think Smackdown will remain the better show.
 
#29 ·
2 hours is the biggest key. You don't have time to have wrestlers give 15-20 minute promos just rambling about stuff. The Promos are cut in half timewise. And you also can't waste segments on filler stuff because you just don't have the time. They keep everything moving a steady pace and it just flows better.
 
#30 ·
Mostly it all comes down to booking. The booking on SD is making the Main Event, Tag and Womens divisions look great. They're accomplishing more in 2 hours than Raw can in 3. Even the IC Title getting such little attention can all be neatly explained/forgiven if they follow up on Miz's promo.

SD also got the better roster, they really did. On draft night everyone was saying Raw won because Raw got all the Indy geeks/IWC pets. But SD got the far superior roster. There's more well rounded talents on SD who can tell a story and carry a feud, Raws too focused on work rate. This Raw has a 4 man Universal Title match and only one of them can cut even a decent promo.

Raw is also saddled with this HHH vibe to me. You look at Raw its got HHH's favourite toy; Seth Rollins who he uber pushes and pretends can be the next HBK even though his talents are one dimensional. Its got Balor who he pushed to the moon immediately, its got 3 of the Horsewomen who just squash everyone else. So its got all these HHH pets and its got Reigns. All the focus is on that small group of people, and no one else.
 
#52 ·
Raw is also saddled with this HHH vibe to me. You look at Raw its got HHH's favourite toy; Seth Rollins who he uber pushes and pretends can be the next HBK even though his talents are one dimensional. Its got Balor who he pushed to the moon immediately, its got 3 of the Horsewomen who just squash everyone else. So its got all these HHH pets and its got Reigns. All the focus is on that small group of people, and no one else.
That's a good point, actually. I reckon Charlotte, Bayley and Sasha are the best of Raw's women's division, but why does it even matter if they don't have credible opponents to face? And Rollins/Reigns have been trading championship wins for what it feels like forever now, while other talented guys like Owens and Rusev who are complete packages don't even get a sniff at the major championship. Even a guy like Balor passed them over, for fucks sake.

If they are going to push a guy like Balor to the main event the way they did, then guys like Cesaro and Zayn also have to come into the conversation of who the next champion might be... After all, while they're lacking in some areas, they are still better than Balor overall.
 
#31 ·
Most of those reasons, it's only 2 hours long, the authority figures aren't as overbearing like Stephanie Mcmahon who is a show killer, and the writing for some reason is a whole lot better. It's like watching the old ruthless aggression Smackdown, lots of intense action and storylines. Plus, although there's less talent than RAW, there's also a lot less management chosen guys like Reigns/Rollins so we get more organic storytelling and not just wrestlers being shoved down our throats for no reason. Although hopefully they don't go that way with Ambrose.
 
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