Grading WWE’s ‘Raw’ and ‘SmackDown’ Since the Brand Split (Photos)
On July 19, WWE took a roll of the dice and returned to its “brand split” format for the first time since 2011. With “Raw” and “SmackDown” now featuring their own exclusive casts, storylines and championships, fans hoped that this would allow more young talent to get a chance at becoming the next John Cena. Now that we’re a month in, let’s grade how each of WWE’s shows is doing so far.
Raw Main Event: B- The WWE Universal Championship might replace the “Butterfly Belt” as the most hated belt ever. But while the crowd at Summerslam was booing the belt, Finn Balor and Seth Rollins put on a solid main event program. Now the question is whether Balor can prove he deserves the top spot on “Raw” by expanding his persona beyond wearing cool body paint.
Smackdown Main Event: B- — Dean Ambrose and Dolph Ziggler had a fantastic build to their Summerslam heavyweight title match, with Ambrose as the cocky fan favorite and Ziggler as the scrappy challenger. Then they blew it with a boring, pedestrian match. Ambrose is talented enough to survive this, but this should be the death knell for Ziggler’s main event potential.
Raw Mid-Card: D “Raw” is supposed to get a cruiserweight title soon, and it can’t come soon enough. The fact that this show can’t come up with anything for someone as talented and likable as Sami Zayn is inexcusable, and nearly every other singles wrestler is just laying about. Meanwhile, we get Roman Reigns continuing to jump between smug spewer of dumb jokes and Brock Lesnar-esque monster, neither of which the crowd wants to root for despite Reigns’ ability to put on a great match.
Smackdown Mid-Card: B+The blue brand, meanwhile, has a solid mid-card despite having a two-hour timeslot instead of three. The Miz and Baron Corbin are fun-to-hate villains,and now AJ Styles is the hottest talent in the company. Then there’s the possibility that, at long last, WWE might be preparing a story arc that will follow the end of John Cena‘s dominance.
Raw Tag Teams: B- — The New Day has been great, but it’s time to get the tag team belts off them. With Enzo & Cass, The Dudleys, Golden Truth, and The Bullet Club all on the “Raw” roster, WWE needs to make their tag teams feel like potential champions rather than joke fodder for the guys with the “Booty-Os” cereal.
Smackdown Tag Teams: C+ — American Alpha has looked like a superstar tag team since getting called up from NXT, but there’s no reason to get excited about their rivals, including NXT duds like The Ascension and The Vaudevillains. Hopefully the addition of a tag team title to the show will liven things up.
Raw Women: B+ — Though the division is not fleshed out, Charlotte and Sasha Banks have put on some great matches that have scared wrestling fans to death with their brutality. With the belt back on Charlotte, it’s time for the lovable, passionate Bayley to make her long-awaited arrival and hopefully prove you don’t need to be snarky, hardened antihero to get wrestling fans to love you.
Smackdown Women: A — “Smackdown” has the opposite situation, with Becky Lynch leading a deep division with no single woman or feud proving to be a can’t-miss element of the show. Adding a second women’s title should help with that.
Raw Authority: D- Beloved legend that he is, Mick Foley hasn’t done much to make Raw better. In fact, his role has mostly involved him doing things like rewarding Roman Reigns’ mean-spirited antics with a title match. And the less said about Stephanie McMahon’s buzzkill presence, the better.
Smackdown Authority: B- Shane McMahon’s role is mainly to be a smiling glad-hander, while Daniel Bryan has done a great job promoting “Smackdown” on WWE’s online aftershow “Talking Smack.” They have also had a great program with Heath Slater, who has become such a popular sad-sack underdog that Bryan has gotten booed for not offering him a spot on the show.
“Raw” overall grade: C+ If you told hardcore WWE fans a year ago that Seth Rollins, Finn Balor, and Sasha Banks were the top stars on “Raw,” they’d be over the moon. And yet, after a strong first episode following the brand split, the show remains a three-hour slog with the occasional strong segment.
“Smackdown” overall grade: B Though they have fewer stars and a shorter timeslot, “Smackdown” has proven to be a more consistent show so far, albeit with a few speed bumps. Mauro Ranallo’s play-by-play makes every match feel like a big deal, and no one on the roster is getting left behind. For the first time since the era of Batista and The Undertaker, “Smackdown” is the superior show
NXT Grade: A+ — Both TV shows, however, pale in comparison to WWE’s online-only developmental brand. Even as they lose stars to the main roster, NXT continues to bring in great wrestlers and realize their full potential. With Shinsuke Nakamura, Asuka, and The Revival now the top draw, it seems that the recent trend of WWE pay-per-views getting their thunder stolen by NXT’s “Takeovers” won’t be stopping anytime soon.
Overall grade: B- Since NXT brought a new generation of wrestlers to WWE, Vince McMahon‘s promotion has remained a mixed bag, much to the frustration of many fans. It’s not good enough to match the heyday of The Rock and Steve Austin, but still has too many great moments to give up completely. What’s most frustrating is that WWE has the roster to be greater than it has ever been, but thanks to undercooked storylines and bad booking, has not been able to capitalize on the talent they have assembled.