Yeah, I know, it's only been a few weeks of fire, but SmackDown Live has been giving RAW a rambunctious run for its rubles. No, I'm not really looking at the ratings -- though footballing and presidential debaternating have certainly taken their toll on RAW -- I'm declaring this so from a quality standpoint and giving SD Live a thumbs up and RAW a side-eye. Here's why.
Firstly, RAW's still three hours. This will always be a sore point. It's just nearly impossible to keep our attention through an entire show, which causes third hour fatigue and an overuse of authority figures to keep the episodes moving. SmackDown, coming in at a much more digestible two hours, has its own challenges regarding how to properly utilize its roster, but it's quickly figuring it out. The tag team and women's divisions, respectively, seem to suffer the most as you can only really fit in one match for each. And if there is a second match, it's a non-match ambush. Like what happened between Becky and Alexa Bliss this week.
But SmackDown is still the hungrier show. Not desperate, but more willing to capitalize on instant sizzle. Like how Miz's Talking Smack segment has led to a re-focusing on the guy, giving us some of his best work to date. Hell, without that segment, he may have already dropped the belt to Ziggler by now.
Likewise, Heath Slater's "I Got Kids!" character got a big push. On RAW, he would have remained in the shadows, popping up for the occasional chuckle and then getting swallowed up inside that show's bigger roster. On SmackDown, where pushing and preparing new stars is a big portion of the broadcast, Slater was able to win gold and get that dang above ground pool!
The Usos were also able to get a long overdue character overhaul, turning heel and ditching the colorful garb and outdated smiles. Plus, Alexa Bliss, who may not have been exactly ready for a main roster call up, now feels like she's a legitimate contender for Becky's belt. Not that she'll win, right? I mean, she'll still just represent Becky's first successful title defense, but it feels right. The show has worked hard to put her in the right position for her career right now.
Okay, so Bray Wyatt's being wasted, as usual, and that part's not great. He'll forever just feud with everyone, going into wars where there are no real stakes other than "Well, Bray's never faced this guy before." My biggest fear is that he'll just spend the entirety of his career in meaningless mid-card grudges that contain no real resolution. He's amazing on the mic, but he's feuded so much, with so many different wrestlers, that he's pretty much already used up his entire spooky speech catalogue.
Having said that, Universal's Halloween Horror Nights most definitely needs a Wyatt Family maze. Like, URGENTLY. Is it too late to work one up for this October? I'm already dumping in my dungarees just thinking about it. It'd just be people whispering "Run!" at you, but you can't run because it's a crowded haunted house in a theme park and you have to slowly shuffle through it while bearded men in animal masks get way to close to your face.
Anyhow, my point is that SmackDown is more in a position to push what they see working in the moment whereas RAW is kind of stuck in this respect. Still, having Kevin Owens as champ is nothing to sniffle at. And RAW also has New Day (who had an unexpectedly bloody match this past week), the List of Jericho, Sasha Banks, and other super positive elements. It doesn't have a decent babyface though at the top. Rollins is great, but he was never allowed to play the hero role when he came back and now it feels too late - despite his current grudge against Triple H and Steph. And Reigns, while getting the most cheers he's had in a while for his feud with Rusev, is forever a tarnished brand. An experiment that never got the results WWE wanted, even with all the efforts put in to fudge the findings. He's already at the "Let's Go Roman!/Roman Sucks!" phase of his career - an honorary degree that took Cena a decade to accomplish.
RAW's got the cruiserweights, but until they get out of the current "Cruiser Revolution" here's-everyone-at-once clusterfrak booking, everyone's just going to blend together into one "I'm so happy and blessed to be here" Dream Come True brigade. Of course, none of this exactly takes away from the fact that TJ Perkins' 8-Bit gamer entrance is the absolute biscuit.
As with Eva Marie's announcer, I hope TJ's HP meter comes into play somehow. Like, we'll get to see it deplete during matches. Or if he comes into a match with an injury, it won't read "MAX HEALTH." It'll give us an accurate percentage. As in, it's this other sentient thing that sometimes works against him.
RAW had their Clash of Champions PPV this past Sunday and, yup, I liked it. Nothing outstanding happened, but it was solid and stable and under nine hours. These single-brand shows are much easier to swallow, time-wise, and Jericho vs. Zayn, Rollins vs. Owens (aside from the overcooked ending), and the women's triple threat were all great.
Continue on for Clash of Champions and more...
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