WWE Raw vs. SmackDown: Sami Zayn To Give Blue Side The Advantage?
By Warren Hayes
Credit: WWE.com
THIS WEEK’S WINNER: SMACKDOWN LIVE
The post-Hell in a Cell period for SmackDown Live seems to have returned the blue brand to its position as the better main roster show. This week was an example of compelling and entertaining television. All this is, of course, headlined by Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn’s outstanding and effortless mic work and spotless in-ring performances. Sure, the tepidness of the women’s division has the potential to become much more of a problem if not addressed and you can definitely shrug at Baron Corbin’s loss. But there were too many strong points to not enjoy this week’s show.
On the other hand, while Raw wasn’t a bad show per se, it was a one-trick pony affair that didn’t really help anyone except for The Shield and their opponents. It really felt like creative was trying way too hard to create a dire situation for Roman, Seth, and Dean, while they could have just let the momentum of the Shield reunion naturally carry the hype for the TLC main event. The Alexa Bliss/Mickie James feud fell a little flat this week, the Asuka “hype” has been lost in the shuffle, and Balor/Wyatt has peaked as a failure.
With three hours to spare on Raw every week, I sincerely hope WWE rethinks how to distribute time between its talent because I would love the undercard folks to have the chance to properly develop their characters and storylines and make me care more about their upcoming matches. SmackDown Live packs so much more punch with one less hour.