10 Post-Brand Split Wins For WWE SmackDown

Slowly but surely laying the smack down on RAW.

john cena aj styles
WWE.com

When WWE announced its plans to once again split RAW and SmackDown into talent-exclusive brands, with separate stories and PPV events, fans were in two minds.

Smackdown had been lumbering for some time as the ‘RAW Repeat Show’, an outlet for underwhelming matches that served little purpose other than to fill time, so the hope that the blue brand could recapture some of its former glory presented a huge upside. Many people, however, weren’t sure WWE would learn from the mistakes they made during the original brand split.

Just over half a year later, though, and things are looking fairly promising. Smackdown Live has become must-see once more, competition between the two brands has been hot, and the dispersal of talent has allowed under-utilised stars to break out and impress in their own right.

Despite drafting an initially unimpressive selection of Superstars, Smackdown Live has actually garnered more critical acclaim than its red counterpart since the split, forcing RAW to up its game.

While it hasn’t all been plain sailing, and there’s still some way to go if SmackDown truly wants to become the ‘A Show’, the blue brand has achieved some major wins since the Summer of 2016.

10. Beating RAW In The Ratings

john cena aj styles
WWE.com

Thanks to a build-up of momentum and fan excitement for SmackDown’s bizarrely named Wildcard Finals, the Blue Brand managed to beat RAW in the ratings war on one solitary night in December 2016.

That might not sound like too impressive a feat, but as anyone who has played General Manager Mode on the old SmackDown vs. Raw games can attest, RAW’s ratings are a tough nut to crack.

RAW has so much more history and cachet than its sister brand, and after years of being seen as ‘the other brand’, ‘the place to watch repeats of RAW’, or ‘the brand of ill-conceived tag team matches’, it was always going to be a tall order for SmackDown to pull ahead in the ratings - but hat’s exactly what Daniel Bryan and co. did on December 27th, thanks to a show boasting the return of John Cena, as well as three title matches, including a scintillating Triple Threat contest between AJ Styles, Baron Corbin and Dolph Ziggler.

Things may have returned to normal the following week, but the fact that SmackDown has the potential to become a RAW-beater in the years to come is particularly impressive - especially when you consider the doom and gloom that was forecast for the blue brand following the initial draft.

Contributor
Contributor

Liam is a writer and cranberry juice drinker from Lincolnshire. When he's not wearing his eyes away in front of a computer, he plays the melodica for a semi wrestling-themed folk-punk band called School Trips.