10 Biggest Mistakes Of WWE's New Era Thus Far

The Draft and Brand Split were supposed to restore parity between WWE’s two flagship brands and put them on an equal-footing for the first time in years. In creating two distinct brand identities, WWE would give fans a genuine reason to watch both shows every single week, reignite SmackDown’s ailing fortunes, and build genuine inter-brand competition.

Unfortunately, if the first post-Split Raw and SmackDown shows are anything to go by, WWE have failed in this regard. Throwing Cena and Orton (two of their biggest names) on SmackDown might have been an attempt at bringing star power to Tuesday nights, but Raw had all the excitement coming-out of the Draft, Having snagged the bulk of the company’s hardest working wrestlers, Raw had a significant competitive advantage going into this week’s shows, and they outclassed SmackDown in every department.

While Raw was populated with exciting, can’t-miss 15-20 minute matches between WWE’s most exhilarating young wrestlers, SmackDown’s in-ring content was slow and plodding in-comparison. Randy Orton’s burial of The Miz was a complete dud, and while the other three matches were technically “fine,” they just couldn’t match the breathtaking thrills of Raw’s Fatal Four-Way matches, or Sasha Banks vs. Charlotte.

Then there’s the show format. Raw started with its two authority figures announcing a contendership tournament through two cluster matches, and a singles main event. How did SmackDown open? A contendership series, featuring two clusters. The format was slightly different, but the idea and pacing were almost identical. SmackDown felt like a lesser version of Raw as a result, and instead of feeling equal to the Monday night show, SD has rarely been further behind.

SmackDown has already been made a B-show, which is exactly what WWE were trying to avoid, and they now face a huge uphill struggle to restore the brand to anything close to Raw’s level.