Is RAW intentionally worse than Smackdown?

[Guest Redhawk]

How could Vince McMahon and all the writers, bookers and whoever else is considered "creative" or "management" NOT see what's wrong with this show?

 

How could they NOT realize that their 50+ year old annoncers (one of whom was never a wrestler) have been involved in, like, three feuds already this year?

 

How could they NOT see that the tag division is piss-poor?

 

How could they NOT see that RAW's roster pales in comparison to Smackdown's?

 

How could they NOT see how much this show sucks? And it's not like Smackdown is the greatest wrestling show either, but it's WAY better than RAW (well, the Vince-Sable-Steph stuff knocks it down several notches). Weren't these the same people that made 1998, 2000 and 2001 such great years? What's happened?

[rising up out of the back seat-nuh 0]

How can they NOT see that Raw gets better ratings than Smackdown?

 

How can they NOT see that Raw contains most fans favourite wrestlers

 

How can they NOT see that they know more about how to please the marks than you?

[Guest Ghettoman]

Raw is better than Smackdown. Until SD stops completely wasting there undercard and has a match on a PPV that doesn't involve a Title or McMahon Raw's got em beat.

 

A few good matches here and there doesn't make up for the complete waste of the cruiser weight division, midcarders like Sean Ohaire and Matt Hardy, or should be main eventers like Benoit. I love the show, but right now booking wise it's no Raw....

[Guest Dynamite Kido]

Raw is better than Smackdown. Until SD stops completely wasting there undercard and has a match on a PPV that doesn't involve a Title or McMahon Raw's got em beat.

 

A few good matches here and there doesn't make up for the complete waste of the cruiser weight division, midcarders like Sean Ohaire and Matt Hardy, or should be main eventers like Benoit. I love the show, but right now booking wise it's no Raw....

How exactly is RAW better than Smackdown? You say people are getting wasted in midcard feuds, but on RAW Shane McMahon is the 2nd babyface? But Smackdown is the show wasting wrestlers in the midcard? Right......Considering half the RAW roster is being wasted to feud with highly inferior talent(Mark Henry, Rodney Mack, and La Resistance for example). By the way, what exactly warrants Sean O'Haire to be Main Event material? Matt Hardy actually has main evented Smackdown before against Mysterio. What's wrong with their title matches on PPV? Hell at least it's not a tag team match with announcers. God some friggin people......

[Guest Ghettoman]

Better Main Event scene at the moment, and thats with all of one guy, while Smackdown is struggling not to be repetitive with 4.

 

Guys who should be main eventing but aren't, Ie; Jericho are used much bnetter than one on Smackdown Ie; Benoit.

 

Undercard exists beyond Heat, where as if you want to see an undercard match or angle on Smackdown you have to watch Velocity.

 

No one said anyting about Ohaire or Hardy main eventing, but considering where they are you'd figure they wouldn't be completely wasted as they have been. The womens division is handled ten times bettert than the cruiserweight division, which has still yet to see its first fued away from the title.

 

GM skits are at least entertaining, on Smackdown if you don't have a gigantic hard on for Stephanie your not enjoying what there doing.

 

I mean the only thing they offer right now is better matches, but since when has that drawn big business for the WWE?

[Austin3164life 0]

Neither show is really that good at all, but Smackdown is the "lesser of two evils" so to speak. It's the better show because when there are much better matches, it's easier to create storylines.

[haVoc 0]

I mean the only thing they offer right now is better matches, but since when has that drawn big business for the WWE?

I'm not saying this was big business, but didn't the Rey/Hardy match in the main event slot a month-or-so-ago do a pretty high rating? Then the next week they opened the show. Then they......went somewhere?

[Guest Ghettoman]

It did the highest rating of the show, which says next to nothing, but to show how "awesome" the booking is with Smackdown, what happen to them afterwards?

 

I like Smackdown, at times I enjoy it more than Raw, but if I had to say mechanically whats the better show, it's Raw.

[MARTYEWR 0]

RAW is actually drawing better than Smackdown right now. Badd Blood did get more buys than Vengeance, plus RAW's houses are drawing better than Smackdown's. I think that may have to do with the different star power on each show, plus possibly the markets, although I haven't analyzed the latter that much.

 

I credit the star power more. As awesome as some of the wrestling on Smackdown is, they don't have any real well-known marketable names outside of Vince, Undertaker, and Angle.

[Spaceman Spiff 0]

Better Main Event scene at the moment, and thats with all of one guy, while Smackdown is struggling not to be repetitive with 4.

While Goldberg is over, I think the fans still aren't completely sold on him. Witness the near-silence he got when on the mic last Raw. Also, HHH's reign killed off every face contender for the title except for Goldberg, and w/ de-facto top heel Kane involved w/ Shane, Goldberg is the *only* ME player on Raw. How is that better? After Goldberg, Raw's top 2 faces are both non-wrestlers (Austin & Shane).

 

Guys who should be main eventing but aren't, Ie; Jericho are used much bnetter than one on Smackdown Ie; Benoit.

Jericho is used better? The same Jericho that jobbed to Nash, Steiner, Booker, etc., to set them up to be jobbed out to HHH? The same Jericho that is continually booked to be Austin's bitch? Jericho hasn't even sniffed the ME scene since he was the Undisputed Champ.

 

GM skits are at least entertaining, on Smackdown if you don't have a gigantic hard on for Stephanie your not enjoying what there doing.

Neither show's GM angles/skits are very good. While the Vince/Steph stuff is just horrid, at least they're not taking down wrestlers with them (yet). On Raw, *nobody* gets over on Austin. Jericho & Christian continually get bested by Austin. Why? Austin's going to get his big pops no matter what. Getting the better of Austin would do really help out Christian tremendously. But, hey, at least it's "entertaining".

 

Undercard exists beyond Heat, where as if you want to see an undercard match or angle on Smackdown you have to watch Velocity

TWGTT, Eddy, Chavo, Cena, Tajiri, Rey, Benoit, A-Train have all had angles/feuds play out on SD lately. And the matches are a hell of a lot better than Test/Steiner or Dudz/Les Res.

[Guest Ghettoman]

Taker and Angle are your only two face main eventers on Smackdown, and they've both already been used. Goldbergs not gonna be going anywhere anytime soon so considering he's over and putting on enjoyable matches I'd say Raw gets the edge there. Besides heel main eventers are more important if you wanna make money, SD has one which is there top guy, Raw has at least two immediate contenders at there disposal, with more on the way, and an angle that doesn't need a focus one one guy. They got months of options whereas on SD there choices are go with the only heel and build up more faces or let Taker undo all the doing he's done for Lesnar.

 

Jericho has the highlight reel, and is always put with incredibly over workers. If it does anything it makes him known which is a lot more than you can say for Benoit. If Jericho was turned face people would care, if Benoit was turned heel people would go 'meh'. He certainly isn't made to look like an incredible threat to all around him, but he's given time to show off his skills, so that beats the Benoit situation right there.

 

Austins over, so when he interacts with a heel Ie; Jericho or Chrsitian it at the least makes them noticed. Vince has been attached to every main angle directly for months now, and hasn't done anything for anyone. Stephs become the number one face right ahead of Taker, and her contribution to the main event is better served by guys like Spanky and Gowan. And of course, Austin actually entertains people so yeah, Raw wins, because obviously the idea of putting these shows on is to entertain people.

 

All those undercarders you'v ementioned are cruisers, in the tag division or used here and there, never for a continous period of time. When they have matches it's for no reason outside of the one recent Atrain/Benoit fued. Guys like Orlando Jordan, Matt Hardy, Sen Ohaire, Rhyno even have no direction, so even though they may put on better matches the fact that there just happening without cause or direction makes it hard to get behind, and certainly isn't helping bring viewers back week by week. On Raw you at least have set up and clearer definition of heels and faces, people can tell you waht Stevie Richards is doing, they can tell you Rico's gimmick. Ask these same quetions about Matt Hardy or Orlando Jordan your not gonna get the same answers. It's just a much better managed undercard.

 

If your all about wrestling matches, SD's your show. I love Smackdown, I think what they do get right they get really right, but what they get wrong is just more annoying and worse booking wise than Raw. If your gonna say what's better at getting casual fans attention, it's Raw, hands down.

[Spaceman Spiff 0]

Taker and Angle are your only two face main eventers on Smackdown, and they've both already been used. Goldbergs not gonna be going anywhere anytime soon so considering he's over and putting on enjoyable matches I'd say Raw gets the edge there. Besides heel main eventers are more important if you wanna make money

But Goldberg is still the *only* ME guy on Raw. Who's going to challenge him? Right now, his challengers are guys like Mark Henry who are only motivated by HHH's bounty, not by wanting the title. Kane is his only real ME heel challenger, and he's still tied up w/ Shane, not to mention they've all but killed off the mystique of his new character. Jericho is JTTS, as well as already having jobbed to Goldberg. Orton? "More on the way" - who?

 

Austins over, so when he interacts with a heel Ie; Jericho or Chrsitian it at the least makes them noticed.

Sure fans notice - they notice "hey, these guys are nothing compared to Austin." Is that the perception you want to put out?

 

Vince has been attached to every main angle directly for months now, and hasn't done anything for anyone.

IMO, Vince's interaction helped Brock get over as a heel recently.

 

It's just a much better managed undercard

Really? Where is Test/Steiner going? Dudleyz have direction? Christian? RVD? Jericho? Sure, the heel/face lines may be drawn better on Raw, but nobody on the undercard is really doing anything. The women's division is really the only thing on the undercard w/ any sense of direction, but nobody truly cares about women's wrestling. It's all about T&A. Both show's undercards are poorly managed, but I'll take poorly managed + good matches over poorly managed + poor matches.

 

I'm not saying SD doesn't have problems - it does. I just think Raw has bigger problems.

Edited October 2, 2003 by Spaceman Spiff

[Damaramu 0]

Don't the shows draw about the same amount of viewers? I mean because RAW is on cable there rating represents a lesser number than the same number on SD!. So technically the shows draw about the same....

[Damaramu 0]

Plus if you notice the hot crowds are on SD! while the dead crowds are usually on RAW. That says something as well...

[Guest MikeSC]

How could Vince McMahon and all the writers, bookers and whoever else is considered "creative" or "management" NOT see what's wrong with this show?

 

How could they NOT realize that their 50+ year old annoncers (one of whom was never a wrestler) have been involved in, like, three feuds already this year?

 

How could they NOT see that the tag division is piss-poor?

 

How could they NOT see that RAW's roster pales in comparison to Smackdown's?

 

How could they NOT see how much this show sucks? And it's not like Smackdown is the greatest wrestling show either, but it's WAY better than RAW (well, the Vince-Sable-Steph stuff knocks it down several notches). Weren't these the same people that made 1998, 2000 and 2001 such great years? What's happened?

Oh, come on! RAW RULZ!

 

I mean, they got ROB VAN DAM!!!

 

WHAT ELSE DO YOU NEED?

 

SCREW GUERRERO. SCREW ANGLE. SCREW BENOIT. SCREW EVERYBODY --- RAW has RVD.

 

Rob could draw 30's --- if they just kept him on camera more.

-=Mike

... RVD draws better ratings than the SUPER BOWL --- if the fans would ignore his crap work, his crap mic skills, and his rather boring personality

[2GOLD 0]

Hmm, mild personal hate towards Rob Van Dam.

God, did he kill your dog with a frog splash or something?

 

 

Smackdown is the wrestling first/sports entertainment second while RAW is sports entertainment first/wrestling second.

 

You just have to figure out which you like.

[Spaceman Spiff 0]

Plus, Raw is LIVE~! ANYTHING CAN HAPPEN~!

[Guest MikeSC]

Hmm, mild personal hate towards Rob Van Dam.

God, did he kill your dog with a frog splash or something?

 

 

Smackdown is the wrestling first/sports entertainment second while RAW is sports entertainment first/wrestling second.

 

You just have to figure out which you like.

No, but he potatoed him with an errant chair and the stitches were a pain to keep Spot from licking off.

-=Mike

[Papacita 0]

Plus if you notice the hot crowds are on SD! while the dead crowds are usually on RAW. That says something as well...

Well, Smackdown does tend to use canned heat every now and then, so that's not saying much.

 

Both shows have their problems, but entertainment wise and wrestling wise, I still think SD is better. I don't think they intentionally go out to make Raw look bad...I think their main goal is to have Smackdown be the wrestling show and have Raw to be the entertainment show...apparently, they seem to have lost touch of exactly what's entertaining though, but I've enjoyed the last couple of Raws so...eh.

[Guest Smell the ratings!!!]

Raw gets better ratings because Raw is a live show that has been on the air for like 11 years and people grew up watching, while Smackdown is taped two days in advance, is like 5 years old, and is on a puny little network some places don't even get.

 

What I don't get is why they put all thier best guys on Smackdown where no one sees them, while the whole world knows how boring HHH is.

[Highland 0]

MacMahonamania is kept to a mininum on Raw, that alone makes it better than SD! despite SD! having the superior workers and matches.

[Guest Goodear]

Did you perhaps miss Shane McMahon taking the one thing in that had momentum for the RAWE brand as far as ratings were concerned (i.e. Kane) and sending it down the crapper? Vince and Steph at least have never beaten a wrestler with more than one leg in a wrestling match.

[Highland 0]

Shane, despite his shitty way of taking heat away from wrestlers appears only once in a while while Vince, Stephanie and company are on Smackdown every fucking week!

[Spaceman Spiff 0]

Shane was on Raw for at least 3-4 weeks leading up to No Mercy, plus Raw after.

 

Come to think of it, he may have been on practically every Raw since his return (although, I could be wrong).

[2GOLD 0]

Plus everyone can get Spike while UPN isn't available in all areas and to get it on Dish in some areas requires a higher fee.

[Damaramu 0]

How could Vince McMahon and all the writers, bookers and whoever else is considered "creative" or "management" NOT see what's wrong with this show?

 

How could they NOT realize that their 50+ year old annoncers (one of whom was never a wrestler) have been involved in, like, three feuds already this year?

 

How could they NOT see that the tag division is piss-poor?

 

How could they NOT see that RAW's roster pales in comparison to Smackdown's?

 

How could they NOT see how much this show sucks? And it's not like Smackdown is the greatest wrestling show either, but it's WAY better than RAW (well, the Vince-Sable-Steph stuff knocks it down several notches). Weren't these the same people that made 1998, 2000 and 2001 such great years? What's happened?

Oh, come on! RAW RULZ!

 

I mean, they got ROB VAN DAM!!!

 

WHAT ELSE DO YOU NEED?

 

SCREW GUERRERO. SCREW ANGLE. SCREW BENOIT. SCREW EVERYBODY --- RAW has RVD.

 

Rob could draw 30's --- if they just kept him on camera more.

-=Mike

... RVD draws better ratings than the SUPER BOWL --- if the fans would ignore his crap work, his crap mic skills, and his rather boring personality

Grow up. Seriously. Just because you were wrong in your "RVD SUX!! HAR HAR!" argument doesn't need you need to bring it into another thread that has nothing to do with it. Is this how you react when you lose at anything?

Do you run into another persons class room after gym and bean him with a baseball b/c he scored a homer off of one of your pitches?

[Guest Coffey]

He wasn't wrong....

[razazteca 0]

Plus, Raw is LIVE~! ANYTHING CAN HAPPEN~!

The peeps with short attention span need that commercial break in the middle of the match and CAMERA 6 WORST CASE SENARIO IZ THE SHIZNIT~

[Damaramu 0]

He wasn't wrong....

Actually he was argueing against RVD getting the world title because he injured people and couldn't draw.

When he's never actually injured anyone nor has he been put in the position to draw.

[Guest Coffey]

Yeah, RVD's never injured anyone. Tell that to Triple H.