4 point rating of the latest episodes of WWE Raw and SmackDown Live (3 & 4 December 2018)

RAW and SmackDown Live are WWE's flagship shows, and have been running on TV since 1993 and 1999 respectively. Traditionally, RAW has been WWE's favourite show. While SmackDown Live provides a "sports-oriented" show, RAW focuses on "storytelling".

Since the second brand split in 2016, both RAW and SmackDown Live are in head to head competition to provide better quality content for their audience. In the first year since the brand split (July 2016 to April 2017), SmackDown Live was the better show, whereas RAW came back on top during the next cycle.

After WrestleMania 34, SmackDown Live got some big stars like Samoa Joe, Jeff Hardy, and The Miz, and the competition is now even.

However, the weekly entertainment value of RAW and SmackDown Live varies every week. In this series, we will analyse both RAW and SmackDown Live every week, and would proceed to conclude which show was better that week.

Points would be awarded to each show on the parameters of match quality, promo quality, storyline progression, and non-repeatability. The brand with the better score will win the war.

So without further ado, lets analyse this week's WWE TV, and arrive at a conclusion.

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#1 Promo quality

Daniel Bryan was excellent this week on Miz TV

The best promo segment of the past RAW was Dean Ambrose's entrance in the gas mask. Although WWE has turned Ambrose into a generic heel who targets hometowns and the fans, his brawl with Seth Rollins was brilliant. The rest of the RAW promos were mediocre, except the face turn of Dolph Ziggler. Ziggler managed to garner good crowd support.

The trio of Becky Lynch, Charlotte Flair, and Asuka was brilliant on the opening segment in this week of SmackDown LIVE. The "new" Daniel Bryan was also great on Miz TV. There weren't any bad promos this week on SmackDown LIVE.

RAW - 0

SmackDown LIVE - 1

#2 Match quality

Cesaro showed why he is known as The Swiss Cyborg

As usual, RAW had a plethora of matches that were basically a rehashed version of previous editions. The Revival's Scott Dawson faced the Lucha House Party in a three on one handicap match.

Sasha Banks and Bayley were part of an impromptu tag team match against the team of Alicia Fox and Mickie James. The Authors of Pain and Drake Maverick faced the team of Chad Gable and Bobby Roode.

Finn Balor took on Jinder Mahal, and Rhyno lost to Heath Slater. Most of the matches were underwhelming. However, the match between Drew McIntyre and Dolph Ziggler was a silver lining.

SmackDown Live kept their quality in matches this week also. AJ Styles took on The Miz in a brilliant main event. The triple threat match between Cesaro, Jey Uso, and Xavier Woods was fantastic - especially the spot where Cesaro swung Jey with Woods on his shoulder.

Jeff Hardy and Randy Orton had an average match. The tag team match between the team of Asuka & Charlotte Flair and the team of Sonya Deville & Mandy Rose was mediocre as well.

Even though matches on both shows could have been better, SmackDown LIVE gets the point in the match quality this week.

RAW - 0

SmackDown LIVE - 2

#3 Storyline progression

The entire focus of RAW this week was the misuse of power by Baron Corbin. The General Manager elect fired Rhyno, made Heath Slater a match referee, and messed up with the babyfaces.

RAW's current golden storyline of Dean Ambrose vs Seth Rollins has been built well. WWE is also doing an excellent job of using Nia Jax's heat. RAW had a lot of weak points this week. However, the red brand played the rest of its cards well.

SmackDown LIVE has been impeccable with the storylines lately, and this week was no different. The tension between Asuka and Charlotte Flair built in their tag team match, AJ Styles and Daniel Bryan have elevated their feud to a higher level in this episode, and Samoa Joe & Jeff Hardy are officially in a feud now.

Even though RAW was not too bad this week regarding storyline progression, SmackDown LIVE was still better.

RAW - 0

SmackDown LIVE - 3

#4 Non-repeatability

Like most weeks, RAW this week was also mostly a repeated and rehashed version of past episodes. There were a few different things - like the match between Drew McIntyre and Dolph Ziggler.

However, most of the other segments were forgettable. RAW had the feud between The Revival and The Lucha House party stagnate without any progression, and the Q & A part involving Bayley and Sasha Banks did no good for anyone involved, other than dropping a hint about the women's tag team title.

SmackDown was also not free from repeatability. Randy Orton and Jeff Hardy have been going at each other many times now this year. However, the other segments have done something fresh.

The contract signing between Becky Lynch, Charlotte Flair, and Asuka was fresh. The triple threat between Cesaro, Jey Uso, and Xavier Woods was a breath of fresh air from the usual singles matches between members of tag teams.

RAW - 0

SmackDown LIVE - 4

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CONCLUSION

SmackDown LIVE was the better show this week

For the second week in a row, SmackDown LIVE has thrashed RAW. This week's RAW was better than that of the previous week. However, SmackDown with its consistency is still ahead of RAW, at least in terms of quality.