WWE's Best and Worst Trends of 2018

Best: SmackDown Live

The real blue wave.

When 2018 began, Raw was the better of the two shows. SmackDown was suffering from the endless Shane McMahon vs. Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn feud that took up far too much air time. The rest of the show just felt underwhelming.

After the Superstar Shakeup, things changed in a big way. Jettisoning the likes of Jinder Mahal and the Riott Squad, the blue brand acquired an All-Star team from Raw, including Jeff Hardy, Samoa Joe, and Asuka. With the level of talent it had, it wasn't hard for the blue brand to exceed its red counterpart, and indeed, it quickly did.

Things got even better as the year came to a close, with the NEW Daniel Bryan becoming WWE Champion and a white-hot women's division with Charlotte, Becky, and Asuka in the lead. Even its midcard is currently rebuilding, with WWE finally giving the popular Rusev a push.

On the last day of the year, SmackDown is so far ahead that its already passed Raw around the racetrack several times.