WWE Raw vs. SmackDown: Analyzing Who Won the Week of September 12

New champions and intriguing creative direction have led to more entertaining episodes of Raw and SmackDown lately but, at the same time, have made determining a clear winner more difficult.

This week, the red brand landed the first blow in the battle by increasing the value of its female performers in the opening segment, delivering an outstanding main event in Roman Reigns vs. Kevin Owens and filling in the remainder of the show with strong work from Sami Zayn, Chris Jericho, Cesaro and Sheamus.

SmackDown countered with more outstanding work from intercontinental champion The Miz, a tease of a heel turn from Dean Ambrose and the second entertaining women's match from the brand in three days.

Two above-average broadcasts have fans enjoying the product as the company heads into the fall months, a sharp contrast from recent years. But which brand was able to emerge from this week's slugfest victorious?

Match Quality

Owens and Reigns set the bar incredibly high Monday night with a main event that would have been at home on a pay-per-view broadcast. There was high drama as Reigns attempted to earn a spot in the main event of Clash of Champions, the fans erupting with every well-timed near-fall.

Earlier in the night, Sasha Banks, Bayley and Dana Brooke got the in-ring portion of the show off to a hot start with a Triple Threat match that determined the No. 1 contender to Charlotte's WWE Women's Championship. The contest, like the Reigns-Owens headliner, utilized near-falls to create drama all the way up to The Boss' creative rollup pin of Bayley.

Throw in another entertaining bout between Cesaro and Sheamus, which ended when the Swiss Superman seized an opening and grabbed hold of the ropes for added leverage, and you had a solid night of wrestling from start to finish.

The blue brand was unable to deliver an in-ring product comparable to its competitor.

Carmella, Nikki Bella, Naomi, Alexa Bliss and Natalya provided fans with a solid five-way match to determine the top contender to Becky Lynch's SmackDown Women's Championship, but it was hardly enough to overcome the spectacular bout Reigns and Owens presented 24 hours earlier. 

A main event pitting John Cena and Ambrose against Miz and AJ Styles, while good, was not of the quality one would expect given the talent involved.

Winner: Raw

Creative Direction

Rusev's return sets up one final battle between him and Reigns at Clash of Champions, while Seth Rollins vs. Owens was cemented as the main event, which was the right decision. There is a more heated and interesting story to be told between Rollins and Owens than there would have been by introducing Reigns to the mix.

By taking the route it did, WWE Creative has set up an intriguing main event while filling out the remainder of the Clash of Champions card with another marquee star rather than top-loading it.

The use of Dana Brooke was also intriguing in that it presented her as a sympathetic figure, something she has never had to be to this point in her career. The way she stood up for herself, only to go back to carrying Charlotte's bags after a devastating loss, suggests WWE Creative will milk the story for a while rather than blowing it off.

The fan reaction to Brooke slapping Charlotte was strong enough to suggest that when the time comes to finally turn her, she may have more support from the WWE Universe than anyone could have imagined.

Jericho and Zayn were at the center of a quality edition of The Highlight Reel Monday night, during which the latter credited the host with inspiring him to become a wrestler, then engaged him in a verbal war that led to the announcement of a match at Clash of Champions. While it was not the most interesting way to set up the match, the work of both on the mic drummed up interest in the bout.

SmackDown wasted little time setting up feuds for the future.

Cena's return led to an intense exchange with Ambrose, who responded later in the night by dropping the franchise star with Dirty Deeds. That The Lunatic Fringe received legitimate boos throughout Tuesday's show after being the target of jeers during his title match against AJ Styles two nights earlier only adds credence to the idea that the former Shield member may be a heel sooner rather than later.

The latest chapter of The Miz and Dolph Ziggler's Intercontinental Championship feud, and the injection of general manager Daniel Bryan into the proceedings, continued to fan the flames of speculation. Will Bryan ever step back into the squared circle for a one-on-one showdown with Miz, or are fans destined to watch representatives of the former WWE champion battle on his behalf?

Those two stories alone, and the wealth of freshness that can be capitalized on, leaves SmackDown the slight winner in this category this time around.

Winner: SmackDown

Booking Decisions

The Raw team's decision to resist the urge to put Reigns in the Clash of Champions main event stands out as its best of the week.

Reigns has had so many championship opportunities in pay-per-view main events over the last two years that leaving him out of that scene lends freshness to the product. It also helps curb some of the negative sentiment surrounding the Superstar, who has been greeted with boos in arenas all over the country when being shoved down the throats of fans.

By saddling him in a midcard feud with a proven heel such as Rusev, the opportunity exists for Reigns to recoup some of the positive reactions the company has desperately worked to attain for him.

The tease of an Ambrose heel turn headlined SmackDown.

For months, it has been apparent Ambrose has been missing the edge that made him such a compelling character in the first place. He devolved into a one-dimensional babyface whose frenetic pace was no longer enough to keep fans completely invested in his character, or lack thereof.

Who would have thought it would be the return of Cena and his honest assessment of the Lunatic Fringe that reintroduced intrigue in the persona?

Now more of the antihero in a three-way rivalry involving the babyface Cena and the clear heel Styles, Ambrose can rediscover the traits that made him one of the sport's most engaging characters over the last two years.

Winner: SmackDown

Winner

SmackDown's ability to lay out stories for the long term earns it the big win this week.

Raw took solid steps on its way to Clash of Champions but most of the booking decisions, except the Dana Brooke story, seem built for the coming weeks rather than the next few months. That can be problematic, especially when laying out three hours of television each and every week.

SmackDown has a plan, knows where it wants to go and has taken the steps to get there. That is a trademark of a focused, entertaining wrestling show.

Winner: SmackDown

Scorecard

SmackDown 4, Raw 2