WWE Raw vs. SmackDown: Analyzing Who Won the Week of September 26

The battle between Raw and SmackDown for sports-entertainment supremacy continued this week as the red brand looked to follow up its first exclusive pay-per-view offering on the WWE Network with a strong, enthralling broadcast.

Whether they did or not is up for interpretation, but what is not is Raw's setting of the bar for SmackDown Live to try to exceed.

Raw featured Kevin Owens and Chris Jericho battling Enzo Amore and Big Cass in the night's main event, while SmackDown countered with a gigantic WWE World Championship match between titleholder AJ Styles and No. 1 contender Dean Ambrose.

Monday's show saw the reluctant formation of a tag team between Sheamus and Cesaro, while SmackDown saw Alexa Bliss send a message to Becky Lynch ahead of their No Mercy championship clash.

Both shows furthered storylines, featured strong in-ring action and made booking decisions designed to build to the future.

Which brand did it better?

Match Quality

Typically a category dominated by Raw, this week was a much more difficult one to judge.

Raw was a show mostly phoned in by management, which recognized that the show was going to take a massive ass-kicking at the hands of the presidential debate. Still, the wrestlers themselves delivered between the ropes, particularly The New Day, Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson, all of whom improved upon their Clash of Champions match to deliver an entertaining and action-packed bout.

T.J. Perkins and Tony Nese also wrestled an excellent cruiserweight division match, even if the fans were not as receptive as one would have hoped. Their ability to shake off chants of "CM Punk" and "Randy Savage" is a testament to their mental toughness, especially given the pressure that comes along with a match on live television.

1. WWE World Championship Match: Dean Ambrose vs. AJ Styles	SmackDown Live
2. WWE Tag Team Championship Match: The New Day vs. Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson	Raw
3. WWE United States Championship Match: Roman Reigns vs. Rusev	Raw
4. T.J. Perkins vs. Tony Nese	Raw
5. American Alpha, Heath Slater and Rhyno vs. The Usos and The Ascension	SmackDown Live

SmackDown countered Raw's effort with a pay-per-view quality main event pitting Styles against Ambrose for the WWE World Championship. The bout may not have lived up to the heightened quality of their Backlash near-classic, but it was still a superbly wrestled match won by The Phenomenal One.

The rest of the SmackDown broadcast featured solid in-ring action from the tag team and women's divisions, but nothing matched the quality of Perkins vs. Nese from Monday. With that said, the entire broadcast was built around Styles vs. Ambrose, and that match was undoubtedly the best of the week from either brand.

Winner: SmackDown Live

Creative Direction

The creative direction of Monday Night Raw was more focused than it has been in months, and the result was a broadcast that may not have inspired fans in the short term but laid the groundwork for future feuds and rivalries.

An angry, vengeful Seth Rollins rolled into Monday night seeking revenge for his loss to Owens the previous night at Clash of Champions. For the first time, he looked like a bona fide babyface, unwilling to run to management to make up for injustices perpetrated against him. By programming him against Owens and tag team partner Jericho, Rollins will have the opportunity to thrive in his new role.

Cesaro and Sheamus sought an answer following their best-of-seven series draw and were informed by general manager Mick Foley that the title shot they chased will be a tag team championship opportunity that they will share, forcing them to work together if they wish to achieve championship glory.

Brian Kendrick set himself up for another championship opportunity against Perkins, while Bayley made it clear she will not stop chasing the Raw Women's Championship, regardless of who holds it. In every instance, WWE Creative laid the building blocks for an entertaining future, even if it half-assed the show overall.

SmackDown Live took the opposite approach, steadily building to its No Mercy event by focusing on the here and now.

Dolph Ziggler and The Miz set up a high-stakes championship encounter for the October 9 event. The Usos teamed with The Ascension to beat Heath Slater, Rhyno and American Alpha, forcing a tapout from Slater that once again portrays The One-Man Rock Band as the weak link.

John Cena's Attitude Adjustments to both Ambrose and Styles suggest a change in philosophies for the franchise star, who has been beaten and disrespected by both men in recent weeks.

While both shows excelled in their strategies, Raw wins this category.

Winner: Raw

Booking Decisions

The biggest booking misstep of the week goes to Raw, who paid off seven straight weeks of Cesaro vs. Sheamus with a return to the old Attitude Era "tag team partners who hate each other" crutch.

Sure, it was part of the creative direction that earned Raw a win in the previous category, but only because it sets up a tag team rivalry featuring Superstars fans care about. What it also does is tell your audience that after seven weeks of investing in the story at the center of the feud, it was all for naught. It was meaningless because no definitive winner was determined.

That is the exact opposite of the impression a promoter wants to give his or her loyal audience.

The decision to run with Sasha Banks vs. Charlotte one last time next Monday night felt repetitive, if only because the two have spent four months feuding over the Raw Women's Championship. With so many other women at its disposal, including the misused Bayley, it feels as though WWE Creative should freshen things up while building to one last rematch rather than continuously booking the same contest over and over.

SmackDown had a much stronger week from this perspective.

Its writing team added emotion and incredibly high stakes to Ziggler vs. The Miz by putting the former's career on the line against his rival's Intercontinental Championship. It added heat to Bliss vs. Lynch by having the heel No. 1 contender attack the beloved champion from behind and leave her lying.

Cena, Ambrose and Styles interacted physically ahead of October 9's Triple Threat match for the WWE World Championship, and The Usos scored a definitive win, earning momentum and strengthening their claims to the lead heel position in the tag division.

Even the Randy Orton-Bray Wyatt vignettes, though somewhat cheesy, had a certain charm about them that helped evolve the feud past the tired and cliche "Wyatt cuts a vague promo to set up a meaningless grudge match" tropes that have plagued The Eater of Worlds' career to this point.

SmackDown wins this week, as it consistently has, thanks to a more focused and cautious booking attempt that pays off more often than not.

Winner: SmackDown

Winner

SmackDown wins this week's battle on the strength of an outstanding Ambrose-Styles main event and a solid booking effort that inspired faith in WWE's audience rather than reluctance and a sense of betrayal, like the feeling that emerged after the Cesaro-Sheamus debacle.

Scorecard

SmackDown: 5; Raw: 3

The scorecard is accurate according to the weeks covered. For the sake of completeness, SmackDown won the week of August 15 on the strength of Ziggler vs. Ambrose SummerSlam build, while Raw won the week of August 29 courtesy of the Kevin Owens championship win.