WWE Raw Struggling Due to Overreliance on Stephanie McMahon

Right now, the differences between WWE Raw and SmackDown are obvious. 

One show is thriving for several reasons, while the other is limping along to the Royal Rumble and WrestleMania seasons with plenty of problems, and one of the biggest issues Raw has is its overreliance on authority figures.

Most weeks, SmackDown has stayed true to its initial philosophy of being primarily a wrestling show. Its storylines are engaging, and the wrestlers are able to take the spotlight they rightly deserve.

Raw, however, is a different story. Plenty of Raw's opening segments since the brand split have been dominated by both Mick Foley and Stephanie McMahon, but it's the latter who is dominating the Raw landscape to such a degree that it's hindering the show.

Too often, McMahon is heavily involved on screen, and most of the time, it's without any real logic behind it.

At least when The Authority was in full flow a couple of years ago, it was part of a storyline—be it Daniel Bryan's road to glory at WrestleMania 30 or working alongside Seth Rollins to help him become the company's main star.

But now? McMahon isn't involved in any storyline that matters on Raw, and there's no relevance to her being on the show so much. Shane McMahon's appearances on SmackDown are more sporadic and intermittent, and thus, they feel worthwhile. When Shane is coming down to the ring on the blue brand, it's because something important is about to happen.

Stephanie, however, shows up with little creative direction other than to seemingly belittle WWE's best talent:

The backstage segments with Foley this week, where McMahon was constantly putting pressure on the general manager to get Undertaker to show up, made no sense other than to make McMahon look immeasurably powerful. Sadly, regular viewers of Raw have known for a while she's in that position.

And unlike her father, McMahon rarely gets retribution exacted upon her.

Back in the days of the Attitude Era, when Vince McMahon would rule with an iron fist in WWE, he would frequently be bested by men like "Stone Cold" Steve Austin, making his tyranny all the more tolerable.

Who's going to stand up to Stephanie in 2017? Sasha Banks? WWE perhaps planted some seeds of tension between the two with another cringeworthy backstage segment on Raw this past week in which McMahon belittled Banks.

Could Foley decide he's had enough and wage a civil war with McMahon? Or is WWE waiting for the big dance, WrestleMania 33, and trying to lure someone like Ronda Rousey back to get one over on McMahon?

Sadly, if the big-name option is the one WWE goes for, it will have little impact. The following night on Raw, McMahon will be back to her old tricks and dominating the skyline on the company's flagship show.

The thing is that, if WWE continues to keep McMahon as such a dominant part of Raw's weekly broadcast, SmackDown becoming the top show in the ratings may become common rather than a one-off.