WWE Raw vs. SmackDown: Winner, Top Highlights and Botches for Week of February 9

Raw and SmackDown Live remained two separate, distinct brands this week, but their endgames were similar: hype their upcoming pay-per-view events through strong angles and quality matches.

They both succeeded, delivering two highly entertaining shows on USA Network.

But who did it better?

Was it the red brand, which saw the announcement of two major, marquee bouts for its upcoming Fastlane spectacular, or did the blue brand eclipse its competition, adequately promoting the top stars and bouts for this Sunday's Elimination Chamber pay-per-view?

There may have been two satisfactory presentations from WWE Creative this week, but only one could win the battle for brand supremacy.

Why Raw?

The flagship show of WWE presented another compelling episode Monday night, but the one angle that helped it reach the quality it did was the in-ring promo featuring Chris Jericho, Kevin Owens and Goldberg.

In just a couple of minutes, Goldberg accepted Brock Lesnar's challenge for a match at WrestleMania 33, challenged Owens to a Universal Championship match at Fastlane and was granted the bout by Jericho, thus planting the seeds that will lead to the breakup of the heel best friends.

One seemingly innocent in-ring segment sold three different stories to the audience and set Raw up to have two major feuds for the upcoming Showcase of the Immortals. It was a well-structured segment that built on every announcement and featured one of the best promos of Goldberg's career.

The Goldberg-Owens match is not the only one the company expertly hyped on Monday night.

Braun Strowman smashed Roman Reigns, pummeling and leaving him lying to close out the broadcast. The beatdown followed the announcement earlier in the show by general manager Mick Foley of a Fastlane match between the two.

Reigns and Strowman had interacted numerous times since November's Survivor Series, but Strowman's punishing assault of Reigns on Monday intensified the rivalry and created heat for the program. While Reigns remains as polarizing as ever, fans care about the feud. They reacted with great fervor at the events that unfolded Monday night and will likely be molten-hot for the battle of the big men on March 5.

Above all, the Feb. 6 episode of Raw featured the successful integration of Samoa Joe to the main roster. Clad in a suit, a hired gun for Triple H, he signed his Raw contract and was immediately confronted by Reigns. The two Samoan badasses would later meet in the main event, which was dominated and won by Joe.

The heavyweight has long been one of the most engaging performers in the industry. Even when things may not have been rewarding for him from a creative standpoint in prior runs, he always carried himself like the baddest man on the planet. It has allowed fans of WWE's NXT brand to accept him as quickly as they did, and now, the Raw audience has the same opportunity.

Joe was treated like a big deal in his first two weeks on the Raw roster, and the result should be a credible main event heel to go along with Owens, Strowman and Jericho.

Why SmackDown?

After watching Raw conclude another strong three hours of television, SmackDown Live set out to produce a show that not only eclipsed that of its competitive rival, but that also effectively hyped its Elimination Chamber pay-per-view this Sunday.

It succeeded.

Every match on Tuesday's broadcast somehow directly affected a match for Sunday's show.

Baron Corbin continued to create momentum for himself ahead of his WWE Championship opportunity inside of the Elimination Chamber by defeating AJ Styles, The Miz and intercontinental champion Dean Ambrose in a Fatal 4-Way match, essentially pinning The Phenomenal One cleanly to earn the victory.

The Lone Wolf has been a bright spot on Tuesday nights. He has emerged as a legitimate breakout star through matches with Styles, Dolph Ziggler and John Cena.

Beating someone like The Phenomenal One, who has been so protected over the last six months, means something and will only help elevate Corbin in the eyes of a fanbase eager for fresh young stars to step up and become integral parts of the brand's top stories and matches.

Cena and Randy Orton is a matchup that could headline any pay-per-view, but Tuesday night, they battled in the main event of SmackDown Live. Not only did Cena win, continuing his roll of late, but Luke Harper and Bray Wyatt's interference also furthered the split that has led to Harper's growth and evolution as a singles act.

The continued dedication to the women's division was on full display as well.

Natalya and Nikki Bella faced off in a satellite interview, and Beck Lynch, Naomi, Mickie James and SmackDown women's champion Alexa Bliss gathered in the ring for a dual contract signing. Elimination Chamber will feature three women's matches Sunday night, a testament to the strength of the booking in the brand's women's division.

Though the latter four women have been intertwined with each other for the last month or so, Naomi's quest for respect via championship gold is wholly different than Lynch's thirst for vengeance against James. They are distinct stories that spun off Lynch's long-running rivalry with Bliss, which continues despite their attention being paid elsewhere.

Even Bella and Natalya's feud steadily intensifies with every passing week, and Tuesday night, they had one last opportunity to cut a promo on each other that convinced fans to be excited for their upcoming match. While it was not always smooth, they got their points across, and the result was another spectacularly rewarding night for the female stars under the SmackDown banner.

Biggest Botch

When Dolph Ziggler turned heel in January, it felt like the rejuvenation of a character desperately in need of freshening up. After so many high-profile losses, including a few screwjobs involving The Miz, frustration finally boiled over, and he attacked Kalisto and Apollo Crews with a chair.

It initially felt like the final push Ziggler needed to become a sustainable main event character.

Instead, it has entrenched him further in the midcard, leaving him to compete with two guys who have struggled to get over, even in the post-brand extension world of WWE.

He has not been helped, elevated or benefited at all by the rivalry, leaving some to wonder why the turn was executed if this was the best Creative had in store for The Showoff.

Tuesday night, Ziggler lost to Crews in singles competition. After the match, he attacked the former NXT star with a chair, coming across as more of a spoiled brat throwing a temper tantrum than a dangerous heel hellbent on unleashing years of frustration.

The continued mishandling of Ziggler is disappointing. He entered the brand extension red-hot, but continued mishandling of him and losses in major matches have hurt his credibility and left him a mess of a character.

Ziggler's continued struggles in his new role—the result of lackluster booking by SmackDown's writing team—was this week's biggest botch.

Winner: SmackDown Live

With every passing week on the Road to WrestleMania, determining which brand won the battle for supremacy becomes more and more difficult. The sense of urgency makes for better, more entertaining television.

Raw featured strong angles that built both to Fastlane and the biggest show of the year but lacked that one blow-away match that the three-hour show typically touts.

SmackDown had a fantastic Fatal 4-Way match, a star-studded main event and quality segments in-between.

In the end, the blue brand picked up the win, courtesy of the aforementioned focus with which the brand approached the show. Everything made sense, the show played on the matches already announced for Sunday's pay-per-view and it even threw in an upset victory for Baron Corbin in the process.

Raw is trending in the right direction and will score its fair share of wins as it continues to hype Fastlane. For now, though, SmackDown increases its win total by one more.

Scorecard

SmackDown: 15, Raw: 9