WWE Raw vs. SmackDown: Winner, Top Highlights and Botches for Week of March 16

The pressure was on Raw and SmackDown Live this week to deliver a quality television product as WrestleMania 33 rapidly approaches.

Thanks to a series of red-hot angles, including returns and brutal attacks, both shows were able to accomplish that. Unfortunately, only one could claim victory in the weekly battle for brand supremacy.

Raw got things off to a hot start with the return of Seth Rollins, an ultimatum for Mick Foley and Roman Reigns' face-to-face with Shawn Michaels.

SmackDown Live countered with AJ Styles' first attack on Shane McMahon, Bray Wyatt's haunting promo on Randy Orton and two women's bouts that continued to emphasize the importance of the division to the Tuesday night show.

For all the positives, the shows shared a common negative that earned the "biggest botch" status for the week of March 16.

Which show did more right en route to victory in this week's competition between flagship shows? What was their common flaw?

Take a look now with this WWE week-in-review.

Why Raw?

The Road to WrestleMania always seems to bring the best out of the Raw brand.

Perhaps the show's creative staff works best under pressure. Maybe the sense of urgency motivates those in power to deliver a more consistent and entertaining product. Whatever the case may be, Raw and its fans are benefiting tremendously from it.

Seth Rollins' return and subsequent brawl with Triple H instantly elevated their program past Roman Reigns vs. Undertaker and Goldberg vs. Brock Lesnar as the brand's hottest WrestleMania rivalry. The intensity the self-proclaimed Kingslayer showed as he unloaded on his former mentor signified the raw emotion that exists among the Superstars.

Not a forced feud or manufactured main event, the feud between Rollins and Triple H is the product of two years worth of storytelling. It is readymade for a huge WrestleMania showdown on April 2 and is succeeding at a higher level than most as a result.

It is not the only heated rivalry to capture the attention of fans Monday night.

Kevin Owens cut a magnificent promo that encapsulated his entire story with Chris Jericho, including his feigning friendship with Y2J as long as it benefited him, then dropping him when it became more of a burden than a tool.

The casual manner in which Owens denied comradery of any kind establishes his heartlessness and selfishness ahead of what may be the second-most emotional match on the entire WrestleMania card.

The women's division heated up with the babyface turn of Dana Brooke and her beatdown of longtime mentor Charlotte. After months of verbal abuse and degradation by the second-generation star, Brooke lashed out, assaulting Charlotte and severing their relationship for good.

Elsewhere on the show, Sasha Banks subtle hints at a future heel turn continued and Nia Jax once again established her dominance over the women's division by obliterating Bayley after a disqualification loss.

Perhaps no occurrence on Monday's USA Network presentation was more intriguing than Roman Reigns' face-to-face confrontation with WWE Hall of Famer Shawn Michaels.

On a collision course with The Undertaker, Reigns called The Deadman to the ring but was instead met by Michaels. The all-time great warned Reigns about the phenomenon he was getting ready to face, only to have his words of wisdom brushed off by a simple reminder from Reigns that The Heartbreak Kid was retired by The Deadman at WrestleMania 26.

And, as Reigns put it, he would retire Undertaker at this year's Showcase of the Immortals.

Arrogance and flippancy from Reigns are two traits not typically associated with him and could be the not-so-subtle hints at a change in attitude over the next few weeks. If so, fans of the flagship show will be all-too-appreciative as the bland babyface they are forced to endure transitions into a character who is neither good nor bad but, rather, takes up residency in the shades of grey.

Why SmackDown?

The March 14 episode of SmackDown Live was very much the AJ Styles Show and rightfully so.

The Phenomenal One expressed his feelings on what he perceived to be managerial bias against him and recalled the numerous times he had earned a shot at the WWE Championship only to have another hurdle thrown in his path to gold.

From there, he proceeded to brutally and violently assault Shane McMahon in the parking garage, leaving the SmackDown head honcho bleeding from his scalp. It was a declaration of war on the part of Styles, who is clearly no longer willing to sit back and wait for his superiors to make the right decision in regards to his career.

Both the promo that started the show and the backstage beatdown were strong segments that introduced fans to a nastier, meaner, ruthlessly aggressive Styles. They had never seen this Phenomenal One before but needed to in order for the match between him and McMahon, announced at the end of the program by a battered commissioner, to be taken seriously.

A program not suffering from a lack of credibility is the WWE title feud between champion Bray Wyatt and No. 1 contender Randy Orton. The Viper reiterated his alliance with Wyatt was a ruse all along, a plan concocted by one third-generation star to lure the other into a false sense of security, then strike when the time was right.

Wyatt responded in a bizarre and uncomfortable manner. He bathed in the ashes of Sister Abigail and vowed to eliminate the infidels from this world, beginning with Orton at WrestleMania. It was a creepy and unsettling promo that added an element of the supernatural to the feud. 

Unfortunately for Orton, it may also signify the emergence of the most dangerous Wyatt to date.

The Miz and Maryse continued their verbal lambasting of John Cena and his significant other, Nikki Bella, during a special edition of Miz TV. While the former intercontinental champion is widely regarded as one of the best talkers in his profession, it was his bride who stole the segment.

Maryse blasted Bella for a significant act of betrayal that cost her money and stardom. Her attempt at painting the Total Divas star as a selfish fraud exposed a side of the French-Canadian fans were unfamiliar with. The former Divas champion grew visibly angry during the walk down Memory Lane, dropping her calm and sensuous demeanor, and it added to the reality of the situation.

Bella responded with C-level insults and a promo style that continuously comes across as insincere. That is not out of the ordinary, nor did it adversely effect the impact of Maryse's work. On a night when other women on SmackDown turned in disappointingly average performances, Maryse stole the show and enhanced her WrestleMania program in the process.

Biggest Botch

There were too damn many authority figures dominating WWE television this week.

Raw featured a show-long storyline in which commissioner Stephanie McMahon demanded general manager Mick Foley prove his ability to "do what is right" by firing a Superstar of his choosing. Throughout the night, Creative concocted vignettes featuring the two superiors interacting.

Foley, feeling the pressure, dressed down Raw tag team champions Karl Anderson and Luke Gallows before booking them in a tag team title defense at WrestleMania.

From there, the story would culminate in the final segment of the night, where Foley would be verbally humiliated by Triple H and Stephanie before applying the Mandible Claw to The Game.

He would ultimately be saved by the return of Seth Rollins, but not before it was obvious to fans and analysts alike that too much television time had been devoted to a guy who cannot possibly set foot back inside a WWE ring to ever truly pay off any of the story told throughout the show.

Ironic, then, that SmackDown would find itself in a similar situation.

Like Foley, Daniel Bryan would spend too much time in front of the camera, talking down to lead heels like The Miz and AJ Styles and generating excitement for matches and physical confrontations that simply will not happen.

No matter how much fans may want to see Bryan kick the ever-loving hell out of Miz.

Factor in the developments in the rivalry between SmackDown commissioner Shane McMahon and AJ Styles and you have a week of WWE programming devoted too much to authority figures at the expense of the full-time talent who should be somewhat protected when interacting with their on-screen bosses.

Worse yet was the fact that stars of some importance were verbally dressed down, made to look weak as they took a tongue lashing from their bosses and did nothing to defend themselves. Yes, this is not the Attitude Era and it is always advised to have respect for one's superior, but not to the extent that they get over on you.

That felt like the case all too often this week and is something WWE Creative should re-evaluate as it prepares for Monday's Raw.

Winner: Raw

Neither Raw nor SmackDown was a perfect show this week.

Each featured significant issues, including emphasis on authority figures who will have no affect whatsoever on the culmination of major matches or feuds.

With that said, both did a fantastic job of building its top WrestleMania programs, putting its best foot forward to ensure fans are genuinely interested and invested in the monumental rivalries.

SmackDown may have featured an enormously significant angle involving AJ Styles and Shane McMahon but too much of the remainder of the show felt like filler. Outside of the Randy Orton-Bray Wyatt promo that shined a light on their upcoming championship clash, there was a lack of progression in the stories presented.

Raw, on the other hand, was a show featuring hot angles and solid in-ring action.

Roman Reigns embraced his cockiness and overconfidence ahead of his match with Undertaker. Seth Rollins returned and was faced with further damage to his knee, courtesy of Triple H. Kevin Owens cut a promo on Chris Jericho, Dana Brooke betrayed Charlotte and a huge Triple Threat match for the Raw Tag Team Championship was set up for WrestleMania.

The fact of the matter is Raw felt like a show where things were constantly happening whereas SmackDown felt like a placeholder outside of the McMahon-Styles stuff. That will not earn it a victory most weeks.

Definitely not on The Road to WrestleMania 33.

Raw wins this week.