WWE Raw vs. SmackDown: Winner, Top Highlights and Botches for Week of March 23

The battle for brand supremacy kicked into overdrive this week, as WrestleMania 33 draws near.

Raw produced a broadcast full of red-hot angles and storyline progression.

Chris Jericho poked fun at friend-turned-bitter enemy Kevin Owens. Triple H had a warning for Seth Rollins. Roman Reigns issued Undertaker a receipt in the form of a spear. A few entertaining matches and more preparation for WrestleMania put an exclamation point on the show.

SmackDown Live countered with an entertaining broadcast that shone a light on AJ Styles vs. Shane McMahon and featured a major title switch, as The Usos defeated American Alpha to capture the SmackDown Tag Team Championships.

The women of SmackDown brawled to set up their WrestleMania title match, and WWE champion Bray Wyatt had a chilling warning for Randy Orton.

Which show did enough to secure the victory in the weekly war for bragging rights between the Monday and Tuesday night staples?

Find out with this recap of the week's biggest stories, Superstars and moments.

Why Raw?

The Road to WrestleMania continued to benefit the Raw brand Monday night, as red-hot angles and storyline developments dominated the three-hour broadcast.

Roman Reigns delivered an emphatic response to the chokeslam he endured weeks earlier at the hands of The Undertaker, dropping The Deadman with a spear to end the show. The moment increased the heat surrounding one of the marquee matches and continued to paint the shades of grey for the Reigns character.

It was a year ago when The Big Dog said: "I'm not a good guy. I'm not a bad guy. I'm the guy." Continued use of him in the manner he was handled Monday will only help to emphasize that sentiment and erase the idea he is a pure babyface, a role that has not suited him.

The ongoing rivalry between Chris Jericho and Kevin Owens intensified Monday night with Y2J's personal attack on his former best friend. Jericho produced a photo of Owens that exposed him as a fan—a former mark who idolized the popular Superstar.

Jericho's promo and the beatdown by Owens that followed represented the height of WWE Creative's storytelling efforts Monday night. It featured extraordinary mic skills from Y2J and allowed KO to rediscover the anger and rage that will benefit him exponentially come WrestleMania 33.

Triple H's condescending promo on Seth Rollins was in tune with his character.

By offering him the opportunity to sign a hold harmless agreement, preserving WWE from any sort of legal recourse, The Game flippantly suggested Rollins is no match for him and that he will obliterate The Architect on wrestling's grandest stage.

Not only did it set the stage for a non-sanctioned match at WrestleMania, but it continued to establish Triple H as the cocky villain fans want Rollins to shut up on April 2.

Those three segments increased excitement and anticipation for the highest-profile matches on the WrestleMania card and were joined by numerous other portions that either set up matches to help fill out the upcoming pay-per-view card or strengthened previously announced bouts.

That is the trademark of an effective broadcast this close to The Showcase of the Immortals.

Why SmackDown?

AJ Styles has been the Most Valuable Player in WWE over the past year, and on the most recent edition of SmackDown, he proved why.

He continued to elevate the curious rivalry with Shane McMahon in importance, cutting a promo at the top of Tuesday's episode in which he exhibited pure joy over his vicious and vile attack of McMahon on the previous week's show, then proceeded to bump around to make the prodigal son look like a worthy opponent.

He took a big bump, enduring a dragon suplex onto the wood covering of the announce table before taking an elbow drop from the top rope through said table. It was the lasting image from Tuesday's show, the hottest angle of the night and a much-needed latest chapter in a late-developing story.

Earlier in the show, Bray Wyatt confronted Randy Orton, who was attacked and restrained by sheep mask-wearing assailants. He spouted something in tongues, then issued a warning to The Viper ahead of WrestleMania. From there, he sang "He's Got the Whole World in His Hands" to close out the vignette.

It was brief, did not demand a ton of airtime and logically progressed the story. On a show with so many moving pieces and only 120 minutes to accomplish all of its goals, that is key to a successful segment.

From an in-ring perspective, American Alpha and The Usos stole the show with a fantastic SmackDown Tag Team Championships match. For the first time since their drafting to the brand last July, Jason Jordan and Chad Gable were able to show off the vastness of their abilities.

The Usos, perhaps inspired by what would be another championship victory, turned in their finest performance of the past year. The result was the best match on WWE TV this week.

For all of the serious segments and high-quality in-ring product that was offered Tuesday, the most memorable moment of the broadcast may well have been The Miz and Maryse's mockery of John Cena and Nikki Bella's relationship on Total Bellas.

Their "lost" episode of the reality show was brilliant and more scathing than any of the promo work they had done to that point. Not only did it attack Cena and Bella's relationship, but it did so in a satirical manner. It was mean-spirited but funny, and if WWE is not careful, it may turn the heels into the fan favorites come April 2 at WrestleMania.

Biggest Botch

Bayley is the type of babyface who comes along once in a generation. She is a legitimate role model for young fans, boys and girls alike, and an underdog even adults can throw their support behind. Hers is an emotional story that can be exploited to enhance the significance of any program.

That is why her use ahead of WrestleMania 33 has been so disappointing.

At Fastlane, she only defeated Charlotte Flair because of Sasha Banks' interference. From there, she proceeded to lose clean to The Boss. On Monday's Raw, she dropped a No Disqualification match to Nia Jax, again clean, setting up a Fatal 4-Way match for The Showcase of the Immortals.

Bayley has been weakened significantly throughout this creative process. The champion has been devalued and sacrificed to set up a match that could have been realized in any number of alternative ways.

In doing so, her credibility has been attacked.

Anything other than a win, or an expertly booked screwjob, will further create a situation in which main-roster fans will doubt that Bayley is a Superstar on the level of Charlotte and Banks, who have dominated the women's division for the last year.

She deserves better than that. Perhaps the best pure babyface on the WWE roster, she is the hero young fans have not had since the peak of John Cena's run. Why WWE is content to waste her talents to put over two women it has already established is a question that remains unanswered.

Probably because there is no valid answer for it.

Winner: Raw

SmackDown Live had another strong effort Tuesday night, but again, the sense of urgency with which WWE Creative is approaching Raw on The Road to WrestleMania is benefiting that show exponentially.

The stories are better, the pacing is superb and the show is of significantly improved quality.

Seth Rollins vs. Triple H, Chris Jericho vs. Kevin Owens, Roman Reigns vs. Undertaker and even Goldberg vs. Brock Lesnar are intriguing rivalries that have heightened anticipation for WrestleMania, thanks in large part to the video packages, vignettes and angles the show has produced.

Any one of those rivalries could conceivably headline WrestleMania, while SmackDown Live has zero. Sure, Bray Wyatt vs. Randy Orton is for the WWE Championship, but in comparison to Raw's marquee stories, it feels very much like a second-tier main event.

While SmackDown will re-emerge as the dominant show in the wake of WrestleMania, Raw has been boosted significantly by the hype. The grandeur and increased sense of importance surrounding The Showcase of the Immortals has helped it net another victory in the battle for brand supremacy.