WWE Raw vs. SmackDown: Winner, Top Highlights and Botches for Week of Sept. 21

It is a pay-per-view week in WWE and the Raw brand rose to the occasion, presenting a three-hour broadcast focused on setting up Sunday's card and generating interesting in the main events as well as the undercard.

SmackDown Live answered, presenting the latest chapter in the Shane McMahon-Kevin Owens feud and crowning a new No. 1 contender to the Women's Championship.

Which show succeeded enough to earn the win in the battle for brand supremacy, though?

Was it the one with Brock Lesnar, Braun Strowman and Roman Reigns? Or did the blue brand deliver a counterpunch of AJ Styles, Owens, Randy Orton and Jinder Mahal worthy of knocking the flagship off?

Take a look with this recap of the week that was in WWE television.

Why Raw?

This week, the flagship was devoted to hyping the biggest matches and most prominent feuds ahead of Sunday's No Mercy pay-per-view and to an extent, it succeeded.

"Suplex City, Bitch"

Brock Lesnar stared into the camera, addressing Braun Strowman, and spoke with an eerie calmness.

He thanked The Monster Among Men for inspiring him, for backing him into a corner, because that is when he is at his most dangerous. He issued one last word of warning, his Suplex City catchphrase, and disappeared.

Short, sweet and to the point.

That has always been when Lesnar is at his best. He gets his point across, it sells the match and everyone is better off for it. We heard Strowman talk. More than once.

When Lesnar finally retorted, fans felt the gravity of the match, its "big fight" environment and were eager to see the bout play out.

That is the epitome of effective hype, especially for the Universal Championship main event of Sunday's No Mercy.

Unpredictability in the Women's Division

As if there wasn't enough unpredictability in the Raw women's division, what with the title switching hands every so many weeks of late, Bayley stunned the WWE Universe Monday night by returning and joining friend Sasha Banks in the squared circle.

First, those two and women's champion Alexa Bliss formed an unlikely partnership to lay out Nia Jax, then Bayley and Banks laid waste to Bliss, ending the segment by embracing to a big pop. The hometown return, in front of thousands of San Jose fans, was a memorable one and a fun way to inject the unexpected into the broadcast.

When Bayley was announced as the fifth entrant in the title bout at No Mercy, things got even more interesting.

At a time when WWE Creative appears hellbent on promoting the same crop of talent, keeping fans guessing is of the utmost importance. Otherwise, monotony sets in.

The Miz Shines

There has not been much to like about Jason Jordan's ascent to championship contention by working with The Miz, his weaknesses are shadowed.

The intercontinental champion can carry the program from a promo standpoint, doing the talking of two men. He did just that Monday night, a verbal buzzsaw as he tore into both Jordan and his on-screen father, Kurt Angle.

He also brings a star power Jordan simply cannot claim at this point. While he is unproven as a singles star, Miz has accomplished everything there is to accomplish and is also the best pure heel the industry has to offer.

Monday night, he carried the feud on his back, drumming up interest through the words he spoke with conviction and his ability to generate heat even for the most one-dimensional babyface.

He was the star of the show, bookending it and singlehandedly creating buzz for a match that otherwise would have been an afterthought on Sunday's loaded card.

Why SmackDown?

With its competition putting the final touches on the build to No Mercy, SmackDown Live countered by continuing to plant the seeds for its October 8 Hell in a Cell pay-per-view.

The Build to Shane McMahon vs. Kevin Owens

A week after Owens' vicious and unprovoked attack on Vince McMahon, SmackDown Live commissioner Shane McMahon solemnly walked to the ring, grabbed the microphone and addressed The Prizefighter.

There was no yelling or screaming. There was no grandeur or explosive promises of raining hell down on him. McMahon was calm, cool and collected as he condemned his rival to Hell in a Cell and the beating he will deal him on October 8.

It was a complete departure from the energy McMahon typically brings to his performance.

He was serious, demonstrating to the audience the gravity of the situation. For as often as the two may not see eye-to-eye, Vince is still Shane's father and when Owens put his hands on the chairman, he opened up a world of pain and suffering that will come his way inside The Devil's Playground.

Owens responded later, feigning sincerity as he apologized for his actions and then blaming Shane for everything. He wrapped up, claiming what he will do to Shane on October 8 will not earn him a place in hell but, rather, heaven.

Revenge Is A Perfect 10

Tye Dillinger avenged weeks of interference and attacks by Baron Corbin Tuesday night, interrupting the United States Championship match between The Lone Wolf and AJ Styles by attacking his fellow NXT alumni. 

Not only was it logical storyline progression, it also set up a previously unpredictable Triple Threat match for the coveted midcard title at Hell in a Cell. While that match has not been formally announced, booking trends suggest that will be the fight that awaits fans when the pay-per-view kicks off.

And why not?

Styles, Corbin and Dillinger have been intertwined over the last month, their stories coming together to create some of the best television SmackDown Live has had to offer of late.

It has also reintroduced Dillinger to relevancy after months spent languishing in the undercard. 

And fans are reacting favorably.

Now, it will be up to The Perfect 10 to deliver the type of performance that earns him continued exposure. If he can do that, Hell in a Cell will be a monumental night for him and his chances at main roster stardom.

Even if he loses the match itself.

Charlotte Returns, Wins

Charlotte returned to SmackDown Live on Tuesday night and was immediately thrust into the spotlight via a confrontation with women's champion Natalya and the booking of a Fatal 4-Way No. 1 Contender's match for that night's main event.

The Queen overcame the desire of her opponents to win, delivering a big boot to Tamina to score the pinfall and the opportunity to challenge at Hell in a Cell.

Charlotte injected the division with her star power, which had been missing over the last month or so. Back and ready to challenge her old rival on pay-per-view, she figures to ensure the second half of 2017 is a monumental one.

Biggest Botch

You wouldn't know Emma is in Sunday's Fatal 5-Way for the Raw Women's Championship if commentators Michael Cole, Booker T and Corey Graves hadn't told you.

Why?

In the final hype for the match, she was conspicuous in her absence. While the emphasis was put on Bayley, Sasha Banks, Alexa Bliss and Nia Jax, Emma was nowhere to be found. Instead, her involvement in Monday's broadcast was limited to a tweet, a surefire sign of irrelevance ahead of Sunday's bout.

And that is a shame.

The Aussie is as talented between the ropes as any of her four opponents. She laid the groundwork for a women's revolution that has inexplicably passed her by and all the #GiveEmmaAChance hashtags in the world do not seem to be enough to restore her credibility among the WWE fans.

She will probably eat the pinfall Sunday night and disappear back into the doldrums of the midcard, where her talents will go wasted on unwatched episodes of Main Event. And when she eventually goes somewhere else and makes a bigger star of herself than she was allowed to in WWE, the company will come crawling back.

And why?

Because it could not be bothered to come up with anything more interesting or professionally satisfying for her to do.

Winner

Raw wins this week, if only because of the sense of urgency with which it approached its broadcast.

Everything on Monday night's show, barring the Apollo Crews vs. Curt Hawkins match, had something to do with building toward Sunday's pay-per-view.

It was a focused show that kept the viewer's attention while the New York Giants were stinking up the joint over on Monday Night Football. That is key to any show's success at this time of year and Raw achieved it this week.

From Lesnar's words of warning to Roman Reigns calling John Cena out on his hypocrisy, the No Mercy headliners were adequately represented while the midcard got the boost it needed from WWE Creative.

SmackDown Live presented an equally entertaining broadcast, but the questionable use of its WWE champion, Jinder Mahal, and the lack of that same urgency doomed it to second place this week.