WWE Raw vs. SmackDown: Which Brand Has the Stronger Women's Division?

The Women's Revolution within WWE has brought about more prominent roles for women in sports entertainment, an enhanced in-ring product and opportunities the women who came before today's crop of competitors could only dream of.

It has created excitement and interest in the sport and made heroines of Ronda Rousey, Alexa Bliss, Charlotte Flair and Becky Lynch.

As WWE prepares to take its next step in the revolution with the October 28 pay-per-view extravaganza, WWE Evolution, a question remains: Which brand has the stronger women's division.

With unprecedented star power, the answer lies in the character development and in-ring product of the brands' female Superstars.

Character Development

Raw Brand

Raw has the biggest star in the sport in Ronda Rousey, but other than playing off her history as an MMA megastar, there has been little to no development of her character. Ditto veteran competitors like Natalya and Mickie James, who have been utilized mostly as sidekicks throughout the majority of their runs on Raw.

The Riott Squad is horribly underwritten and almost never wins a meaningful match. Dana Brooke, despite having the look and raw athleticism to be a star for the company, has been a nonfactor for the past year.

That brings us to Nia Jax, Alexa Bliss, Bayley and Sasha Banks.

Jax developed over time from the dominant force of the division into the inspirational babyface who combatted bullying. Unfortunately, Rousey's arrival and WWE Creative's determination to push her to the forefront interrupted Jax's growth as a character, leaving her stagnant and an afterthought following her Money in the Bank defeat at the hands of Bliss.

Bliss has been the queen heel of the division since she arrived on Raw last year as part of the Superstar Shake-up. She has consistently picked and chosen her spots, winning championships and becoming the star around whom the division is booked. While her character has not necessarily evolved, it never had to.

She has been the one consistent with the division and its greatest asset.

Bayley and Banks have spent 2018 locked in a storyline that has seen them go from friends to enemies and back to friends again after some terribly written therapy segments. Their story is, arguably, the most disappointing in that WWE set up a turn but never executed it. Now, both are at exactly the same place they were a year ago: teaming in repetitive tag team matches.

SmackDown Brand

SmackDown has the crown jewel of the women's division, Charlotte Flair, but it has also done a fine job of utilizing her recently in a way that has made for compelling television.

Returning from injury, she immediately leaped into contention for the SmackDown Women's Championship, but it came at the expense of Becky Lynch, who had won a match to earn her way to the title bout at SummerSlam.

Lynch, the heart and soul of the division, overcame a year of disappointment and heartache to get on a win streak that culminated with her earning a championship opportunity. To have her best friend essentially overshadow her with her return and then butt into her championship match created a scenario wherein Lynch could well become a heel for the first time in her main-roster career by turning on Flair.

Their story is the centerpiece of the division, but it is Carmella who carries the championship gold.

Making headlines upon her arrival on SmackDown by turning on Nikki Bella and becoming a heel, Carmella has taken a journey to the top of the division few could have predicted. She lost the rivalry to Bella but emerged from it all the better having paired up with James Ellsworth.

That pairing led her to two consecutive Money in the Bank victories and the SmackDown Women's Championship the Tuesday after WrestleMania. An insufferable heel who has built heat through her obnoxiously arrogant promos, her reliance on Ellsworth's interference and the fact that she is not nearly as good as her competition but still continues to win, Carmella is one of the more well-rounded characters on the roster.

Unfortunately, beyond that, the lack of television time and exposure for the likes of Asuka, Naomi and Absolution's Mandy Rose and Sonya Deville has hurt. There is no time to squeeze development for every competitor, let alone anyone outside of the title picture.

Decision: SmackDown

SmackDown may not have the time to develop characters that Raw does, but the blue brand has done more with less than the Raw brand, which has only developed four stars—and two of them, Bayley and Banks, are worse for it.

Raw has more attention paid to it, one of the biggest stars in the history of women's sports at its disposal and still manages to underwrite the characters to the extent it has. SmackDown has focused on its stars, created compelling stories and has done so to the benefit of its competitors. That alone makes the brand the clear winner in this category.

In-Ring Product

Raw Brand

Whereas Raw has severely disappointed with the development of the Bayley and Banks characters, those women remain the cornerstone of Raw's women's division from an in-ring perspective. Still two of the best in the world, they can be counted on to deliver the division's best in-ring content on a weekly basis.

Though their recent series with The Riott Squad has been repetitive, the content of the matches has heightened expectations for the eventual women's tag team titles. Bayley and Banks, for all the disappointment surrounding their ongoing storyline, there is no denying how integral they are to the division's overall quality between the ropes.

Ditto Natalya, Ember Moon and Mickie James. They are all underutilized, but their in-ring work is as solid and consistent as anyone's on the roster. Brooke is not the polished product her peers are, but she possesses a power-based offense that separates her from others in the division.

Alicia Fox is the longest-tenured woman on the roster and a dynamic performer in spurts.

Bliss will always be a better talker than she is a wrestler, but she has proved that, against the right opponent or with the right story, she can perform up to the moment. Former tag team partner-turned-greatest foe Jax has evolved as a worker, growing as a performer with every passing match to the point she now can play either heel or babyface and deliver a quality match.

Then there is Rousey, whose ability between the ropes still is not up to par with her peers' but whose showmanship is unparalleled. For someone with so little experience, she understands timing. She gets when to pop up and make her comeback, when to deliver the proper facial expression and how to play off fan reaction.

Those qualities take others years to master, but Rousey has picked them up in a matter of months.

SmackDown Brand

Flair is the face of women's wrestling in WWE for a reason.

Her ability between the ropes is equaled by few. Her athleticism sets her apart, and her bloodline affords her the opportunity to sit under the learning tree of her legendary father, Ric Flair. Whether she is working Lynch or Banks, Carmella or Asuka, she has repeatedly demonstrated an ability to deliver under the brightest lights and on the biggest stages known to her sport.

Lynch has not had the opportunities Flair has had, but she is arguably a better worker. She understands the value of the babyface comeback. She also builds sympathy through her body language and facials, using that vital part of her performance to fight from underneath and build crowd support.

Naomi is a dynamic babyface, the IIconics are unpolished workers but know how to generate crowd reaction through trash talk and cheap heel tactics and Rose and Deville are solid NXT exports who are still learning on the job.

Ironically enough, it is champion Carmella who drags down SmackDown a bit.

Despite holding the gold, Carmella is by far the weakest of the in-ring workers on the roster. An NXT product who has always been more about character than in-ring performance, she does enough to get by but has rarely (if ever) been the best worker in any given match.

From the worst to the best, Asuka is the undisputed best worker on either roster.

The Empress of Tomorrow works a frenetically paced style that incorporates hard strikes and submissions. She is reminiscent of Japanese Strong Style, even if the rest of the roster is oftentimes unable to adapt to it. A fantastic worker whose elevated the NXT Women's Championship to an unheard of level during her 914-day undefeated streak, Asuka had one of the best matches at WrestleMania 34 with Flair.

Decision: SmackDown

SmackDown's roster of workers is one of the best in the world. They consistently deliver an interesting and exciting in-ring product despite having one hour less of television time than the Raw brand.

Despite its three-hour run time, Raw rarely features lengthier matches than SmackDown. It does not use its time to give women more opportunities to showcase their abilities, oftentimes focusing on the same handful of in-ring competitors to carry the in-ring action.

When the division is an expansive as it is, that is inexcusable.

Conclusion

The difference between the Raw and SmackDown women's divisions is not monumental. 

Each brand is loaded with star power, women who are capable of headlining episodes of television or even main-eventing pay-per-views. No one would blink an eye if Flair vs. Lynch or Rousey vs. Bliss headlined a WWE Network presentation. That is a testament to the company's dedication to its Women's Revolution.

The primary difference is the manner in which Raw uses its time in comparison to SmackDown. Flair, Lynch, Carmella and Asuka are presented in a manner that suggests they are every bit the stars that AJ Styles, Samoa Joe, Shinsuke Nakamura and Randy Orton are.

Raw's stars, besides Rousey, still feel like a niche product within the larger show. They are allotted a certain amount of time and are surrounded on all sides by men who, warranted or not, still take time from their female counterparts.

Until Raw makes better use of its time and does a better job with its female characters, the SmackDown brand will possess the superior women's division.