Sports and Games are preferred by millions of people. People either go to stadiums to watch sports live or watch them on TV. TV channels stream sports live to provide viewers a lively experience.
Wrestling is one of the games preferred by people of all age groups. Wrestling has a huge number of audiences and channels that stream different wrestling programs.
Key Takeaways
- Raw and SmackDown are distinct brands within WWE, each featuring unique rosters of wrestlers, storylines, and championships.
- Raw is a three-hour show airing on Monday nights, while SmackDown is a two-hour program broadcast on Friday nights.
- Raw has a longer history, dating back to 1993, while SmackDown premiered in 1999, contributing to the overall success and growth of WWE.
Raw vs Smackdown
Raw is the flagship show of WWE, and it airs every Monday night, while SmackDown focuses on more family-friendly content and airs every Friday night. Raw has longer matches than Smackdown due to its three-hour time slot compared to two hours for Smackdown. Raw is more established.
Raw is an American television program for wrestling. It was aired every Monday on the USA Network cable channel. The performers are from the Raw brand who are the WWE employees.
It is one of the very famous wrestling shows in the US. In 2000 Raw has been shifted to another network called TNN.
Smackdown is a wrestling program produced by WWE and airs on Fox or ET. Most of the smackdown episodes are taped but it also airs live on some special occasions.
It was telecasted on Thursday nights till 2005 and after which it began to air on Friday nights. After several changes in day and timing, it is now being telecasted on Fridays.
Comparison Table
| Parameters of Comparison | Raw | Smackdown |
|---|---|---|
| Debut | January 1, 1993 | August 26, 1999 |
| Theme color | Red | Blue |
| Show day | Monday | Friday |
| Male wrestlers | Bobby Lashley, Brock Lesnar, Charles Betts, Luis Martinez, etc | Roman Reigns, Shinsuke Nakamura, King woods, Jimmy Uso, etc |
| Female wrestlers | Queen Zelina, Dana Brooke, Becky Lynch, Beth Phoenix, etc | Charlotte Flair, Naomi, Aliyah, etc |
What is Raw?
Raw was started as a replacement for a program that aired on the USA network called prime time wrestling. The name of Raw during that time was WWF’s Monday Night Raw.
Many wrestling programs at that time were prerecorded with a small audience but Raw aired live sport. It received greater support from the audience due to this trait.
The venue for the Raw matches was the Grand Ballroom at Manhattan Center which was a small theater in New York. Then due to the financial crisis, Raw started recording videos.
The program duration was 60 mins that time. Then to meet with competitors Raw increased the duration to 2 hours in 1997. The Raw was renamed Raw is War.
Raw has had different theme music written by many artists and bands like Outasight, Nickelback, etc. They air special episodes on special occasions or to pay tribute to wrestlers who have retired or died.
Slammy awards which is the famous yearly award for wrestlers and other personalities in WWE. This award program is also aired on Raw.
Celebrities and famous personalities are featured on Raw. These personalities include wrestlers, commentators, singers, ring announcers, etc.
Raw is aired in different countries in different languages. It is aired in Spanish on the channel called Universo. It has also got fans in the UK and Ireland. Raw can also be streamed online on YouTube.
What is Smackdown?
Smackdown is a Friday night wrestling program of WWE. It airs on Fox and ET. It is a flagship wrestling program of WWE. It was initially released on April 29, 1999.
During this time it was a Thursday night show. It was aired on UPN but later on moved to The CW, Syfy, USA Network, Fox, FS1, etc.
During early times it was prerecorded and no live episodes were aired. It was started to compete with another show called thunder. Dwayne Johnson called the Smackdown his show.
Because it is considered the name Smackdown was derived from one of his catchphrases. Smackdown has had different theme songs. Some of them include Rise, Born 2 Run, This life, etc
Smackdown also joined an initiative to support fighters of breast cancer. They joined with Susan G Komen for the cure and spread awareness by adding pink ribbons to the set and middle-rope in the wrestling ring.
Different themed episodes were also aired to show respect to wrestling legends. Anniversaries and milestones were also celebrated with special themes. It airs in different countries in their regional languages.
In Latin America, it was aired by Azteca 7, VMS, and now by Fox. Flow 1 airs it on Jamaica, Sky5 in New Zealand, Sky pacific in Fiji, AB1 in France, Mega in Spain, and Melita sport in Malta are the channels on which Smackdown is aired in different countries. Episodes of Smackdown can also be streamed online.
Main Differences Between Raw and Smackdown
- Raw airs on Mondays while Smackdown can be watched on Friday nights. The time slot of both the programs have changed in the past
- Raw has a large number of episodes than Smackdown. This is because Raw was started six years earlier than Smackdown
- The theme color of WWE Raw is Red whereas, the color of Smackdown is blue and it is called the blue show
- Greatness by Vo Williams is the theme song for Raw while, the theme song of smackdown is Are you ready. But there are also many other theme songs used in the past
- Raw is also a famous show but most audiences prefer smackdown over Raw.
- https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1525/ctx.2009.8.2.65
- https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/36223
Last Updated : 14 July, 2023
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Piyush Yadav has spent the past 25 years working as a physicist in the local community. He is a physicist passionate about making science more accessible to our readers. He holds a BSc in Natural Sciences and Post Graduate Diploma in Environmental Science. You can read more about him on his bio page.
