Smark Out Moment

Welcome to another edition of Battle of the Brands from Smark Out Moment, where we compare this week's episodes of Raw and SmackDown and determine which one of the two was the better show.

BATTLE OF THE BRANDS:

RAW vs. SMACKDOWN

FACTOR 1: CROWD

The Raw crowd seemed totally out of it. Didn't care about a single thing happening. Maybe its because they were fed a total shit show, so I can understand why they were like that. SmackDown wins, and you'll see me saying that a lot this week.

WINNER: SmackDown

FACTOR 2: COMMENTARY

I'm starting to understand Tom Phillips role a little more, but I still don't like it. It seems really odd to have an extra guy there just to hand out some extra information that could easily be given to us from Mauro, JBL, or Otunga. I really wouldn't mind seeing Phillips take JBL's spot, but then they have no heel commentator. Mauro nor Otunga could really be a heel, and I think you definitely need to have one and I can't see Phillips filling that role. However, I would listen to these four over Raws group any day. Even though I love Corey Graves. SmackDown wins.

WINNER: SmackDown

FACTOR 3: MATCHES

Raw didn't really give us many matches. Bayley & Charlotte was something you could see coming from about three miles away, and Braun interrupted two of the others. Which I'm perfectly okay with, Braun is asserting himself as one of the best characters on Raw with the way they're handling him. Noam Dar & Cedric keep going with consistently good matches. And, like I mentioned earlier, Braun interrupted the main event which I was fine with.

But again, SmackDown was better. I was nervous with how they would handle AJ vs. James Ellsworth for the WWE Championship, but they did a great job. Lasted maybe a minute with AJ squashing him. Then they had Miz and Apollo battling for the Intercontinental Championship, and that was pretty good. Alexa vs. The Luchadora was a pretty clever way to get Becky a win over Alexa without the belt being on the line. Having Baron Corbin come in and be in the title scene is great because I like the work he has been doing. Good stuff all around. SmackDown picks up another W.

WINNER: SmackDown

FACTOR 4: PROMOS

Raw had the long winded promo's they normally have. I was okay with the opening promo, but that was about it. The whole thing with Enzo and the sensitivity training was okay, but nothing I was a huge fan of.

Everyone on SmackDown who had a promo killed it. Seriously, they had awesome promo's. Miz calling out Renee for being with Dean Ambrose, and then Natty just destroying Nikki. Calling her a bitch twice, and then saying John would never marry her. So, in the spirit of this version of BOTB, SmackDown wins.

WINNER: SmackDown

FACTOR 5: STORYLINES

Where Raw gets close to SmackDown this week is right here with the storylines. I like what they're doing with Jericho & Owens. I don't like that he is facing Reigns again, but it is what it is. I'm intrigued how far they plan on going with Braun. I'm hoping he is who beats Reigns for the US Championship since he is obviously a viable threat to do that while keeping Roman looking good. I may be too hopeful there.

SmackDown wins here though with the show they set up for next week. Every title will be defended in what will be awesome matches. I'm glad they aren't waiting until the Rumble to have Ziggler get his title shot. That leaves the door open for having a match with Undertaker or Shawn Michaels which I know seems like a long shot, but a guy can dream. Wyatts will defend their title's in a fatal four way elimination style match, and having them beat everybody possible will cement them as an even better team than what they've already shown.

WINNER: SmackDown

FACTOR 6: SCHEDULING / PACING

SmackDown wins here and its not even a competition. So many promo's on Raw that just seemed to be there for fun. SmackDown, almost everything meant something (Mojo vs. Hawkins being the exception).

WINNER: SmackDown

FACTOR 7: VISUAL PRESENTATION

You can hardly tell a difference here. Since SmackDown is up 6-0 at this point I'm thinking about giving it to Raw just so it isn't a sweep, but I think Raw was so bad that I'm going to let it be a sweep.

WINNER: SmackDown

EXTRA CREDIT BONUS ROUND!!!

Nothing here.

POINT ADJUSTMENTS: Raw (+0 / -0) / SmackDown (+0 / -0)


I truly thought Raw was so bad. I didn't really enjoy anything but a few segments, and I loved almost every second of SmackDown and they set up for an even better show next week. For the second time ever we have a clean sweep. SmackDown wins 7-0.