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 crowds have seemed much more ready to go and impressive throughout the last month or so. Is it Jinder Mahal being the champ compared to Brock Lesnar? Or is Samoa Joe coming into his own having a bigger impact on the crowd? Nonetheless, Raw wins here again.

WINNER: Raw

FACTOR 2: COMMENTARY

There hasn't been much to nitpick here as both squads are starting to come into their own and develop some real chemistry. Cole and Booker have worked together before, so it's no surprise they have done well but the emergence of Corey Graves as a A+ commenter.

SmackDown squad really seemed thrown together at first even though I enjoyed it. They've come together as well, but at the end of the day with Corey Graves coming well into his own Raw gets the win.

WINNER: Raw

FACTOR 3: MATCHES

Besides that main event SmackDown again lacked in matches. Meanwhile on Raw we see Finn & Elias have another great match, The Revival put on a great match against The Hardy Boyz, and that main event was nothing to scoff at either as Roman & Joe had a great showing with Braun stepping in. Raw wins easy here.

WINNER: Raw

FACTOR 4: PROMOS

Spoiler: Raw sweeps the first four rounds. The opening promo for Raw was decent with Dean and The Miz with his Miztourage and Seth Rollins all being involved. Enzo did what Enzo does best, but I like Cass getting the better of him in the end because he clearly has the more star potential. The real glory comes from Kurt Angle dropping his bombshell which we'll talk about in the next section, but he sold it big time and I loved it.

SmackDown had a great promo from John Cena, but it was offset with a super duper awkward interview from Chad Gable. The kid is a stud in the ring, but needs some help here.

WINNER: Raw

FACTOR 5: STORYLINES

Lets talk about SmackDown first. The whole AJ and KO thing is still awesome and I'm hoping for a classic at Battleground. I don't know why, but I just could not care less about the Women's Division nor the Punjabi Prison match on Sunday... I hope it's good, but man I just don't care. And with the destruction of American Alpha, does SmackDown even have any tag teams?

Let's get to the good stuff. A potential fatal four way at SummerSlam with Strowman, Samoa Joe, Roman Reigns, and champ Brock Lesnar? I'm all in on that. The Revival tearing through the tag division? Sign me up. Seth Rollins in line for an Intercontinental Championship run? I'm all for it. Elias Sampson and Finn Balor are tearing it up in a no title feud, and the big news is Kurt Angle dropping his bombshell. Jason Jordan is his son. I love this because ever since he first came in to NXT and he pulled the straps down on his singlet I yelled, "Kurt Angle!". And now, here he is. I wish they had a better tag team title run with American Alpha, but both guys can hold their own in singles competition.

WINNER: Raw

FACTOR 6: SCHEDULING / PACING

With three hour long shows, I just don't see Raw winning this section.

WINNER: SmackDown

FACTOR 7: VISUAL PRESENTATION

There really isn't much to complain about here. But with all the cuts and movement SmackDown does, and to do it so well, I'll give them some love.

WINNER: SmackDown

EXTRA CREDIT BONUS ROUND!!!

Jason Jordan being Angles son deserves some love here.

POINT ADJUSTMENTS: Raw (+.5 / -0) / SmackDown (+0 / -0)


Raw wins with a 5.5 to 2 win. I love what Raw is doing, and SmackDown is just falling behind in my view for some reason. I love Jinder on top, but with him spouting the same thing week after week and yet still in a feud with Randy he just needs a change of scenery. Nonetheless, I hope things get better on the blue brand since they have a great roster. Right now, Raw is on top.