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

Daniel Bryan still getting major crowd love in everything he does, and SmackDown crowd in Pittsburgh are happy he is back. I have a feeling this will be the story every city he comes back to for the first time since his being cleared for competition was announced.

WINNER: SmackDown

FACTOR 2: COMMENTARY

I still hope they shake up the crews a bit after 'Mania. Coachman & Cole on one with Graves & Phillips on the other with Saxton in NXT where they desperately need someone else besides Mauro. I dog on Saxton a lot, but him and Mauro would be a good tandem and that would give WWE three stud line-ups for commentary on all three big shows. As for right now, I'm still happy Coach is back, and Raw still wins here.

WINNER: Raw

FACTOR 3: MATCHES

I am still intrigued as to who Braun Strowmans tag partner will be at the Show of Shows for the Raw Tag Team Championship match, and seeing him destroy both Cesaro and Sheamus in singles matches over the last couple weeks was fun. I just do not care about the Cruiserweights at this point, but they had a fun match on Raw. The only other notable match was Cena vs. Kane and Cena getting the W.

Mahal & Rusev vs. Orton & Roode was fun for me because I like those teams. Becky beat up Ruby, Dolph and Breeze could've been better but wasn't bad, and Shinsuke & Shelton is something that could be really fun if given the time. Overall, I liked SmackDown matches more.

WINNER: SmackDown

FACTOR 4: PROMOS

Promos were rather weak this week in my opinion, and I think they step up big next Monday with it being the last Raw & SD Live before 'Mania. Both shows really only had one promo to note. Daniel Bryan sets the stage for 'Mania challenging KO & Sami to a match versus him and Shane. The stipulation being if KO & Sami win then they're back on SD Live and if DB and Shane win KO & Sami stay fired.

Heyman and Reigns do their thing with Lesnar taking Reigns out. Also, Bayley and Sasha go at it in what is Sasha's heel turn or at least part of it. Really, Raw had more in terms of promos and were just better and SD didn't have a lot to offer here.

WINNER: Raw

FACTOR 5: STORYLINES

I've personally liked the build towards every match at 'Mania so far. I think Reigns and Lesnar has been fun. Braun winning the tag stuff by himself is just good stuff, the triple threat for the Intercontinental Championship has been filled with classic Miz promos and good action and I think could steal the show. Taker & Cena will take a huge step next week when Taker shows up (my assumption). Nia and Alexa isn't my favorite, but it has still been fun too.

SmackDown is taking theirs to a different level with stipulation stuff like KO & Sami vs. Shane and DB. I think the build has been great with Daniel coming back, the Shane/KO & Sami storyline, and KO & Sami even starting up their Indi wrestling social media pages after being "fired" the other night. Great stuff. Charlotte and Asuka really needs no build. That is just an A+ match. Same goes for Shinsuke vs AJ Styles. They don't need builds, they just need to happen. I love Bludgeon Brothers vs. New Day vs. The Usos for the SmackDown Tag Team Championships. Now adding Rusev into the United States Championship match making it a fatal four way is awesome stuff as well since Rusev Day is so so over. Overall, SmackDown has the better lineup to me.

WINNER: SmackDown

FACTOR 6: SCHEDULING / PACING

Gotta be SD Live again here since they just don't pound you with commercials.

WINNER: SmackDown

FACTOR 7: VISUAL PRESENTATION

Cena with the throat slash challenging Taker is good stuff.

WINNER: Raw

EXTRA CREDIT BONUS ROUND!!!

Nothing.

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


SmackDown has the more intriguing stories to me right now with fresh new stuff we haven't seen yet. I love what they're doing, and it isn't that Raw has bad stuff going on either. In terms of presentations, storylines, and overall match I think SmackDown will reign supreme after all is said and done. They win the week 4-3.