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

That Monday Night Raw crowd was as hot as it gets for a TV crowd, and I was loving every minute of it. I really enjoyed the "you both suck" chants

WINNER: Raw

FACTOR 2: COMMENTARY

I don't think either team stood out this week more than normal, but I still like the Raw team more than I like the SmackDown squad. I don't know what it is, but it has to be Coach.

WINNER: Raw

FACTOR 3: MATCHES

I don't know whats up with Elias constantly beating Bobby Roode and not anybody else; I mean, Roode even did a stretcher job for the guy. I like Elias, so I can't complain. AOP and Ruby Riott got wins, and then a big six man tag match happened. Lashley, Roman, and Strowman beat on Owens, Zayn, and Jinder Mahal. No Way Jose beats Baron Corbin thanks to Titus Worldwide, and Natty got a win. In the main event Seth Rollins retains his Intercontinental Championship in a fun match.

Jeff Hardy & Randy Orton vs. The Miz & Shelton Benjamin was a cool little tag team match that I enjoyed. Xavier Woods had his first singles match on TV that I can remember in a long time picking up a win on Sheamus. The the six woman tag team match fell short for me for a main event match.

WINNER: Raw

FACTOR 4: PROMOS

The first Raw promo with Roman, and everybody else on the entire roster seemingly, was a lot of fun and I think it is because the crowd makes it fun. Listening to a great crowd makes all the difference. That Sami Zayn pop though... Finn Balor likes Seth's butt, which is nice. And I am so glad that Titus brought up his epic fail on the GRR, but I was hoping he would attack it as a heel instead of an inspiration story.

Outside of the midget Daniel Bryan getting destroyed by Big Cass (which I loved), SmackDown did noting pretty much all night. Like at all.

WINNER: Raw

FACTOR 5: STORYLINES

Why wasn't Lashley just Brauns partner at WrestleMania? Then they could have won the tag belts, and rightfully so, and then this match against Zayn and KO would be a Raw Tag Team Championship match instead of it not even being on the card. Then, you can have the Broken Wyatt duo win the belts after Lashley or Braun turns on one another for a SummerSlam match. Even though I am hoping Lashley takes on Lesnar before he leaves. Regardless, it would have made the tag match at Backlash mean something instead of being kind of pointless. Seth and his IC Title stuff has held Raw down with Finn and Miz. That has been fun stuff to watch. Roman and Joe should be fun for what it is. Just a physical bar fight type match.

I think Nak is about to win his first WWE Championship at Backlash and have AJ chase him as the valiant baby face. Which I am totally fine with. I wish Shelton was in the United States Championship match, but Randy and Jeff is still an okay match. Carmella has a lot to prove still, and her match with Charlotte at Backlash will tell how she is at being a true heel champ. Big Cass and Daniel Bryan? I'm okay with it, but its success depends on where each guy goes next.

Raw has some major holes in their stories, and not having a tag title match on either brand (at least not announced so far) is ridiculous to me. SmackDown still has the better stories.

WINNER: SmackDown

FACTOR 6: SCHEDULING / PACING

SmackDown needs this point because the rest of their show was garbage this week. Even so, they still have the better scheduling.

WINNER: SmackDown

FACTOR 7: VISUAL PRESENTATION

The Raw crowd wins this. Just watching a crowd so into the show and everything that is going on was just so much fun. It was an NXT Takeover crowd, but just at Raw. I loved it.

WINNER: Raw

EXTRA CREDIT BONUS ROUND!!!

The midget getting beat up comes back, and I loved it.

POINT ADJUSTMENTS: Raw (+0 / -0) / SmackDown (+1 / -0)


Raw wins 5-3, and that is simply because I think SmackDown had a WEAK show. Neither one was "amazing" by any stretch, and I think Backlash is going to be a subpar PPV just because the stories aren;t that interesting. I am hoping they use this as a catalyst to start building some amazing stuff. If not for Shinsuke possibly winning his first major main roster title, and Seth Rollins and The Miz doing what they do best, Backlash wouldn't be worth watching in my opinion. Regardless, Raw wins this week.