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

This section is all about crowd interaction. Good or bad. Boos or cheers. And Raw was filled with boos especially at the beginning with Roman and Jinder. The good news is, Jinder is trying to be boo'd, but Roman is supposed to be a top face. He showed what I believe some heel tendencies with attacking Jinder backstage a couple times, but the England crowd showed no love to Roman.

WINNER: Raw

FACTOR 2: COMMENTARY

I thought the Raw crew seemed off this week. Talking over each other and just seemed weird. SmackDown wasn't great by any means, but they were better.

WINNER: SmackDown

FACTOR 3: MATCHES

This wasn't even close that Raw wins here. SmackDown had basically zero to note except Shinsuke Nakamura and AJ Styles which they're dangerously close to beating into the ground for me.

On Raw, Seth is defining his career with this IC Title run with beating KO. Don't worry, KO gets redemption later. His open challenges are just as fun as Cena's with US Championship. Bobby Roode is in the Money in the Bank match, Ziggler & McIntyre are turning out to be quite the tag team beating Finn and Strowman, and then Kevin Owens qualifies for the Money in the Bank match by beating Elias and Bobby Lashley. Clearly, Raw had the better matches.

WINNER: Raw

FACTOR 4: PROMOS

Raw had some decent stuff, and that first promo wasn't bad with Reigns and Jinder. Jinder gets great heat, and Roman could honestly be the greatest heel of our era if given the green light. Sami also had a decent promo on Lashley, and I have a feeling this promo with his three sisters is going to be a train wreck.

SmackDown saw Daniel Bryan and Big Cass go at it in their odd feud that I am genuinely enjoying. Carmella had a celebration only to find out she is facing Asuka at Money in the Bank. Really, neither show had any promo that was like, "Wow!". However, having to choose, I think that Big Cass and Daniel Bryan promo takes the win for the week giving SmackDown the win.

WINNER: SmackDown

FACTOR 5: STORYLINES

What is going on with Shinsuke and AJ? They are beating this into the ground for me, and I really hope they have Shinsuke win soon and then attack this at a different angle. Big Cass and DB is surprisngly working for me, and I hope it continues for a bit longer. And I really think Asuka vs. Carmella couuld work really well if Carmella just cheats to win and be a real heel.

Raw has a lot going on. Sami Zayn and Lashley, Roman and Jinder, and I am loving Seth with the open challenges. I love how both shows are handling MitB, but right now I am intrigued to see where everything on Raw goes especially with Seth. He's the one we're going to be talking about when this era is over.

WINNER: Raw

FACTOR 6: SCHEDULING / PACING

SmackDown just has great pacing, and it doesn't wear you down like Raw can.

WINNER: SmackDown

FACTOR 7: VISUAL PRESENTATION

Kevin Owens had a week! Great match with Seth and then qualifying for MitB in the main event of Raw. I like it, and I liked seeing it.

WINNER: Raw

EXTRA CREDIT BONUS ROUND!!!

Nothing.

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


Raw wins 4-3 thanks to their much better matches than SmackDown. We'll see where this all goes, but storyline wise, Raw has the stronger future too. SmackDown has a great roster with some great players, so this could easily turn around.