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

Ah, Toronto. I love it every time any wrestling promotion goes to Canada, because the crowds are always stellar up north. I love the reception the Canadian superstars get there too like KO and especially Sami (who is still out due to injury). Oh yeah! And Trish Stratus got that POP! All-in-all, I think we saw the louder more interested crowd on Monday night.

WINNER: Raw

FACTOR 2: COMMENTARY

I want to formally start a petition to bring back Renee Young for the Raw commentary team. These groups desperately need a shake-up, and her debut proved that she is the perfect one to take charge on either brand. So, this week I'm going with a coin flip, and it's SmackDown Live.

WINNER: SmackDown

FACTOR 3: MATCHES

So.. There wasn't any match I was over the top on this last week. The Bar got a win to face the winner of The Usos and SAnity to see who faces The New Day at Hell in a Cell. Billie Kay took down Naomi who continues to slide farther and farther down. Bryan defeated Almas by DQ after The Miz got involved. I would love to see a straight up Almas vs. Bryan match without interference. Given the time, that one could be great. Charlotte beats Carmella to retain her belt, and then gets beaten down by Becky "The Lovable Heel" Lynch.

Balor thought he beat Constable Corbin by DQ after the authority figure used a chair during the match, but not so fast my friend. Corbin merely forgot to announce that it was a no DQ match after all, and he went on to get the win. Sasha defeats Dana Brooke, and Seth retains the IC Championship after defeating Kevin Owens. The Revival got a non-title win over The B-Team, Natty beat Alicia Fox, Bobby Lashley beat The Ascension. By himself. Dean Ambrose beat Jinder Mahal, and the main event saw Roman and Braun win via DQ over Drew and Dolph after Braun seems to turn heel on Roman(SO STUPID). Overall, I think that Raw had the better matches.

WINNER: Raw

FACTOR 4: PROMOS

Okay, so there were actually some fun promos this week. Starting with SD Live with some King Booker! How King Booker has become so underrated as a character I will never understand, but man what a heel he was. His interactions with The New Day was awesome. Jeff Hardy did some weird Jeff Hardy stuff because it's Jeff Hardy. But he announced he is having a hell in a cell match with Randy Orton, so I'm guessing he is jumping off something. The we had Bryan and Brie Bella who did some decent stuff, but nothing super awesome.

On Raw, we had the really good stuff. I thought the opening promo was as good as it could be overall. I think everyone knew hell in the cell was the next step for Braun and Roman, and Constable Corbin continues to be annoying. However, Corbin does some pretty fun stuff in this episode. I loved the "announcement" that he forgot to mention his match with Finn was no DQ after he hit him with a chair. Brilliant work there. KO said two words... "I quit". I like it in terms of storyline, which I'll talk about, but for now I'll just say that I think this is all just to move him to SDLive. My promo of the week belongs to Elias and Trish Stratus. This does not sound like this would be as fun of a promo as it turned out to be, but it was awesome. The crowd was into it, and then Elias saying the match should be a pillow fight and saying he doesn't date older women was fan-friggin-tastic.

WINNER: Raw

FACTOR 5: STORYLINES

Lets start with SmackDown Live. I would love to see Sanity get a shot at the belts at Hell in a Cell. I'm tired of the same combination of three teams in The Bar, The New Day, and The Usos. Granted, all three of those teams are fantastic, but it's time for something new there. Why are Hardy and Orton inside hell in a cell..? Seems so pointless to me, but it should be an okay enough match to get to pass through the PPV. I still like The Miz and Daniel Bryan feud, but I just don't care about mixed tag matches at all. I wish we saw AJ and the belt in every episode, but thats just a small bark for what has been a great feud with him and Joe. Now to the Women's Championship. I love Charlotte having the belt. It makes sense, but it makes more sense as a heel. She is easily more hatable, and people are tired of seeing her there. Having Becky be the face that chases her would be big money. You're never going to get people to hate Becky Lynch. It just isn't going to happen. Especially against Charlotte Flair.

Next is Raw. Constable Corbin did his first cool thing in my opinion switching matches on Finn. I just do not like that character right now. I love Seth as the Intercontinental Champ, and as far as I'm concerned it is way ahead of the Universal Belt could ever be. Kevin Owens quitting took me by surprise, but think about it. Bryan is back, Miz is on fire, AJ is top dog.. SD Live is the perfect place for him. So I think that is the jump we're going to see here soon. The Revival are in a conundrum where they keep beating the champs in non-title matches but when the title fight comes they'll find a way to lose. I hate it, but whatever. Do you remember when The Ascension were the longest reigning Tag Team Champions on NXT? Arguably built up to be the biggest force in WWE overall? Well, Lashley beat them. By himself. The guy who has been the biggest dud ever since his return. Let's get to an even bigger blunder. The main event scene. Why did Braun Strowman seemingly turn heel when no one wants to like Roman Reigns?! So, instead, they tunr the most over guy in the business heel. This is why people hate WWE creative sometimes. You have a clear storyline, but yet you refuse to do the right thing. Braun isn't a heel. The Shield are heels. They're the ones that can be the best bad guys. Because of this, SD Live wins.

WINNER: SmackDown

FACTOR 6: SCHEDULING / PACING

I love SD Lives pacing, and hope that it shows that two hours is enough for a wrestling program.

WINNER: SmackDown

FACTOR 7: VISUAL PRESENTATION

Kevin quitting, Trish being back, Braun turning heel (still stupid), and that stuff with Constable Corbin puts Raw over the top.

WINNER: Raw

EXTRA CREDIT BONUS ROUND!!!

Nada.

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


SmackDown should have, and very easily could have won this week. Especially with Raw turning Braun heel & losing KO, SD Live has all the advantage, right? Turning Braun heel, if it is the permanent case, is the worst decision they could have made. Putting Harper, Braun, and Wyatt back together to take on The Shield was big money business. But The Shield should have been the heels. They'd be white hot. Roman is a walking heat magnet, we know Seth can be a great heel, and Dean even looks like he wants to be a heel. People could buy it, and Braun is a huge baby face. I hate it, but SD Live didn't do enough to win.