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

I'm so proud of the Raw crowd for its constant booing of Crown Jewel. Boo away, they should not be having this PPV.

WINNER: Raw

FACTOR 2: COMMENTARY

Renee Young is a difference maker all the way. I like her points of view, and her takes on stuff. She is solid as can be with live commentary. She makes all the difference.

WINNER: Raw

FACTOR 3: MATCHES

Raw did not have too much going on in this category. Finn Balor got a win by DQ over Lashley. Trish, Lita, Sasha, Bayley, and Natty got a win in a 10-women tag match. Elias beat Jinder, Roode and Gable beat AOP and The Ascension in a three way tag match, Nia Jax beat Ember Moon, Lince Dorado and Kalisto got a win as a new tag team, and then Ziggler beat Apollo Crews.

I loved SmackDown's matches. A fun WWE Championship match between AJ and Bryan since he won't be going to Crown Jewel. There was a nice little street fight seeing Big E get a win, Shinsuke beat R-Truth, and then the main event tag match was a good one seeing Rey Mysterio and Jeff Hardy topple The Viper and The Miz. Good card.

WINNER: SmackDown

FACTOR 4: PROMOS

This is where Raw reigned supreme. SmackDown didn't have much outside of a couple awkward shots with Paige and a really strange promo from Shane saying if a SmackDown Superstar lost in the finals of the World Cup to a Raw Superstar, then they wouldn't be allowed on SDLive anymore. Which doesn't make sense to me.

Corbin had a big night on Raw. I'm starting to like his character more and more, and it is because of nights like last Monday. Him giving Lashley Cena's spot in the World Cup tourney just because he beat up Finn Balor after the match was good stuff. Elias had good stuff this week with Jinder, the Seth and Dean stuff could have been capitalized on a bit more, but a long play is good there too. Then seeing The Brothers of Destruction together in person again gave me chills. Great stuff even though it wasn't much.

WINNER: Raw

FACTOR 5: STORYLINES

Dean going up against, Seth specifically, the world as a heel is going to be so good. Don't forget they're the current tag champs as well alongside Seth still being the Intercontinental Champion as well which I'm sure is going to come into play. Constable Corbin is only getting better to me, and Elias is becoming a main player alongside Drew McIntyre. I'm really hoping Strowan pulls out a win over Lesnar for the belt as he is the guy to takeover in Reigns absence. Ronda is the best woman to be champ, and the Bellas are seemingly gone as they focus on Survivor Series and her bout with Becky. Oh, and how amazing is this DX vs. BoD stuff? Nostalgiaaaa!

It looks like Joe is going to take on Styles at Crown Jewel with Bryan opting out of the event. I understand the choice, but I would have loved to see a curveball like Rey Mysterio being the guy for a one shot, unique match. But going with Joe is the logical choice in the storyline. I'm interested in the Tag Team Championship stuff since The Bar and The New Day are top-of-the-line tag teams. Other than that, everyone else is tied up in the World Cup tourney which I'm going to enjoy see playing out, but leading up to the event on Friday, Raw is doing more.

WINNER: Raw

FACTOR 6: SCHEDULING / PACING

The Blue Brand does so much better with this when it comes to pacing out their promos and matches.

WINNER: SmackDown

FACTOR 7: VISUAL PRESENTATION

The Brothers of Destruction were together again in person along with DX. I love this storyline.

WINNER: Raw

EXTRA CREDIT BONUS ROUND!!!

Nothing.

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


Raw wins 5-2 as I feel like they have just been more on that show leading up to the event. I know SmackDown had to make a serious change with Bryan not supporting the event, but I feel like they could have done more than just shifted Joe in. I know they probably have more plans going forward with AJ and Bryan, but seeing The Miz or Rey Mysterio in there would have been better to me. SmackDown only has a few actual matches on the card while the rest are filled by the tourney, so they didn't really have to do much except get to the event. I think that will be a theme going forward as Survivor Series is usually filled with mixed promotion matches.