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: MATCHES

Raw = The Beat the Clock Challenge totaled something like 5 minutes long. Pass. I'm over seeing Bobby Lashley and Finn Balor fight. Same with Aleister Black and Ricochet vs. The Revival. Same with this idea of Nia Jax and Tamina interrupting Sasha Banks vs. Natalya. Didn't care about Baron Corbin vs. Apollo Crews. Kurt Angle vs. Samoa Joe wasn't what it was years ago. Really, the Last Man Standing match was the only thing worth checking out and even that wasn't special.

SmackDown = Kurt Angle vs. AJ Styles was a total bust, Charlotte Flair vs. Asuka was interesting, but the gauntlet match was the thing that seals the deal for SmackDown to get this win this week.

WINNER: SmackDown

FACTOR 2: PROMOS

Raw = Triple H's promo was my favorite bit of mic work from this week. Ronda Rousey's left much to the imagination, as did Drew McIntyre and Roman Reigns, and Seth Rollins and Paul Heyman, and even the A Moment of Bliss segment, but the Triple H thing was a welcome thing to watch even if some of it wasn't planned.

SmackDown = Nothing special on SmackDown to beat out the Triple H promo.

WINNER: Raw

FACTOR 3: STORYLINES

Raw = The only positive advancement for this was Triple H saying he will have to retire from in-ring competition if he loses. Everything else was a wash of things we already knew before.

SmackDown = Very interesting change with Charlotte Flair winning the SmackDown Women's Championship, especially since they had previously advertised a Fatal 4-Way to determine Asuka's No. 1 contender. Also, it was good to see Kofi Kingston get his title shot. Glad the match between Shane McMahon and The Miz is now a Falls Count Anywhere match. The rest...bust.

WINNER: SmackDown

FACTOR 4: SCHEDULING / PACING

Raw = While I wasn't head over heels about this particular episode in terms of content, the pacing was fine to me.

SmackDown = It's hard for me to judge this. They had a promo, a match, a non-match, a promo, and then a really long match that had a promo within it. Very strange.

WINNER: Raw ties SmackDown

EXTRA CREDIT BONUS ROUND!!!

Raw gains a point for Charlotte Flair failing to beat Ruby Riott in that time limit, but loses a point for Becky Lynch beating Liv Morgan in something like 70 seconds. Lynch shouldn't come out on top heading into WrestleMania. This should have been Rousey's win. +1 for Colin Jost putting on a Yankees hat. -1 for booking rematches.

SmackDown gains points for The Usos forfeiting and the surprise title change.

POINT ADJUSTMENTS: Raw (+2 / -2) / SmackDown (+2 / -0)