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 OC vs The New Day and Ricochet was a tremendous match, and one which solidified The OC as a dominant unit. The OC are slowly becoming one of the best aspects of Raw, and the way in which they are winning is fascinating. All involved wrestlers performed well, with Ricochet continuing to display his amazing talent against AJ Styles, a foil he knows very well at the moment.

The Women's Tag Team Championship match was extremely interesting, and this was enhanced by the fact The IIconics were eliminated first. All 4 teams had an a opportunity to shine, however it was Alexa Bliss and Nikki Cross that shone the brightest. These 2 women are quite frankly a highlight of WWE’s weekly product, and Bliss especially is continuing to display the traits of a future Hall of Famer.

Rey Mysterio vs Andrade was also a match of real quality, and it is clear they can do no wrong together. Their match was a delight to watch, and it put over Andrade as a star.

SmackDown = The match quality was also high on SmackDown, with Aleister Black vs Sami Zayn an interesting that match that may have gotten lost in the shuffle had it been at SummerSlam. However, the highlight of SmackDown was the tag team match between Big E and Xavier Woods vs Daniel Bryan and Rowan. The match was extremely fun, and had there been a better ending as opposed to the DQ finish, it may have been one of the best tag team matches in quite a while. Unfortunately, SmackDown just missed out on the consistent match quality of Raw.

WINNER: Raw

FACTOR 2: PROMOS

Raw = Goldberg’s reveal on Miz TV resulted in a surprisingly large reaction, and through a few simple words, he made fans salivate over the prospect of him destroying Dolph Ziggler at SummerSlam. The promo from The Miz and Dolph Ziggler that preceded Goldberg’s arrival was perfect, and spoke to how talented both men are at promos. Yes, even Ziggler!

Unfortunately, Seth Rollin’s promo at the end of his segment with Brock Lesnar left a lot to be desired. Rollins came across as a beaten man, which does not inspire confidence in him going into SummerSlam. I feel his promo was intended to endear him to the fans, however it came across poorly.

SmackDown = Charlotte and Trish Stratus delivered a passionate promo which set the stage perfectly for their SummerSlam match. It was great to hear how each woman wants to defeat the other at SummerSlam, and I only wish we had a longer build to their.

On the Kevin Owens Show however, Shane McMahon once again struggled to inspire on the microphone, and despite the best efforts of Kevin Owens, this segment was poor. Once again I can only hope that Shane decides he needs to take an extended break, but it is clear he enjoys the spotlight too much to do that. The promo quality this week was good, but not as good as Raw.

WINNER: Raw

FACTOR 3: STORYLINES

Raw = Seth Rollins came out to address Brock Lesnar despite being in incredible pain, and it was clear this would ultimately be in vain. Lesnar was able to decimate Rollins again, which suggests he is in for a world of pain at SummerSlam. This feud has been built well, and I look forward to seeing how they blow this feud off at SummerSlam.

Alexa Bliss and Nikki Cross won the WWE Women’s Tag Team Championship in what feels like the next direction of their storyline. Previously it has been teased that they would implode and split, however by capturing these titles they are taking the storyline in a new direction. It will be riveting viewing to see how they operate as the champions, and how the underlying issues are addressed going forward.

Roman Reigns was again the subject of an attack, this time in the form of clear attempted murder. Being hit by another car was a more serious issue than the near miss that happened on SmackDown last week, and this is seemingly to build top a match at SummerSlam. If this was the intention, it has failed miserably, however Samoa Joe showed genuine concern for Reigns’ welfare, which suggests not only is he turning face, but he could be joining up with Reigns to form a dangerous Samoan alliance.

SmackDown = Kevin Owens vs Shane McMahon was heavily built upon through the Kevin Owens Show segment, and unfortunately it didn't add anything interesting to the storyline. It felt like the storyline was running out of momentum, and I only hope that SummerSlam is the culmination of their feud.

Charlotte vs Trish Stratus has been built effectively over the previous 2 weeks, however it has to be said that a longer build would have been even better.

In terms of other matches at SummerSlam, SmackDown relied on video packages this week to build further interest, and despite these videos being well produced and interesting, they are no substitute for furthering storylines in person.

WINNER: Raw

FACTOR 4: SCHEDULING / PACING

Raw = Raw felt like it dragged slightly this week as it felt disjointed, but not as disjointed as it has been over the previous few months. The attention that the attempted murder of Roman Reigns received felt distant from the show as a whole, and that took away from the flow of the show.

SmackDown = As with most weeks, SmackDown was a lot easier to watch this week. The 2 hour format lends itself to a much easier viewing experience, and this week was no different.

WINNER: SmackDown

EXTRA CREDIT BONUS ROUND!!!

Raw gains points for making me laugh at Mike Kanellis pinning his wife Maria Kanellis for the 24/7 Championship. Not only was this unexpected and funny, but the inevitable R-Truth follow up was hilarious. R-Truth is now an 11 time 24/7 champion, and he deserves all the plaudits coming his way for the commitment he has shown to the championship.

Raw loses points for Seth Rollins' promo. It just did not feel organic, and detracted from the overall storyline with Brock Lesnar.

SmackDown gains points for involving Buddy Murphy in Roman Reigns' storyline. Murphy has the potential to be elevated to the upper midcard, therefore segments like this can only enhance his reputation.

SmackDown loses points for having the Aleister Black vs Sami Zayn match on SmackDown as opposed to SummerSlam. Both men have worked hard and deserve to be highlighted on the show. Despite them producing a good match, the win for Aleister would have felt more important had it been at SummerSlam.

SmackDown also loses a point for having Ember Moon lose further momentum. If she wasn't going to beat Natalya, she should have instead beaten someone else. Ember feels as though she has lost all momentum and credibility.

POINT ADJUSTMENTS: Raw (+1 / -1) / SmackDown (+1 / -2)


At a score of 3-0, Raw wins this week. Both shows were great this week, and the scoreline doesn't do SmackDown justice. However, Raw was just a tad more consistent and interesting, and the influence of Paul Heyman is clear to see. WWE programming is getting much better, and I am optimistic this can continue.