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 = Match quality was much improved this week on Raw, with 5 matches coming in at under 3 minutes. This allowed Bobby Lashley, Erick Rowan and The Authors of Pain to enjoy squash match victories, whilst Buddy Murphy and Andrade were able to look strong in their respective victories.

The real highlight of the night was Seth Rollins vs Kevin Owens, which was exciting and gave fans a reason to crave a rematch. Heel Rollins and face Owens is not a combination we have seen before, so this may result in even better matches than if the roles were reversed. Owens competes with a high risk strategy as a face, which will mesh well with the technical ability Rollins possesses.

Overall, the match quality on Raw was much better than we have seen in recent weeks. The matches were interesting and felt purposeful.

SmackDown = SmackDown featured 4 matches this week, but 2 of these lasted less than 3 minutes. Whereas the shorter matches felt purposeful on Raw, this was not the case on SmackDown. Mustafa Ali vs Drew Gulak was particularly disappointing as it underlined how little confidence there is in Gulak’s character.

Thankfully, Roman Reigns vs Robert Roode was an excellent match, with Reigns overcoming the slimy heels to show just how dominant he is. Reigns is returning to the heights of his pre-leukaemia run, so it will be interesting to see how far he can progress now he actually has the support of fans.

WINNER: Raw

FACTOR 2: PROMOS

Raw = Seth Rollins opened Raw with a town hall promo, which was not only effective, but allowed him to cement his new heel character. The way in which Rollins criticised the Raw roster was both effective and justified, setting Rollins up as the top Raw heel going forward.

Aleister Black delivered another strong promo, but it didn’t feel effective enough for his character. Black is an exciting wrestler, but his promos give no indication to this. If Black is to succeed on Raw, his promos need to evolve and feature more substance.

SmackDown = Firefly Fun House returned this week, however the first segment felt rather flat. It wasn’t until the third segment, which interrupted Daniel Bryan’s own promo, that it actually felt effective. Wyatt’s promos usually work better as one continuous segment, and hopefully this will be revisited in the near future.

King Corbin came out to verbally spar with Roman Reigns, but his delivery was a rare low point for his new character. His dog related insults are now childish, and detract from the effectiveness of his character.

WINNER: Raw

FACTOR 3: STORYLINES

Raw = Following Raw’s embarrassing performance at Survivor Series, it was important for Seth Rollins to react in a dynamic manner on Raw, which manifested itself in the town hall meeting. Rollins establishing himself as a heel once more will allow for more interesting feuds, especially if The Authors of Pain have aligned with him.

Rusev finally managed to get the upper hand over Bobby Lashley and Lana this week, destroying Lashley with a lighting rig. This was a great attack to show Rusev still has some value within the storyline. It managed to repair some of the damage the storyline has done to Rusev’s character, but as a whole, the feud still needs to be ended as soon as possible.

SmackDown = Bray Wyatt tried his hardest to get Daniel Bryan to accept his challenge of a rematch, however Bryan was reluctant to do so. This resulted in The Fiend dragging him under the ring, seemingly pulling out Bryan’s hair in anger. If this feud continues, it will be interesting to see how Bryan responds to The Fiend’s actions.

Roman Reigns was a man possessed this week as he decimated Robert Roode. King Corbin, Dolph Ziggler and Roode continue to be a thorn in Reigns’ side, but this week he unleashed all of his frustration on Roode, spearing him through a barricade and burying him with the announce table. It was great way to make the feud feel more exciting.

WINNER: SmackDown

FACTOR 4: SCHEDULING / PACING

Raw = Raw felt much better this week, with the town hall promo serving as a great way to start the show. The show felt fresher than it has done for a while, however the flat ending to the show as a result of The Authors of Pain taking out Kevin Owens detracted from what was a great show overall.

SmackDown = SmackDown felt slightly disjointed this week, as segments were largely inconsequential outside of a few select segments. Bray Wyatt and Roman Reigns are booked perfectly, but the rest of the SmackDown roster is currently underwhelming.

WINNER: Raw

EXTRA CREDIT BONUS ROUND!!!

Raw gains points for featuring Rey Mysterio’s United States Championship victory, which was a feel good moment that fans enjoyed.

Raw also gains points for acknowledging their poor performance at Survivor Series. Rather than gloss over the shambolic defeat, addressing it allowed all involved superstars to motivate themselves for the future.

Raw loses points for The Authors of Pain segment dying a slow and painful death. This was meant to be an exciting storyline development, but it came off poorly as people do not care for a team that they have been given no reason to invest their time in.

SmackDown gains points for Bray Wyatt explaining the first Thanksgiving was between the muscle men and the reptilians. This was followed up with a truly amusing dance segment that plays perfectly into his character.

SmackDown also gains points for highlighting the return of Alexa Bliss. Bliss is a fan favourite, and it will be exciting to see what path she takes over the next few weeks.

SmackDown loses points for giving half of the matches less than 3 minutes. Yes, short matches can sometimes serve their purpose well, but this week they took away from SmackDown’s overall quality.

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


With a score of 4 to 2, Raw wins this week’s Battle of the Brands. Raw was a much better show overall, featuring better segments and matches than SmackDown. It was important for Raw to improve this week following their disastrous performance at Survivor Series, and hopefully they can take this momentum into next week.