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 match quality on Raw was consistently high, with Adam Cole once again shining in the main event. This time he competed against Seth Rollins as he defended his NXT Championship, and despite losing via DQ, he retained his championship and left an impression on fans who may not be familiar with his work.

Charlotte and Natalya put on a great match against The Kabuki Warriors, and by winning in a decisive fashion, they are surely positioned as the next challengers to the Women’s Tag Team Championship.

Buddy Murphy defeated Cedric Alexander in a contest that showed just how talented each wrestler is. The 3 hour format of Raw lends itself to highlighting the talents of certain wrestlers, in matches that will undoubtedly get them over with fans.

Overall, the match quality on Raw was much better this week.

SmackDown = The SmackDown Tag Team Championship was on the line in the opening match, with The New Day challenging The Revival. Both teams are capable of great matches, however this one never really seemed to get out of second gear. The New Day won to become champions, but the match itself was disappointing. The fans in attendance loved the result though, which made the victory seem important.

King Corbin defeated Roman Reigns with much assistance from Robert Roode and Dolph Ziggler. This match was poor, with an extremely overbooked finish which was intended to make Reigns look strong in defeat. Corbin has been performing much better recently, but this match was a return to the terrible matches of 2018’s Baron Corbin.

Overall, the matches on SmackDown were capable of much better. It is possible that due to the start of the European tour, they wanted to reduce the wear and tear on their bodies, but regardless, the match quality was nowhere near the high standards of last week.

WINNER: Raw

FACTOR 2: PROMOS

Raw = Paul Heyman delivered a devastating promo on behalf of Brock Lesnar towards Rey Mysterio, and just like every Heyman promo from the past 10 years, it was well delivered and thought provoking. Heyman is head and shoulders above anyone else on the microphone.

Rey Mysterio also produced his own promo which effectively showed the fire he has for his feud with Brock Lesnar.

Seth Rollins delivered a passionate speech regarding the NXT invasion of SmackDown, trading verbal barbs with Triple H. This was an effective way to rehabilitate some of Rollins’ character after his recent defeat to The Fiend, whilst also setting up the main event of the evening.

SmackDown = King Corbin opened the show by criticising Roman Reigns in his typical derisive fashion. This was well received by fans as they immediately engaged in booing Corbin, which evidences just how good he has become at delivering a solid heel promo.

Sami Zayn delivered a passionate promo to Daniel Bryan to recruit him to his team. Zayn has shown he can be a quality talker, and that was no different here.

WINNER: Raw

FACTOR 3: STORYLINES

Raw = The premier angle on Raw is the love triangle between Lana, Rusev and Bobby Lashley, and once again it was an embarrassing waste of time on Raw. The sooner this angle is dropped, the better Raw will be as a result.

Brock Lesnar vs Rey Mysterio wouldn’t usually be a tantalising prospect, however the way this feud has been built has been perfect so far. Mysterio feels like an actual threat to Lesnar, which is something that I didn’t think was possible. With 2 more weeks to build to Survivor Series, this is the storyline Raw should be highlighting.

SmackDown = The Fiend seemingly selected his next victim, as he took out Daniel Bryan backstage. Neither wrestler has a match confirmed for Survivor Series, and a match between the pair would be an intriguing prospect. There is tangible history between the pair from the days of The Wyatt Family, which should ensure a dark and personal edge to the feud is present.

The NXT invasion angle continued, this time with an appearance from Imperium. This was relevant as Imperium are European wrestlers and would therefore be familiar to a European audience. These invasion angles continue to provide each show with a sense of unpredictability, which has been sorely lacking from recent WWE programming.

Tyson Fury made an appearance which ultimately led to him establishing a tag team with Braun Strowman. Whether or not he will compete with Strowman in future matches is unclear, but it is intriguing to see how this team works out.

WINNER: SmackDown

FACTOR 4: SCHEDULING / PACING

Raw = Raw felt easy to watch this week, with a sense of intrigue and unpredictability that is usually missing from the show. It felt a lot shorter than the 3 hour run time would suggest.

SmackDown = The show was fun to watch, however it was lacking in the usual magic found at a UK taping. At 2 hours, the show continues to be an easy watch though.

WINNER: SmackDown

EXTRA CREDIT BONUS ROUND!!!

Raw gains points for making Rey Mysterio look like a credible opponent for Brock Lesnar at Survivor Series.

Raw loses points for continuing to give the love triangle storyline a platform to ruin fans’ enjoyment of the show. Kill this angle now, please.

SmackDown gains points for keeping The Fiend’s interactions with wrestlers and fans to a minimum. This is extending the mystique of the character, which can only be a positive.

SmackDown also gains points for including Imperium in the show. WALTER is a powerhouse of a wrestler, and exposure to a bigger audience is exactly what he deserves.

SmackDown loses points for most of the matches struggling to get out of second gear.

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


With a close score of 3 to 2, SmackDown wins this week’s Battle of the Brands. One of the main detracting factors of Raw is the continued emphasis on the love triangle storyline. If this had been dropped, Raw would have won this week. Both shows, however, are exciting to watch at the moment as they incorporate the NXT invasion storyline into each show, which makes for compelling viewing.