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 wasn’t as good as recent weeks, however Shayna Baszler’s destruction of Sarah Logan made for an entertaining match. The Viking Raiders also put on a fun and competitive match as they defeated Ricochet and Cedric Alexander.

Unfortunately, Nia Jax vs Kairi Sane was boring and uninteresting, whilst the non title match between Drew McIntyre and Andrade was disappointing. Both men are capable of better, but we were treated to an extremely by the numbers match.

SmackDown = SmackDown put on better matches this week, with the triple threat match for the SmackDown Tag Team Championship the undoubted highlight of the show. Having half of the respective teams compete is an intriguing dynamic, with Big E, The Miz and Jey Uso putting on a fabulous triple threat match.

Daniel Bryan continued his recent run of impressive performances as he defeated Cesaro to qualify for the Money in the Bank match. Bryan was able to hold off Shinsuke Nakamura thanks to Drew Gulak, and Bryan has to be considered a dark horse for the briefcase.

WINNER: SmackDown

FACTOR 2: PROMOS

Raw = Drew McIntyre continued his run of quality promos this week as he passionately explained how much his WWE Championship means to him. He was interrupted by Zelina Vega, which led to McIntyre accepting her challenge of a match with Andrade. This was a great promo, with Vega adding to the overall quality.

SmackDown = Braun Strowman produced a solid promo on A Moment of Bliss this week, with Strowman coming across well. Due to the issues surrounding his insertion into the WWE Universal Championship match at WrestleMania 36, Strowman has to work hard to validate his title reign, but promos like this one are perfect to gain the respect and confidence of fans.

A special note needs to be made for the promo between Sonya Deville and Mandy Rose, which was easily the best promo either wrestler has been involved in to date.

WINNER: SmackDown

FACTOR 3: STORYLINES

Raw = There was little in the way of storyline development on Raw this week, however it does appear that Seth Rollins will be the first challenger to Drew McIntyre’s WWE Championship. The way in which he took out McIntyre was slimy, which fits his Monday Night Messiah gimmick perfectly.

SmackDown = The interwoven storylines surrounding the SmackDown Women’s Championship continued to be explored this week, with Tamina defeating Sasha Banks to gain a shot at Bayley. Lacey Evans’ interference allowed Tamina to win, with all 4 women clearly on a collision course with each other for the belt.

WINNER: SmackDown

FACTOR 4: SCHEDULING / PACING

Raw = Raw was a better show this week, however it wasn’t as consistently enjoyable as it perhaps should have been.

SmackDown = SmackDown was an extremely fun show this week, with a great mix of solid matches and interesting promos. It certainly was an improvement over recent shows.

WINNER: SmackDown

EXTRA CREDIT BONUS ROUND!!!

Raw gains points for making Shayna Baszler look strong again.

Raw also gains points for setting up Drew McIntyre vs Seth Rollins, as this is the perfect first feud for the new WWE Champion.

Raw loses points for feeling disjointed, as there was no real logic to how the show was structured.

SmackDown gains points for continuing to successfully create anticipation for the reveal of the SmackDown hacker.

SmackDown also gains points for Drew Gulak’s partnership with Daniel Bryan continuing to flourish. The pairing is intriguing, and their dynamic makes for compelling television.

SmackDown loses points for having Tamina defeat Sasha Banks. Yes, it may make storyline sense, but she is a poor wrestler and should be nowhere near the SmackDown Women’s Championship.

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


With a crushing score of 5 to 1, SmackDown wins this week's Battle of the Brands. SmackDown was a better show overall, and this is due to the better way in which the show is structured. The matches and promos were better, and the 2 hour runtime seems to favour SmackDown whilst WWE is putting on shows without a crowd.