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.
WWE Monday Night Raw - September 13, 2021 - TD Garden in Boston, Massachusetts
WWE Friday Night SmackDown - September 17, 2021 – Thompson-Boling Arena in Knoxville, Tennessee
BATTLE OF THE BRANDS:
RAW vs. SMACKDOWN
FACTOR 1: MATCHES
Raw = Raw featured a solid mix of matches, with Rhea Ripley vs Natalya a highlight of the night. The WWE Championship match between Bobby Lashley and Randy Orton was solid enough, whilst Big E’s successful Money in the Bank cash in to win the WWE Championship was memorable for all the right reasons. As an overall mix of matches, Raw succeeded this week.
SmackDown = Match quality was significantly below that of a standard episode of SmackDown. Big E and Finn Balor defeated The Usos in what was easily the best match of the night, but every remaining match was mediocre at best. The nadir of the night was the awful women’s tag team match, as Liv Morgan and Toni Storm defeated Carmella and Zelina Vega by countout.
WINNER: Raw
FACTOR 2: PROMOS
Raw = Overall, the promos on this week’s Raw were solid, if not unspectacular. Alexa Bliss delivered a great promo against Charlotte Flair, but the bickering nature of the show opening promo was not an effective way to start proceedings.
SmackDown = Seth Rollins’ promo was poorly paced, coming across as a boring mess. The structure of the promo didn’t help, but it felt too familiar and desperate.
WINNER: Raw
FACTOR 3: STORYLINES
Raw = Big E’s potential Money in the Bank cash in dominated the show, with a significant amount of anticipation being held for the WWE Championship match between Bobby Lashley and Randy Orton. This gave the show a sense of unpredictability, which sorely benefited what could have otherwise been a mundane and mediocre show.
SmackDown = Storyline development was lacking this week, feeling quite inconsequential or forced. Liv Morgan vs Carmella was advanced in a clunky manner, whilst Bianca Belair vs Becky Lynch received some of the biggest attention on the night. Unfortunately, their feud still does not feel like it is being sufficiently developed.
WINNER: Raw
FACTOR 4: SCHEDULING / PACING
Raw = Raw was paced better than it has been for a while, although the commercial break during Big E’s cash in was poor scheduling at best, and egregious direction at worst.
SmackDown = SmackDown featured some piss poor pacing this week, with Seth Rollins’ promo segment completely taking the wind out of the show.
WINNER: Raw
EXTRA CREDIT BONUS ROUND!!!
Raw gains points for actually capitalising on the hype of Big E’s pre-show assertion that he would cash in his Money in the Bank contract.
Raw also gains points for allowing Alexa Bliss to deliver a promo worthy of her creepy character.
Raw gains even more points for Rhea Ripley and Natalya putting on a quality match, something I was not anticipating.
Raw loses points for making Shayna Baszler once again look ineffective in the ring.
SmackDown gains points for Roman Reigns continuing to excel in his Head of the Table persona.
SmackDown also gains points for trying to advance Naomi’s struggles to be respected by Sonya Deville.
SmackDown loses points for treading the same path with Sami Zayn vs Dominik Mysterio.
SmackDown also loses points for the absolute shitshow that was Carmella supposedly sustaining a broken nose. This angle was poorly executed, coming across as a total farce.
POINT ADJUSTMENTS: Raw (+3 / -1) / SmackDown (+2 / -2)
THIS WEEK'S WINNER = Raw
With a score of 6 to 0, Raw wins this week’s Battle of the Brands. SmackDown was just painful this week, whilst Raw was an exciting show for once, aided mainly by Big E’s Money in the Bank cash in.
That's my pick for the better show of the week, but how do YOU stand?
Which was better, Raw or SmackDown?
Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!
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