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 - January 31 2022 - Heritage Bank Center in Cincinnati, OH
WWE Friday Night SmackDown - February 4 2022 - Paycom Center in Oklahoma City, OK
BATTLE OF THE BRANDS:
RAW vs. SMACKDOWN
FACTOR 1: MATCHES
Raw = Is Austin Theory already the man with the best match resume in wrestling for 2022? Almost every week he is enjoying banger after banger, and this week was no different against Kevin Owens. Sure, the former WWE Universal Champion improved the match quality, but it certainly takes two to tango.
SmackDown = The New Day vs Humberto Carrillo and Angel Garza was the standout match by an absolute country mile. Every other match was rushed and made no sense, leading to the show feeling inconsequential and unimportant as a result.
WINNER: Raw
FACTOR 2: PROMOS
Raw = The show opening promo from Brock Lesnar was everything that it needed to be, as was Ronda Rousey's return to Raw.
SmackDown = Roman Reigns and Paul Heyman deivered a solid promo that firmly built upon the actions of The Tribal Chief at the Royal Rumble. The problem is that despite this being a fantastic segment, the show died a horrible death with Charlotte Flair on the microphone. I am usually a fan of Flair when she is being a stuck up arse, but this time at least, she was truly insufferable.
WINNER: Raw
FACTOR 3: STORYLINES
Raw = Although not perfect, I did enjoy the build to Elimination Chamber, particularly the WWE Championship match. I also enjoyed how Ronda Rousey has slipped back into being a star almost effortlessly, potentially resuming her feud with Becky Lynch.
SmackDown = Outside of Roman Reigns, do the writers even care?
WINNER: Raw
FACTOR 4: SCHEDULING / PACING
Raw = Raw felt strongly paced, especially in comparison to SmackDown.
SmackDown = SmackDown was an absolute disgrace this week in terms of pacing and logical progression. I hated 95% of the show, which felt twice it's runtime at the very worst.
WINNER: Raw
EXTRA CREDIT BONUS ROUND!!!
Raw gains points for making Ronda Rousey feel important.
Raw also gains points for playing to Austin Theory's strengths.
Raw loses points for still giving me no reason to care about Rhea Ripley vs Nikki A.S.H. at all.
SmackDown gains points for Roman Reigns truly being the saviour of the show. At this point, he is being let down by how piss poor the rest of the show is.
SmackDown loses points for failing to fully build upon and expand on it's less important storylines following the Royal Rumble. It's as if the writers don't care anymore, outside of Roman Reigns.
POINT ADJUSTMENTS: Raw (+2 / -1) / SmackDown (+1 / -1)
THIS WEEK'S WINNER = Raw
With a crushing score of 5 to 0, Raw once again wins this week's Battle of the Brands to annihilate SmackDown. The blue brand is just failing right now, which is not a good look on The Road to WrestleMania 38.
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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