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: CROWD

The Raw crowd was really into the show for the first time in a long time. Granted, maybe for the wrong reasons. They chanted CM Punk, boring, and my personal favorite.. Impact. Which usually I get pissy about the CM Punk chants, but the Impact ones made up for it for the humor.

SmackDown also had a good crowd like normal really. They rarely disappoint, but they weren't overly loud or did anything special like Raw did. This category is all about being loud and involved. The Raw crowd may have been chanting the wrong things, but they were at least into it.

WINNER: Raw

FACTOR 2: COMMENTARY

If you follow this post at all on a weekly basis, you know how I feel about Raw's commentary team. I hate them. Graves should be on SmackDown and JBL on Raw, and Byron Saxton should be anywhere else that isn't on my tv.

WINNER: SmackDown

FACTOR 3: MATCHES

Monday Night Raw had two good matches. That being Sami vs. Joe and Aries vs. Nese. Joe and Sami were destined to have a great match here. Two amazing competitors, two amazing wrestlers, and amazing chemistry together. They tore it up. The cruiserweights are in WWE for one reason. Great matches. It just so happens that Aries and Neville both have amazing persona's, but the number one thing is consistently good matches. Aries and Nese did that. Good stuff.

SmackDown had three good matches. The tag team championship match, Orton vs. Corbin, and Cena vs. Fandango was entertaining. They had a weird women's match and it was decent, but nothing overly special. But SmackDown takes the cake as Raw had some piss poor matches after their decent ones.

WINNER: SmackDown

FACTOR 4: PROMOS

So both shows had some solid promo's. Raw had a great Highlight Reel featuring Chris Jericho and the real Kevin Owens. KO didn't say anything, but Jericho was great. HHH had another great promo, and the beginning promo was really good too.

SmackDown had Miz and Maryse making fun of Cena and Nikki with a few "lost footage" segments of Total Bellas. It was funny, amazing, and brilliantly put together. Shane and AJ had a decent promo I guess, but in terms of promo's Raw takes the win.

WINNER: Raw

FACTOR 5: STORYLINES

Not a single show had their champion on TV this week. That makes zero sense to me. Yeah sure they talked about Goldberg and Lesnar, but you need your champs on TV. So that was stupid. But Raw has some decent storylines right now. HHH and Seth. KO and Jericho. Mick and Stephanie & Hunter. When its good, its good. When it sucks.. It really sucks. Like the women's division and the tag division, and the awful main event with Goldberg and Lesnar. Oh, and Taker and Roman which I'm not totally into right yet.

SmackDown has the better main event. Randy and Bray should be really really good, and I'm hopeful for something special. Their women's division is great so far. Miz and Cena along with their women have been better than I thought. I'm not a huge fan of Shane and AJ when AJ should be facing anyone else, but the build has been decent. Dean and Corbin will be good as long as Corbin gets the win! SmackDown has the more investing storylines.

WINNER: SmackDown

FACTOR 6: SCHEDULING / PACING

Two hours > Three hours. Plain and simple.

WINNER: SmackDown

FACTOR 7: VISUAL PRESENTATION

I'll go with SmackDown here. Everything seems smoother, and everyone works well together.

WINNER: SmackDown

EXTRA CREDIT BONUS ROUND!!!

Nothing.

POINT ADJUSTMENTS: Raw (+0 / -0) / SmackDown (+0 / -0)


SmackDown was the clear winner. Easily. Raw has good stuff, but something is missing. Maybe your champion. Every freaking week. So dumb that your champ doesn't even make appearances much less have an actual match on the show. I'll never like that. SmackDown wins 4-2 with a more rounded show.