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

For a post-event show, Raw was a little down, which is surprising since pay-per-view fallout shows are generally pretty decent crowd as everyone is in that "What comes next?" state of mind. That was not the case for Monday Night Raw.

That doesn't mean this crowd was great for SD Live, either—because it wasn't—but, thankfully, it was a lot better.

WINNER: SmackDown

FACTOR 2: COMMENTARY

Man, I miss Mauro Ranallo. He really is one of the better commentators in all of sports. Still, WWE hasn't really been struggling without him. Byron Saxton on SmackDown is head and shoulders better than Byron on Raw which is odd and rough to explain. I like Tom Phillips a lot, but he and JBL just don't always mix as well for me. I love the duo of Tom and Corey Graves like they used to be NXT team, and I like JBL and Michael Cole together so a switch would be perfect for both sides but we won't see that.

Having Booker T on commentary is both a blessing and a curse. He can add a lot of great stuff, but also can add the occasional ridiculous line that makes no sense. Michael Cole had some weird moments this week. There was a time where he tried to make an advertised (on the website well before the show and on the show itself) and already talked about on the show tag team match sound like it was just randomly thrown together during a commercial break. And then said a male superstar was out with cervical issues. Granted, I'm no anatomy or science major, but I'm rather positive thats impossible. So due to these missteps, SmackDown grabs the win.

WINNER: SmackDown

FACTOR 3: MATCHES

Both shows had incredibly fun main events both centered around the "secondary" titles on each. Raw had two just fantastic matches. Austin Aries vs. TJ Perkins was great as those two are just about as good as it gets in the ring. And the main event triple threat for the IC Title number one contendership was fun too.

SmackDown had some okay matches, and a fun United States Championship match for the main event. But, Raw wins with more matches that just happened to be consistently good across the board.

WINNER: Raw

FACTOR 4: PROMOS

Aside from Chris Jerichos pretty fun interview, SmackDown didn't really have much in the way of promos.

Raw had a good opening promo with the ladies led by Alexa Bliss, Seth and Finn and Miz and Dean all had a great promo together leading to a good match, and Bray Wyatt had his first interaction with the new GM Kurt Angle. Oh and Cesaro & Sheamus' heel turn was alright too. All pretty decent stuff so.. Go Raw.

WINNER: Raw

FACTOR 5: STORYLINES

I'm still loving Jinder and Orton. Jinder is becoming the Braun Strowman of SmackDown as a out-of-nowhere heel that is taking over. I love it. Shinsuke and Dolph should be a lot of fun, and now we get a true KO vs. Styles with KO winning his belt back. Thats hard to beat.

I am genuinely intrigues as to what happens next with Roman and Braun. It should be a stipulation match like Last Man Standing maybe, and I'm all for it. Bray Wyatt started a feud with Finn on Raw, and Demon Finn vs. Bray had money all over it. Alexa Bliss is Raw Women's Champion so whats not to love there? SmackDown may have been hard to beat, but Raw did it.

WINNER: Raw

FACTOR 6: SCHEDULING / PACING

Two hours still fits better than three in my mind. However, Raw had a really good week and the show had a great flow. So, for the first time ever, the red brand gets its first win in this category.

WINNER: Raw

FACTOR 7: VISUAL PRESENTATION

For some reason, I'm feeling Raw here too. I visually enjoyed it more than normal, and thats what this category is about right?

WINNER: Raw

EXTRA CREDIT BONUS ROUND!!!

Nothing.

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


Raw had a very strong week, and they win with a 5-2 tally. SmackDown wasn't bad, but Raw was hitting on all cylinders. Everything they did furthered the stories, and it was all good movements too. SmackDown has been a little slow the last few weeks I feel like so lets hope they bounce back.