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

Raw had a pretty good crowd for what was really the whole show except for what was one of the worst promos I've ever seen. SmackDown crowd was hot for AJ since it was his hometown, but really it was kind of dead in most areas. Raw gets the win.

WINNER: Raw

FACTOR 2: COMMENTARY

I'm really starting to love Tom Phillips on commentary. I really already liked him, but the more I watch SmackDown the more I think he is in line for the new voice of WWE.

However, Raw integrated Corey Graves more than normal this week, and I was a huge fan of that. I already like Corey, but having him more involved with Kurt and Big Cass was a cool little thing. Another Raw win.

WINNER: Raw

FACTOR 3: MATCHES

This wasn't even close. Raw absolutely took SmackDown to task here. SmackDown had a great main event with Ziggler and AJ Styles with a cool shock factor that Dolph got the win in AJ's hometown. The tag match that pit KO and Baron Corbin vs. Shinsuke and Sami was pretty good too and Shinsuke getting two pinfalls over KO gives me intuition that Shinsuke will be our next US Champ.

Raw had a cool six man match with Dean & The Hardy's vs. Miz & Cesaro and Sheamus. I really like the Elias Sampson squash match, then we had a great triple threat that easily could've been the main event with Joe vs. Finn vs. Bray, and then a great main event with Seth and Roman. Raw takes the easy W here.

WINNER: Raw

FACTOR 4: PROMOS

Okay here we go. SmackDown had no outstanding promos. Nothing overly special in a bad or good way. But I say this so we can move on to Raw.

Raw had, arguably, one of the worst segments I have ever seen. The "This is your life" segment featuring Bayley and Alexa Bliss. To start, I like both of these women. Alexa Bliss is by far one of the best women superstars in the world today, but she took a nose dive as soon as this started. She tried her best, but man this was doomed from the start. For a quick second, I thought the crowd actually left the arena. The segment, patterned after the best Raw segment ever with Rock & Foley but with a more heelish twist. Unfortunately, Bliss & Bayley are not at that star level and the "guests" from Bayleys life were not nearly as entertaining. Who thought of this? I don't know, but it should never happen again. SmackDown had nothing great, neither had anything overly good. But Raw had something AWFUL. Therefore, SD Live wins.

WINNER: SmackDown

FACTOR 5: STORYLINES

SmackDown has some cool stories right now. Jinder, Shinsuke, the women's MITB match, and the regular MITB match. However, Raw is just doing better. Dean & Miz are on a tear. All five guys in the main event at Extreme Rules have been on fire, and except that terrible promo Alexa Bliss has been a killer champ. Also, the way they've reintegrated The Revival on the roster after an injury has been really cool.

WINNER: Raw

FACTOR 6: SCHEDULING / PACING

I really want Raw to be a two hour show, and save the three hour stuff for PPV's and four hour stuff for joint PPV's. I really like what Raw is doing, but that doesn't make three hours any better.

WINNER: SmackDown

FACTOR 7: VISUAL PRESENTATION

I really dislike this category sometimes. But, Raw gave us a cool little thing featuring The Revival. When Enzo got beat down in the locker room last week we saw The Revival sneak out in an interview before they found him. Last week they showed us the footage and if you were really paying attention you could see the former NXT Tag Champs leave the area. I thought that was some pretty cool stuff.

WINNER: Raw

EXTRA CREDIT BONUS ROUND!!!

Nothing.

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


Raw wins with a tally of 4-3. I like SmackDown and that roster, but right now Raw has a lot of good directions they can go to see who faces Lesnar. The MITB thing will be amazing too, but to see who faces Lesnar just has a bigger feel to it right now. All five guys have been on fire, and it has me excited to see what happens next.