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

WWE ran classic WWE territory this week with Pennsylvania and New York, and to no big surprise New York had the better crowd. So, SmackDown gets the win.

WINNER: SmackDown

FACTOR 2: COMMENTARY

I'm upset that Corey Graves didn't have as big a part as he did last week as I think it was a really cool addition to last weeks show, and I like Graves as both a character and commentator quite a bit. However, if you've paid any attention to BOTB recently, you know that my favorite commentator in the WWE today is Tom Phillips. He has done a great job since the controversial exit of Mauro Ranallo, and has really carried SmackDown even though he has a tenured JBL at his side. Also, if you're a regular to BOTB you know that I'm not the biggest fan of Byron Saxton. Or a fan at all for that matter, but even I think he has stepped up his game on SD Live and think the change of scenery has helped him immensely.

WINNER: SmackDown

FACTOR 3: MATCHES

Both shows featured two awesome matches. SD Live had Nakamura vs. Owens and Styles vs. Ziggler. Raw had Roman vs. Wyatt and Joe vs. Rollins. It's so very hard to choose between these two, so we're going to have to bring in some side matches to the equation. TJP vs. Mustafa Ali had some great action, and even better underlying tones which could lead to a TJP vs. Neville situation in the future, and I liked that. Then on SmackDown you had the champ, Jinder Mahal, taking on Mojo Rawley.. Yeah, Mojo won the big Battle Royal, but what has he done since? You could say the same for Jinder since he won the belt. I'm giving it more time, but I'm still a little disappointed. Raw wins.

WINNER: Raw

FACTOR 4: PROMOS

SmackDown had a strong opening promo with Shane-O-Mac revealing the sweet Women's Money In The Bank briefcase. Which looks awesome, but after that there wasn't anything of note. Raw was a little different. I liked the opening promo with Bray and Roman, the Miz celebration was really good in my opinion, and then of course the Paul Heyman and Samoa Joe was fantastic. Monday Night Raw runs away with it in the promos.

WINNER: Raw

FACTOR 5: STORYLINES

Monday Night is kind of up in the air in a few points with their storylines with it just being after a PPV. Things like Reigns and Wyatt, Joe and Rollins. They could all just be blow off things before something bigger. I really like Elias Sampson's character, and truly hope the singing stops. I know its a big part of his character, but he doesn't need to have singing promos consistently. I would love to see him be the one that topples The Miz and Ambrose in a triple threat situation. Right now, the top storylines are SmackDown Live with the two Money in the Bank matches. They have the benefit of having a huge PPV in the coming weeks, and they've capitalized.

WINNER: SmackDown

FACTOR 6: SCHEDULING / PACING

You know my deal here. Two hours tops three hours almost every time, and this was one of those times. I will always feel like two hour weekly shows, three hour regular PPV's, and then four hour joint PPV's will always be the best schedule they could have.

WINNER: SmackDown

FACTOR 7: VISUAL PRESENTATION

I'm really starting to struggle on this category since the shows really aren't that different sadly, but when it comes to what the most visual pleasing show is, then it has to be SmackDown as things still seem different. They have a small difference in sets, and then some camera cuts that you can see are different.

WINNER: SmackDown

EXTRA CREDIT BONUS ROUND!!!

Nothing here, but I'm this comes into play soon.

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


SmackDown takes the win here before a huge PPV that will change the direction of the show. I'm hoping they take a big leap and try something different like Raw did with Samoa Joe. There is a big shift coming to WWE with new faces finally taking a jump into the spotlight. I'm hoping SmackDown sees that and continues doing what they've done since the brand split.