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

San Antonio has held some important moments in WWE especially in the upcoming Royal Rumble. They seemed to be the better crowd this week too, but I thought both crowds were down. So, they were better of two bads.

WINNER: Raw

FACTOR 2: COMMENTARY

I love when commentators get in on some of the action. Like when Corey Graves was in the storyline of Kurt Angle and Jason Jordan. I like when commentators get involved. This Monday, Michael Cole got in on it. Not as in depth, but he sure did take a beating at the hands of Braun Strowman. The crowd popped pretty huge for a commentator getting beat on. Maybe it was just a way to write him off for next week so JR and King can be the 25th anniversary team. But regardless, Tom Phillips replaces him so there is literally no difference between the teams except the third wheels. I still like SmackDowns team better.

WINNER: SmackDown

FACTOR 3: MATCHES

Titus Worldwide, Sonya Deville, Cedric Alexander, The Revival, Asuka, Roman Reigns, Matt Hardy, and Seth Rollins all pick up wins on Monday night. Roman gets a win over The Miztourage in a handicap match. Seth gets a big win over Finn who just can't seem to get anything going right now. The Revival, my favorite tag team, got win over some jobbers but have a matchup against a legend team on the 25th anniversary show which I'm assuming will be New Age Outlaws. I just hope they get the belts soon enough! Also, Cedric is the man.

Jinder Mahal and Bobby Roode picked up wins to advance in the US Championship tourney. The finals were supposed to be at the Rumble, but in a great and surprising move the finals were actually that next match! In what I thought was a fun fight, Bobby Roode becomes the new United States Champion! In the only other match, the Riott Squad picks up a win. So, I think Raw had the better matches. They just had more, and I know more isn't always better. But Seth & Finn, Roman & The Miztourage, Cedric & Tony Nese. These were all fun bouts. So I take Raw.

WINNER: Raw

FACTOR 4: PROMOS

All of Brauns stuff was A+, and I loved every second of it. And all of Jason Jordans stuff was as bad as Strowmans was good. He is not fun to listen to.

The New Day is really good at what they do. Outside of that, it is all random guys saying they're going to win the rumble. It was rather repetitive and boring.

WINNER: Raw

FACTOR 5: STORYLINES

I don't know why Braun is teasing with getting fired and trashing things and all that, and he's been doing it for what seems like years now but I love it. Let him trash things, let him throw people, and let him be a badass because it fits him perfectly. It is what we all wished Roman Reigns was like honestly. Speaking of Roman, I want him to drop the belt back to Miz and I want that badly. But if that happens, I am afraid he becomes a real threat for the Rumble again and I'd rather see someone new. This whole Broken Matt.. Oh, sorry.. Woken Matt Hardy thing has kind of stalled. They need to do something big with him, but I'm not sure what that is yet. It definitely isn't a Rumble win. The Revival should win the belts. Plain and simple. I can't wait to see the surprise entrants are this year for both Rumbles. Ronda Rousey anyone?

I'm still not a fan of the handicap title match on SmackDown because it doesn't make a whole lot of sense to me. I'm interested to see what happens with the US Title now that the tourney is already over, and I'm afraid it might be a Dolph return. Hopefully if he does return, it'll be a big splash in the rumble itself. It could also be interesting to see what happens with the SD Tag Titles with one of the Usos getting arrested for a DUI. Regardless, I'm still more interested in Raw.

WINNER: Raw

FACTOR 6: SCHEDULING / PACING

I love the surprise scheduling change with the US Tourney. I think they made the right move with it since there are two rumbles this year and maybe they were worried about time constraints or they just wanted a surprise. Regardless I liked it.

WINNER: SmackDown

FACTOR 7: VISUAL PRESENTATION

Braun Strowman tipping vehicles, trashing things, and throwing people. Amazing.

WINNER: Raw

EXTRA CREDIT BONUS ROUND!!!

Discussion on the topic.

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


SmackDown would have been much better off without the repeat promos. It was kind of annoying. Why have everyone say they're going to win the rumble when that is the only reason to be in it to begin with? I loved the US Championship tourney and the right guy won it. Outside of that, SmackDown didn't even come close. Raw wins 5-2.