WWE Mon Night Raw - April 1, 2019 - Capital One Arena in Washington, DC
WWE SmackDown - April 2, 2019 – Royal Farms Arena in Baltimore, MD
BATTLE OF THE BRANDS:
RAW vs. SMACKDOWN
FACTOR 1: MATCHES
Raw = The best match on this show was definitely the tag title match. Better than that, though was the brawl with Flair, Lynch and Rousey.
SmackDown = No match on SmackDown really stood out to me. They were all good enough, but nothing amazing that you have to take your time out to see.
WINNER: Raw ties SmackDown
FACTOR 2: PROMOS
Raw = Stephanie's April Fool's joke was funny. Lesnar/Heyman/Rollins was a wash to me. I did like Batista's short and sweet "Hunter, kiss my ass" promo. Everything else was mediocre or worse.
SmackDown = Big fan of Orton and Styles, not into The IIconics or The Miz this time around, or Becky Lynch, but Kofi Kingston had a good promo.
WINNER: Raw
FACTOR 3: STORYLINES
These episodes weren't so much about introducing new storylines, but more about hitting the mark with the final push to WrestleMania. Raw I felt did that well for some (women's triple threat, Angle/Corbin) but really fell short on others (Balor/Lashley, McIntyre/Reigns).
SmackDown = Nothing new was established.
WINNER: Raw
FACTOR 4: SCHEDULING / PACING
Raw = Thumbs up, overall. Nothing really to say.
SmackDown = I can't help but feel like maybe Joe vs. Ali should have been moved around in place of the eight-man tag team match.
WINNER: Raw
EXTRA CREDIT BONUS ROUND!!!
Raw gains points for actually having the same person win the match and then the post-match brawl (Apollo Crews), which is rare, as well as an extra bonus point for that Rousey/Flair/Lynch brawl because that was just great.
Raw loses points for advertising Mysterio against Angle only to not do it, just like how they didn't do the AJ Styles match last week, and another point is deducted for how long they kept the Demon Balor thing up there awkwardly.
No extra or negative points for SmackDown this week.
POINT ADJUSTMENTS: Raw (+2 / -2) / SmackDown (+0 / -0)
THIS WEEK'S WINNER = Raw
That's my pick for the better show of the week, but how do YOU stand?
Which was better, Raw or SmackDown?
Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!
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