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: MATCHES

Raw = Becky Lynch vs Kairi Sane opened Raw, and it was by far one of the better matches of the evening. Lynch has settled into her role as the gatekeeper to the top of the Raw women's division, and Sane was more than happy to step up to Lynch and prove she could hang with the best. This match was exciting, and fully showed off the potential within the Raw women's division.

Drew McIntyre and Ricochet reprised their match from last week in what turned out to be a great contest, although the finish to the match left a bad taste in the mouth. Randy Orton interfered and hit the RKO on Ricochet for the DQ victory in Ricochet's favour. This will invariably lead to a 3 way feud between the wrestlers, but this may be a great option keep them involved in an interesting storyline.

SmackDown = Bayley defended her SmackDown Women's Championship against Nikki Cross in an entertaining contest. Not only was the match a great vehicle to demonstrate how Bayley has fully transformed into a heel, but it was also the basis for Shayna Baszler to make her main roster debut and dismantle Bayley, Cross and Sasha Banks.

Tommaso Ciampa challenged The Miz to a match to prove he is the better wrestler. Not only did Ciampa put on a great performance, but he won the match and instantly gave his character legitimacy. This was a great match to highlight one of the cornerstones of NXT.

Adam Cole defended his NXT Championship against Daniel Bryan in a frenetic match. It was a great match that left a lot of room for a rematch further down the line. Adam Cole was victorious in what may be his biggest WWE victory to date, and this match was a perfect example of how much better the matches were on SmackDown compared to Raw.

WINNER: SmackDown

FACTOR 2: PROMOS

Raw = Seth Rollins delivered a rather uninspiring promo about The Fiend. Rollins feels extremely one dimensional when he is on the microphone, which makes it hard to root for him, even though he is admittedly one of the better wrestlers in WWE. Rollins needs to be more direct and to the point if he is to succeed on the microphone.

AJ Styles confronted Humberto Carrillo to praise him for his efforts last week against Seth Rollins. Despite Styles working well in this mini promo segment, Carrillo just stood there with no response. This may be a result of his poor promo last week, but the lack of a response was deafening as it made him look stupid.

SmackDown = Paul Heyman delivered one of the best promos of 2019, expertly describing how angry Brock Lesnar is with Rey Mysterio. Heyman underlined how one of Lesnar’s most successful victories was tainted by Mysterio’s so called interference, thus causing Lesnar to quit SmackDown in favour of moving to Raw to destroy Mysterio. This promo was intense and entertaining, feeling very much like a shoot rather than a scripted promo. Heyman remains the best promo in the company by a country mile.

The promo battle between The Miz and Tommaso Ciampa was exquisitely done, with Ciampa looking like a star on the same level as The Miz. Ciampa has some previous main roster exposure, but this promo in addition to his match with The Miz legitimised him in the eyes of fans.

WINNER: SmackDown

FACTOR 3: STORYLINES

Raw = The Rusev, Lana and Bobby Lashley storyline is quite honestly one of the worst storylines WWE have showcased in recent memory. Everything about the storyline is silly and poor, with Rusev and Lashley losing all credibility in their characters. Rusev, in particular, is suffering as a result of this storyline, and it remains a mystery as to how WWE will try and further this awful storyline.

Bray Wyatt and Seth Rollins failed to engage in any interaction before their match at Crown Jewel, which was disappointing as their feud has been the primary storyline on Raw. This may be due to Wyatt being a SmackDown roster member, but The Fiend has never been one to follow the rules.

SmackDown = SmackDown storylines were affected by the travel issues in Saudi Arabia, however this was more than made up for with the injection of NXT superstars. Shayna Baszler was ruthless in dismantling Bayley, looking like a real star in the process.

Matt Riddle and Keith Lee took out Sami Zayn to not only introduce themselves to SmackDown fans, but further extend the narrative of an invasion by NXT wrestlers. Rhea Ripley, Tegan Nox and Bianca Belair also made their presence felt in a dominant fashion.

Triple H confirmed that he was sending in the troops to lay down a marker, and in doing so he essentially kickstarted the storylines that will feed into Survivor Series.

WINNER: SmackDown

FACTOR 4: SCHEDULING / PACING

Raw = Raw felt extremely lethargic this week, despite opening with an interesting segment and a great match. Raw's current problem is the insistence on featuring silly storylines that detract from the overall consistency of the show, which in turn makes the show feel twice as long as it should.

SmackDown = SmackDown felt unpredictable this week, with the injection of NXT superstars making the show feel unmissable. It would appear the travel issues were actually a blessing in disguise, as the show was elevated to a level of importance that is normally reserved for anniversary or landmark episodes of Raw or SmackDown.

WINNER: SmackDown

EXTRA CREDIT BONUS ROUND!!!

Raw gains points for cementing The Kabuki Warrior's heel turn with Asuka spitting mist into Paige's face. This was highly effective and made The Kabuki Warriors look ruthless in splitting from the person who brought them together as a team.

Raw loses points for closing out the show with the Rusev, Lana and Bobby Lashley storyline. This was a torturous segment that shouldn't have even been on the card, never mind closing out the show.

SmackDown gains points for showing Crown Jewel highlights, as this was a simple way to fill airtime.

SmackDown also gains points for Paul Heyman insulting the audience. He addressed the fans in attendance in such a direct manner, that it felt like a shoot.

SmackDown also gains points for presenting NXT on the same level as the main roster. Fans were concerned when it was announced NXT would be a part of Survivor Series, however these fears were allayed by the strong booking of NXT wrestlers. This may be due to the travel issues in Saudi Arabia, but regardless, they were presented strongly.

SmackDown loses points for having Pat McAfee on commentary. No matter how desperate WWE were for a replacement commentator, they should never have given airtime to McAfee.

POINT ADJUSTMENTS: Raw (+1 / -1) / SmackDown (+3 / -1)


With a mind boggling score of 6 to 0, SmackDown wins this week’s Battle of the Brands. SmackDown blew Raw away in every single category, however it has to be noted that NXT contributed heavily to this. If this is the start of the build to Survivor Series, I cannot wait to see what is in store for the next few weeks.