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 = The Hurt Business vs RETRIBUTION was awful. Not only was the action uninspiring, the disqualification finish came off as poorly executed. Not only was it an insipid end to the match, but it also underlined how poor the faction is.

Other matches on Raw failed to impress, with Zelina Vega's match against Mickie James falling flat. One redeeming aspect to the show was the triple threat tag team match, even if the best moment was Seth Rollins leaving the match halfway through.

SmackDown = Matt Riddle vs King Corbin was surprisingly competitive, with Corbin putting in one of the best performances of his SmackDown tenure. Riddle may have lost, but he continued to prove how talented he is in the ring.

The triple threat match between AJ Styles, Jeff Hardy and Sami Zayn was a fine preview for their Ladder match at Clash of Champions. All three men showed how much burning desire they have to be the undisputed Intercontinental Championship.

WINNER: SmackDown

FACTOR 2: PROMOS

Raw = RETRIBUTION's opening promo fell flat. Despite the best efforts of all involved, they are unable to turn chicken shit into chicken salad.

SmackDown = Jey Uso and Roman Reigns both gave captivating performances on the microphone as they battled the internal family conflict surrounding their Clash of Champions match. The vignette that aired to support it was one of the better produced vignettes from WWE in quite a while.

WINNER: SmackDown

FACTOR 3: STORYLINES

Raw = Drew McIntyre and Randy Orton kept some level of interest in their feud, with The Legend Killer making a statement as he took out both McIntyre and Keith Lee.

Unfortunately, RETRIBUTION continue to be the worst aspect of the show, although The Hurt Business once again looked like absolute stars.

SmackDown = Roman Reigns vs Jey Uso was built upon this week, creating an extra level of intrigue to the matchup. Reigns slipped further into the clutches of the dark side, whilst both men gave strong performances on the microphone.

WINNER: SmackDown

FACTOR 4: SCHEDULING / PACING

Raw = Raw was a torturous watch this week. The pacing was off, whilst the storylines and matches mostly fell flat.

SmackDown = SmackDown was a better show than Raw, however it still came off poorly. The pacing was better than Raw, but overall it was not an enjoyable romp.

WINNER: SmackDown

EXTRA CREDIT BONUS ROUND!!!

Raw gains points for keeping the interest going in Drew McIntyre vs Randy Orton.

Raw loses points for the farce that is RETRIBUTION. Simply put, the entire concept is a joke.

Raw also loses points for once again featuring a disqualification loss for Keith Lee. He should not be put in matches where this is the preferred outcome.

Raw also loses points for the silly names for RETRIBUTION members. SLAPJACK is the absolute drizzling shits!

SmackDown gains points for continuing to make Alexa Bliss' transformation compelling.

SmackDown also gains points for the subtle manner in which Roman Reigns becomes a tad more heelish each week.

SmackDown loses points for not fully touching on Otis' potential relinquishing of the Money in the Bank contract.

POINT ADJUSTMENTS: Raw (+1 / -3) / SmackDown (+2 / -1)


With a score of 5 to 0, SmackDown wins this week's Battle of the Brands. SmackDown wasn't as good as recent weeks, however Raw was terrible. RETRIBUTION needs to end now, otherwise Raw will continue to slip into mediocrity.