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.
WWE Monday Night Raw - April 25, 2022 - Thompson-Boling Arena in Knoxville, Tennessee
WWE Friday Night SmackDown - April 29, 2022 - MVP Arena in Albany, New York
BATTLE OF THE BRANDS:
RAW vs. SMACKDOWN
FACTOR 1: MATCHES
Raw = Bianca Belair vs Sonya Deville was all levels of Wrestle Crap, but Raw was saved by the multi-man main event. Although it wasn't a great night of wrestling, it was satisfying enough.
SmackDown = The Steel Cage match was a perfectly solid contest to open the show, highlighting just how talented both Drew McIntyre and Sami Zayn. Ricochet vs Shanky was awful, but then again, it was destined to be poor. The Beat the Clock segments also died a terrible and slow death.
WINNER: Raw
FACTOR 2: PROMOS
Raw = The interactions between Randy Orton and Cody Rhodes made this show extremely interesting!
SmackDown = Despite being short, Charlotte Flair once again bombed on the microphone. Mercifully, it was short. But still awful.
WINNER: Raw
FACTOR 3: STORYLINES
Raw = RK-Bro, and Randy Orton in particular, carried the solid storyline of the show. Riddle was easily the MVP of the show.
SmackDown = The Beat the Clock segments for Ronda Rousey and Charlotte Flair were terrible, once again highlighting how piss poor their feud is.
WINNER: Raw
FACTOR 4: SCHEDULING / PACING
Raw = Raw reverted to it's regular solid pacing this week.
SmackDown = The show had all the hallmarks of a taped episode, therefore the overall pacing fell flat.
WINNER: Raw
EXTRA CREDIT BONUS ROUND!!!
Raw gains points for making fans realise that Randy Orton vs Cody Rhodes will be gold!
Raw also gains points for Ezekiel being somewhat interesting this week.
Raw loses points for the continuation of the 24/7 Championship bullshit.
SmackDown gains points for the sumptuous Raquel Rodriguez squash.
SmackDown also gains points for propping up The Bloodline as the stars of the show.
SmackDown loses points for displaying once again how unsafe Ridge Holland is.
POINT ADJUSTMENTS: Raw (+2 / -1) / SmackDown (+2 / -1)
THIS WEEK'S WINNER = Raw
With a score of 5 to 1, Raw decimates SmackDown to win this week's Battle of the Brands. Whilst not perfect, Raw was at least entertaining television.
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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