Last week, SmackDown Live just edged it as I reviewed how the two shows performed. Too many poor segments in Raw’s show meant that SmackDown Live was able to pinch the win!
Raw had to pull it out of the bag as WWE SmackDown Live’s first pay per view WWE Backlash was on Sunday night. However, in what was a mediocre PPV with a few decent moments, I feel SmackDown had more to do this week.
With Clash of Champions just two weeks away, Raw had to amp up the build-up to generate enough excitement. It also had a lot to make up for after last week’s poor outing.
Once again in this slideshow, I have highlighted the best of SmackDown and Raw, so let’s see who come out on top this week!
A ropey victory makes it 3-2
Cesaro vs. Shamus didn’t look like it was going to live up to the first 3 televised matches up until the mid-way point of the match where Cesaro started to up the ante in terms of aggression and caught a cheeky victory by pinning Sheamus while using the ropes for leverage.
The only thing that annoys me about this series is that one of the matches took place at a Live Event, depriving the general audience of the entire story the two men have told in the ring so far.
It just shows that the WWE do not have faith in holding the audience’s interest for 7 whole matches. It really is a shame.
The match was brilliant again but I will admit that it is now at risk of becoming a bit ‘samey’ as we move on into the 6th contest. If they can do something that’s out of the box they may earn a hat-trick on the highlight list next week too!
A lazy part-timer returns!
After a brief absence, SuperCena was back in full force, staking his claim for the WWE World Championship. His reasoning behind it? To level Ric Flair in terms of total title reigns. This is where wrestling is a bit backwards for me. 16 time champion means you lost it 15 times.
To me, a long reign like CM Punk’s 434 a few years ago is a much better achievement. Anyway, I digress.
The segment was really good because it included a couple of moments that made me cringe. Cena calling out Ambrose by saying Austin was right about his lack of passion and Ambrose firing right back by naming Cena a part timer – something we all know he hates.
I think the fact that the promos were partially based in reality really helped the segment and the fact that Cena was back to a certain level of sass also helped a lot!
Redesign, Rebuild, Replaced!
Kevin Owens is a king on the mic. I know it, you know it, Jericho knows it, Tom Phillips knows it and now Seth Rollins knows it. The backstage altercation between the two top stars of Raw before the main event was absolutely brilliant.
He never falters, stutters, forgets lines, and the delivery of each point hits home with the crowd and the people watching at home. It just seems so natural. His trash talking in the ring is amazing too. Not enough wrestlers talk trash in the ring.
Back to the promo…Kevin doesn’t get much time on the mic and most of his promo work is done backstage but this suits his character down to a tee. He made Seth Rollins look a bit foolish after Rollins had pulled no punches taunting Kevin Owens about his tainted victory.
That’s another great talent. Obviously, I don’t know how much is scripted but Owens always seems to be able to turn any criticism around in his favour. It was a brilliant altercation and I cared for it more than any other segment on the show. That’s how good it was.
Poor James Ellsworth…
The Miz solidified his status this week as a future main event talent by battering a poor jobber that gained 15 minutes 3 minutes of fame as one of Braun Strauman’s victims on WWE Raw. He was chosen as AJ Styles mystery partner in the main event, probably due to the cult-like status he received due to his…erm…unique look.
However, Miz took exception to this and rightly so. He took the jobber out with a skull crushing finale on the ramp and channelled this rage as AJ Styles’ partner. He was extremely aggressive during the match delivering a sick DDT to John Cena in the early going.
I can honestly see Miz challenging for the WWE World Championship in the future. There’s really not a lot standing in his way. It just depends where the WWE creative team want to go with the Miz/Bryan rivalry.
If Bryan can get cleared, it would be a WrestleMania classic! It’s just a shame he took the fall.
Sasha’s controversial victory
I feel like I’m the only one who noticed that Sasha Banks shoulders were also down when the pin was counted by the referee. Having recently watched WWF Unforgiven 1998 where the New Age Outlaws retained the Tag Team Championship because of the exact same situation, it probably felt a bit weirder to me than anybody else.
However, I cannot take away from the fact that the opening segment to Raw and the triple threat match that followed was amazing. To showcase the women like this shows that the WWE is serious about the Women’s revolution and it also kind of overshadowed the crowning of the new SmackDown Women’s Champion, Becky Lynch.
It was a really shrewd move on the part of Raw and it was just another segment that made it feel like the two brands are in true competition with each other.
The crowd were really into the segment with the women eliciting the same reaction as you’d get for male superstars just like the old days – but this was for their wrestling talent and their gimmick, instead of it being for their looks.
It was a hot segment that kicked off Raw in the right way and showed that the women can start a show. This also opens up the possibility of them main eventing Raw in the near future.
Who won?
This was a lot tougher than last week, but in terms of pure entertainment, you’ve got to look to Raw this week. Aside from the points mentioned, Nia Jax was impressive, New Day reacted to the negativity surrounding The Club’s skit last week and Jericho’s Highlight Reel though not the best, was still pretty darn funny.
SmackDown was coming off the back of a mediocre pay-per-view and while the show tonight was a lot more entertaining than that on Sunday, it really didn’t match up to Raw. It makes me wonder if this will be a cycle as the build up to pay-per-views always seem to create better programming than that which follows lately.
Regardless, SmackDown didn’t quite have enough to top Raw this week. However, they have a nice set up to knock it out of the park next time! Tune in next week for where I’ll analyse the competition once again right here, on Sportskeeda!
Are you Red or Blue this week? Leave a comment and let’s discuss!
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