Tables, Ladders and Chairs, was your average gimmick pay-per-view show. It had some OK matches, no real surprises, but some impressive spots nonetheless. With SmackDown Live dealing with the ramifications of the outcomes of these matches, it’s possible we could be in for a bit more of an exciting outing than last week.
Both shows are working at opposite ends of the spectrum, as Raw is trying to build storylines for Roadblock and SmackDown Live is attempting to shift feuds and rivalries to keep things fresh, until their next outing on the WWE Network.
With this in mind, I will be curious to see if there is any stark contrast between how the shows are presented, and received by the audience.
If you haven’t seen this series before, it’s currently 10-9 to Raw on my scoreboard for the brand split. I focus on the positives in each show every week and analyse what made each show shine.
Recently, Raw has been putting out much better shows, storylines and feuds than SmackDown Live, but with Raw now building towards a new pay-per-view Roadblock, and SmackDown Live coming off the back of a successful TLC, it will be interesting to see if SmackDown can get back in the mix this week.
So without further ado, let’s get into it…
More risqué programming
Raw continued its theme of more edgy programming this week by focusing on an affair storyline between Enzo and Lana. Lana and Rusev were shown to be arguing, and Knight Enzo stepped in to save the day. He ended up taking Ric Flair’s limo to the hotel room to find a scantily clad Lana, trying to tempt him into something he would regret; if you know what I mean!
Rusev then laid into Enzo in a Hotel Room brawl!
I am a huge fan of these backstage segments. They really are reminiscent of an era gone by, and it’s exactly what the product needs right now. For too long there have not been enough shenanigans going on outside of the ring, and the shift to focusing purely on in-ring talent was a poor one in my opinion.
To get the most out of the entertainment aspect of the show, you need to break it up with segments like this. Furthermore, it gives the wrestlers more reason to fight, and you become more invested in the feud because of it.
The fact that Lana set Enzo up was brilliant, and we can all see that it’s building to a feud with Big Cass; the important thing is, we’re going to care about it when it finally happens because we’ve followed this story.
Enzo’s one-on-one with Ric Flair just added a bit more cheek to the segment, and it was as great as always, to see a future talent and one from the past interacting with their own catchphrases. Ric being an absolute lad and lending Enzo the limo was a stroke of genius too!
Another addition to this point would be Charlotte’s language in her promo. Now, I’m not being funny, but a few years ago, Cena had to say ‘butt’ instead of ‘ass’ and now curse words are being thrown around like it’s an Attitude Era Renaissance. Not that I’m complaining, this edgy programming has me hooked, and we can only hope for more of it!
SmackDown is Bliss
That’s right; we finally have a Women’s champion on SmackDown that can cut a promo that doesn’t make me cringe heavily. Becky Lynch as champion never felt right to me, so I’m glad they’ve finally given Alexa the belt even if it’s only for a short while. She is an extremely talented athlete and also cuts really good promos.
The “b*tch that runs the SmackDown Women’s division” came out with a great heel attitude and made Becky look quite weak, in her verbal battles since they started feuding. This week was no exception.
This segment was all about Alexa gaining heat, and it worked a treat. From her celebration complete with pyro to her rolling out of the ring after teasing a fight with the Irish Lasskicker; it was all classic heel behaviour and the crowd lapped it up. The key to a good heel is that you can’t help but love them, and I feel like this about Alexa Bliss.
The feud on this brand is the main rival to Sasha Banks vs. Charlotte over on Raw, and though they aren’t really breaking any records or setting a high bar, they are consistent, and that is very important, if we are to become as invested, as we are over on the flagship show in the women’s division.
Gentleman Jack
Jack Gallagher is from my own hometown of Manchester, England, so it was great to see him debut on Raw this week. In the Cruiserweight division, there are plenty of wrestlers that are high flyers but stacked like they’ve modelled themselves on Ryback. The good thing about Jack is that he brings something completely different to the table.
He has funny trunks, a funny moustache and a funny accent (not to me, but to most), so he is outside the box in a way. Being quite stereotypically English also works in his favour, as he works this into his in ring performance and it’s this courteousness mixed with cockiness that creates his unique style.
His match with Daivari on Raw was an awesome showcase of some of the skills he has, such as backing out from a headlock on his hands. Pretty darn cool. It was a clever move from WWE, repeating a match from 205 Live because it was a continuation of the start of a rivalry from this show.
It gives the commentators an opportunity to drop the new show into conversation and also causes people to go back and watch it just to see what made Daivari so angry in the first place.
It’s good to see that the Cruiserweights are getting the same story development and character development as the main roster too. I look forward to seeing if Jack can make it to the top of the mountain.
The Wyatt Family reign supreme
I’ll just get this out of the way…Orton needs to grow a beard and change his attire. Okay, now that’s been dealt with, how awesome have the Wyatts become? The SmackDown tag team champions defended their belts in a match that mirrored the one 48 hours earlier at the Tables, Ladders and Chairs event. The finish was just as good too.
Bray Wyatt performed a half-Sister Abigail into a perfectly executed RKO to seal their first defence of the belts.
I hope they go on a really long run here. For once, WWE is doing exactly the right thing with a brain-washed character. Orton is gone. He has been replaced by a combination of all his old personas and is being controlled by Bray.
This is evident in the new theme song they have now debuted, which begins with a teaser of “Line in the Sand” the old Evolution song and Orton’s current theme. It should be a long title reign before Orton even thinks of coming back to the light side.
The match itself with Heath Slater and Rhyno was surprisingly good. Rhyno has been a great addition of veteran talent to the roster. Heath Slater’s latest persona sees him brawl more, and he has a lot more energy. The man is unbelievably talented as proven, by the fact he hangs with Orton and at one point was actually doing pretty well against the Viper!
The former champions looked quite strong here, despite putting over the dominance of the Wyatts.
One thing’s for sure…they’re here.
Iron Women
A lot of people are bored with this rivalry over the Raw Women’s Championship. All over social media people were complaining that this feud still wasn’t over, despite all the title changes and matches Sasha Banks and Charlotte, have had together. It’s this sort of backlash that means we can’t have nice things.
I am far from bored by this title picture. These two women still have a lot to give, and I’ve said it before, I wouldn’t mind seeing it run all the way up to WrestleMania.
It is refreshing to see a feud that can run over multiple pay-per-views for six months and not lose its edge. They think of something new, just as you think it might get stale. The Raw Women’s title is so much more prestigious at the moment than even the Universal title.
It’s because the competitors have shown how far they are willing to go, to gain that belt and keep it. Another benefit to this long winded feud is that when a new wrestler comes into the picture if they beat Charlotte or Sasha, it immediately solidifies them as a Superstar.
It may seem selfish at first, that it’s always the same two in these title matches, but it benefits the whole division, with all the boundaries they’re able to break because of their position and for the talent they can put over in the future.
The Iron Woman match at Roadblock: End of the Line is sure to be another exciting affair, and now that Charlotte has disrespected her father once again and left Sasha in a heap on Raw, there’s no telling whether she’ll keep her pay-per-view record intact and become a four-time champion (though I’m secretly hoping she does!)
That wraps up the best of this week, but who won?
Raw wins!
Raw managed to win by a whisker this week, but it’s not a triumphant victory by any means. Both shows this week were so poor, that it was a difficult task to pick out the positives. It would be very easy to sit here every week and pick holes in the current product that WWE is producing on a weekly basis.
We all know what we would like to see more of and what we would like to see less of, but at the end of the day, that decision is out of our hands, and WWE works its hardest to get the best quality shows they can out there every week. Are some weeks stronger than others? You better believe it, but there are always glimmers of greatness, even in the terrible episodes.
I believe I have highlighted those this week and Raw shined a little more brightly than SmackDown in my opinion. Anyone who reads my series regularly will know I’m not the biggest fan of Ellsworth and he ruined a perfectly good match this week again.
There were a couple of rematches from TLC too, so the programme felt like we’d seen it all before in that respect. Though SmackDown Live had its highlights, it’s Raw’s penchant for pushing the boundaries that is scoring it points in my eyes.
I feel Raw has been getting a bit if a bad rap lately, compared to its blue rival and that seems a little unfair, because if you actually analyse the shows as I have, and take away the negativity from it, you will find that Raw has been putting out the better product every week now for the past few weeks and though this broadcast was below average, it still managed to hook me more than SmackDown did.
11-9 is now the score in Raw’s favour!
I’m sure some of you agree, and others disagree, so were you Red or Blue this week? Leave a comment and let’s discuss!
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