With Survivor Series just one week away, both shows have a lot to do, to increase ratings and get the fans engrossed for the cross-brand battles that are imminent. SmackDown already has the upper-hand with the excitement as it’s the 900th episode.
If that doesn’t make you feel old, nothing will! With The Undertaker and Edge both promised for the landmark show, it’s already an uphill battle for Raw to pull it out of the bag and break the deadlock.
It’s currently 8-8 in my scoresheet since the brand split. Last week, I controversially named Raw as the winner of the weekly battle. I thought it was more entertaining, had better matches than SmackDown and I tried my best to put my points across cohesively.
Despite this, it went down like a lead balloon and the blue bloods amongst you, could not believe that I’d placed it above the Tuesday night extravaganza. I completely appreciate that, but as they say, the referee’s decision is final.
However, we’re in a new week and once again I will analyse the best bits of each show to see what made me, the crowd and the viewers click. From this I will determine a winner, and we shall see who can sneak ahead before the 30th annual Survivor Series. This was set to be a really fun week of wrestling so without further ado, let the battle begin!
A prestigious title
What. A. Match. You talk about pay-per-view quality matches on weekly shows and this was another one you can add to the list. It was completely worthy of being on such a monumental show.
I can’t remember what happened at SmackDown 800 but I can tell you this: when people ask me what happened at SmackDown 900, I’ll be talking about that Intercontinental Title match.
These guys left everything they had in the ring and the match itself had multiple spots to keep it interesting. It had the failed interference from the Spirit Squad, it had vicious odes to Daniel Bryan from The Miz, and his wife Maryse showed her worth by ultimately helping him claim the victory over his long-time rival Dolph Ziggler.
Not only was the match brilliant, it also allows The Miz to regain the momentum he had as Champion. It was a mistake taking the Championship off him in the first place, so to see him reclaim it last night, was absolutely the right decision.
We’re very lucky as fans that we get to see these quality matches nowadays after the decline the company saw a few years ago. The brand split has been brilliant for both shows and the Intercontinental Championship has never felt more important.
Bravo SmackDown Live, bravo.
Fantasy preview
I never thought we’d see anyone sweat more than Brock Lesnar under the spotlight but Goldberg has managed to take the crown. I take nothing away from the guy, though, he is still ripped! This should be an absolutely amazing fight. If Goldberg can still go in the ring, it could even be a potential show stealer.
It could also be the first time we’ve seen someone get some proper, intense offence, in on The Beast.
Paul Heyman was on form as usual and did a fantastic job of riling the crowd, as a wall of security, divided the two men. He mentioned Goldberg’s family one too many times though and Goldberg lost it and took out the said wall of security. He only had to scream “jump” at the remaining three to make them scamper like soaked cats.
It was brilliant to see Goldberg run amok in the squared circle.
Brock Lesnar secured his role as a heel in the whole build up by walking away from a brawl with The Myth. This annoyed a lot of people who wanted to see them fight and tear each other apart. That was the point. It was the perfect tactic to get us excited for the main event of the 30th annual Survivor Series.
Female invasion
Hark back to 2001, when the WCW and ECW stars invaded WWF. It was fresh and exciting. When Nexus invaded in 2010, we all felt a huge change was happening. When the Raw women’s team invaded SmackDown Live last night, it excited me.
It evoked these memories of previous invasions. It really did feel so special. The brand split has been active for just long enough, that seeing Raw superstars on SmackDown Live felt strange, weird and looked like it wasn’t supposed to happen.
The women did a brilliant job of creating that feeling of pure animosity and that raw (if you’ll pardon the pun) emotion to proceedings. Seeing Carmella switch her anger from Nikki Bella to the Raw team, was also an awesome moment I won’t forget in a while. It shows that the brand is stronger than personal rivalries.
The blue brand will come together when the chips are down and the stakes are high. I can’t wait to see the women go at it now.
We also need to take a moment to talk about the Nia Jax ‘OMG’ moment of the night. When she made a beeline for Becky Lynch and smashed through the barricade, it looked like a car crash. What a brilliant bit of television. It really enhanced the segment and showed how dangerous Nia Jax will be on Sunday.
I am hyped for this match!
Cross-brand brawl
SmackDown Live vs. Raw happened on Monday night! For the first time since the split, the main superstars from each brand came face to face and had an explosive brawl that made for a fantastic end to WWE Raw this week.
In what was a lacklustre show, for the most part, this main event really set the tone for the upcoming elimination match at Survivor Series and managed to enhance the competition between brands, going into this Sunday.
Raw, of course, managed to get the best of SmackDown Live, what with it being their show and everything, but there were a few goosebump moments during the face-off that have made me extra excited for the pay-per-view.
We saw Randy face up to Braun Strowman, AJ Styles and Jericho resumed their rivalry and two-thirds of the Shield in Seth Rollins and Roman Reigns rolled back the years and performed their signature powerbomb.
The only thing that could have made this segment slightly more awesome, would have been if they had done the Shield handshake to finish things off, but I’m nit-picking here. It was an awesome segment, the crowd were into it and I feel like this is what the brand split should have always been about.
They’re doing it so much better this time around in my opinion, and I often look back at the history of WWE with rose-tinted glasses. However, it’s clear to see there is a plan in place for everything that is being broadcast and that’s what makes it exciting for the fans.
Taking souls and digging holes
The Undertaker hinted at being back full time!! Christmas clearly came early this year.
And if that wasn’t enough, he threatened the whole of the SmackDown Live team. Should they not win, they will all automatically have a problem with The Deadman. I’m so happy that he announced he will no longer be defined by his WrestleMania appearances, but I hope he is still able to go as good as he used to, if he does indeed return to weekly action.
As The Undertaker helped the team get motivated in his own special way, I couldn’t help but sit there and wonder who I’d love him to fight first: AJ Styles, Bray Wyatt, Randy Orton? All amazing choices and I’m very much looking forward to his next feud.
He could even have one more title run. The possibilities that arose from this segment made me more excited than the actual return to be quite honest. The fact that it was all done on the Cutting Edge with one of the biggest SmackDown superstars of all time, Edge; made this all the more special and historic.
SmackDown Live wins!
In a result that is likely to please the vast majority of the readers, right here, on Sportskeeda, team blue made it happen this week and they go 9-8 ahead. Even with the face-off between Brock Lesnar and Goldberg, Raw could not match the show that the 900th episode of SmackDown produced. It was just an unbelievable broadcast from start to finish.
Just a little side note: What was with the random cutaways to the crowd this week? It made the production seem very disjointed and did nothing for the show really. Displaying the shocked reactions of the crowd is something that should really be left for trailers promoting WrestleMania or other such events. Very random and I hope it doesn’t continue.
It won’t sway my decision though as both shows were trialling it.
In the lead up to the Survivor Series pay-per-view, you would think that the build-up, may have suffered slightly with it being so close to Hell in a Cell and having to show that both brands’ teams are united, despite the personal rivalries they hold for each other week in, week out.
However, WWE has done a great job with both shows in getting teams on the same page and creating that buzz around seeing a cross-brand pay-per-view. It feels like we’re seeing two completely different promotions, so for me, they’re doing their job correctly.
Survivor Series is sure to be a historic event in WWE and one I will probably rewatch on the Network over and over again. I can’t wait to see what’s going to happen on Sunday! Were you Red or Blue this week? Leave a comment and let’s discuss!
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