It’s currently 9-9 in my SmackDown Live vs. Raw series with the red brand stomping out an easy victory last week over its rival. It was an incredibly disappointing episode of SmackDown, and Raw ran away with the whole package. It took them level and still, no one show is running away with it in my opinion.
The question is, can SmackDown recover having had such a bad show last week?
Raw is absolutely on fire lately, and I can’t see this week being any different if the red brand continues to do what it’s doing, in terms of storylines, feuds, comedy and entertainment. Let’s not forget they also have the Cruiserweight division. At the moment, you have SmackDown being almost spoiled every week by James Ellsworth.
The novelty has truly worn off for me.
That’s enough negativity. This week, as always, I will be analysing the best bits of Raw and the best bits of SmackDown Live to see, which show really offered the best viewing experience.
The ramifications will still be felt from Survivor Series on Raw, but the blue brand has to continue the build towards Tables, Ladders and Chairs, as it airs next week and this is the go home show for it.
So without further ado, let’s get into it…
Attitude Era 2.0?
How long is it since we’ve seen a car park brawl?
I honestly can’t remember the last time we saw anything like that. I feel like WWE is going back to slightly more edgy programming. Now they have the sponsors behind them and they know they are much more successful with the brand split, it’s like they’re trying to push the boundaries like they used to, just to see what they can get away with.
A big example of this would be Enzo referring to stuffing Lana’s turkey. That sort of innuendo would have been commonplace in the Attitude Era, and I’m not quite sure how, they got away with it on Monday, but it was awesome nonetheless.
But back to the car park brawl. Seth Rollins attacked Jericho after he had a falling out with Kevin Owens, earlier in the night and it was good to see how many cars he bounced Y2J off. There were a good few dented vehicles by the time he had finished, and Seth capped it off with a Pedigree on top of a car.
They nearly crushed the roof! It was a great fight with Rollins controlling it from start to finish.
And if all this wasn’t enough, we had an APA style bar brawl that Bradshaw would be proud of. Sheamus and Cesaro finally showed a bit of teamwork, as they cleared a pub full of aggressive troublemakers that were winding them up after seeing their loss last week. We even saw a spot, which saw a punter go flying through a fake wall.
They topped it off with a pint of Guinness, and I hope this signals that we’ll see them as a team for longer than expected.
Ultimately, Raw went old school this week, and it was very much appreciated. I felt like I was taking a trip down memory lane and the nostalgia was immense. I hope WWE continues with this sort of programming as it just makes the entire product more exciting.
Lasskicker fired up!
This rivalry between Alexa Bliss and SmackDown women’s champion Becky Lynch is getting feisty, to say the least! They were throwing barbs at each other during the contract signing, which slowly descended into a fight as if we expected anything less!
Alexa got the best of Becky by shoving her through a table. Quite fitting really, what with the pay-per-view, Tables, Ladders and Chairs…
They made it a table match.
Anywho, further to the usual battles, what really stood out was the fact the Becky called Alexa a b*tch!! It seems that Raw started a trend with this edgy content and SmackDown continued it with the aggressive language. Ambrose was just as bad when he called AJ Styles a b*stard, before starting his own backstage brawl to end the show.
I think Alexa would make a great champion as she’s a believable heel. She’s extremely good at getting the crowd riled up, and I don’t squirm when she does a promo like I do when Sasha Banks or Becky Lynch get on the microphone. Now that it’s a tables match too, it means the title can change hands in a way that doesn’t make Becky Lynch look weak.
Much like when Sheamus won his first championship against John Cena. Table matches – saving hot talent from clean losses for years.
I can’t take anything away from the wrestling talent of these two women, and though they aren’t on par with Sasha and Charlotte, they are certainly still the best SmackDown has to offer right now. They can certainly put on a show that would be worthy of a main event spot. This match has me extremely excited for the upcoming pay-per-view!
The New Wyatt family
Orton and Wyatt have proven to be a formidable team. If you look at Survivor Series, where Orton took a spear for his leader Bray Wyatt, it was clear to see that they would be a team for the foreseeable future. This is a great creative decision by WWE if it comes to fruition. This is exactly what I wanted when Daniel Bryan joined the family.
I wanted his mind to be completely warped, but we all know how that ended. It lasted about two weeks and was extremely disappointing.
The only disappointing thing about this alliance is that Orton is still wearing his ring gear and isn’t growing a beard. The rest of the story development is perfect so far. It’s really refreshing to watch the Wyatt family pick up wins. Bray Wyatt deserves this, having been mishandled for several years now.
I can only hope they win the tag team championships this Sunday at TLC.
WWE are hinting at Luke Harper turning on the family due to Orton’s inclusion. He certainly seems a bit put out by the whole situation as he keeps shooting evil stares at the Viper and it’s clear to see that he doesn’t really trust him. It will be interesting to see how this develops.
It was a great match, and the distraction by Harper gave them a needed win in the end. It made me stoked to see if they can finally capture gold when they face One Man Gore on Sunday.
Hot potato…
This is not a knock at the title changing hands so often between Charlotte and Sasha Banks; rather it is a case for it. This is one of the best rivalries, not only in the women’s division but the whole of the WWE. A lot of fans would argue that playing hot potato with a title devalues it and makes it devoid of any prestige.
However, I feel this statement is completely incorrect in this instance.
The fact that Sasha Banks and Charlotte have traded the title 5 times shows how valuable it is, and how much both women value the Raw Women’s Championship. They are now both 3-time champions, and there isn’t another female Superstar that has even held the Championship.
This is a fantastic rivalry and the fact the title keeps changing hands just makes it better.
It reminds me of back in 2000, where The Rock and Triple H would trade the WWF title between each other several times. At not one point did anyone moan that the two were playing hot potato with the title because it made the rivalry great and made sure that people didn’t know who was going to win. It showed how important the top prize in the business is.
The feud is extremely similar to the one Sasha Banks, and Charlotte has had.
And again, the two women pulled off an amazing match. Made a Falls Count Anywhere match due to a double count out earlier in the night, Charlotte and Sasha stole the show in the main event of Raw. It really is the most interesting feud on the Raw brand. I never thought women’s wrestling would get to this point this quickly.
They don’t just wrestle, they fight. They managed to elicit ECW chants from the crowd. The welts on Charlotte’s arms and back were something to behold! It really is a testament to the talent they have, and the women’s revolution is in full swing!
Sasha Banks is now the champion, and I can’t see this rivalry being over anytime soon. I’d love to see it go all the way to WrestleMania. It still hasn’t become boring. What an unbelievable main event!
Raw wins!
It’s 10-9 to Raw now. It really has shown that it is the flagship show over the past couple of weeks. It’s producing some of the best shows I’ve ever seen, and I am excited to watch the programme every week. Quite simply put, though SmackDown was better than it was last week, the same can’t be said for the blue brand.
When the brand split first happened, my opinion was completely the opposite, and I couldn’t wait to watch SmackDown as it was more exciting, had better wrestling and better entertainment.
It’s hard for me to pinpoint where it’s going wrong for SmackDown Live but I think Ellsworth, Kane and tag team champions I’m not invested in, are to blame lately. Ellsworth has run his course, and he was very entertaining for two weeks. This has honeymoon period passed and is really wearing thin now.
The fact is, it’s obvious he’ll interfere at TLC, but it will just ruin what’s bound to be a quality main event. I shouldn’t be going into a pay-per-view with a sense of dread.
Kane needs to hang up his boots and certainly shouldn’t be beating Luke Harper on the regular, and the fact that Heath Slater and Rhyno have been champions for as long as they have devalues the tag team division. I don’t mean to be negative; I just feel the need to justify why Raw has been better than SmackDown recently.
I really want SmackDown to do well because they certainly have the talent. We can only hope that the aftermath of TLC this Sunday can produce a better show for SmackDown Live and they can bring it back level with Raw!
Were you Red or Blue this week? Leave a comment and let’s discuss!
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