by Welcome back to another week of Smackdown vs. Raw. Smackdown has won for the past two weeks, can Raw break it this week? They may have that chance, because we have a change to our criteria.
We are changing the third category, The Use of Wildcards. While there was supposed to be a set number of wildcards, it is no longer like that because of the 24/7 Championship. Now there is just no chance I can count every single one. So this week, we are trying a new category.
Every show can be great, but if they don’t end on a good note, then many people remember the entire show badly. So from this point, we are examining the Main Event of each show. Let’s get into it.
1. Best Match
Raw: The Miz, Braun Strowman, and Ricochet vs. Samoa Joe, Cesaro, and Bobby Lashley- This was a fun tag match, with everyone getting their shots in. The best part of the match is when Joe had walked out, with Corey Graves pointing out on commentary that everyone want’s Joe’s United States Title, so he doesn’t have any allies. Ricochet won the match by hitting a 630 Senton right onto Cesaro’s legs. I hope Cesaro is okay.
Smackdown: Bayley vs. Nikki Cross- This match came about after Alexa Bliss told Nikki Cross about comments Bayley liked on Social Media (like many people have been doing lately concerning Sasha Banks’ Twitter? What a coincidence). This was a good match, and Nikki is fun to watch in the ring. Bayley won with an Elbow Drop, staring a hole through Alexa Bliss.
Winner: Raw- While both matches were fun, Raw gets extra points for Joe’s walkout. It makes sense with his character, so he gets the win for Raw.
2. Best Non-Wrestling Segment
Raw: Firefly Fun House- This weeks episode featured Ramblin’ Rabbit and Mercy the Buzzard fighting. Mercy wants to eat the Rabbit again, and Bray decides to let Rabbit vent a little. Rabbit feels unsafe, and almost wants to reveal what is really going on. Bray stops him, dressed as a clown, and then proceeds to smash him with a mallet and make a breakfast spread out of him. This got really dark really quickly and I love it.
Smackdown: “Oh no, Truth is Going to L.A.!- More shenanigans with the 24/7 Championship. So, R-Truth is telling Carmella that his life has been hell since winning a title, when someone is coming down the hall. Carmella hides Truth in a utility box. Unfortunately for them, the box gets locked, and Carmella has a match. Jinder tries to get Truth out to beat him, but by the time it gets there, the box is getting loaded into a truck headed to Raw in Los Angeles. The best part was Byron Saxton saying “Oh no, Truth is going to L.A.” I can relate, Byron. I mean, we said the same thing when Lebron left Cleveland.
Winner: Raw- As great as the 24/7 Title stuff was on both shows, the Firefly Fun House is really great stuff.
3. Main Event
Raw: Seth Rollins vs. Kevin Owens- The match was okay, but Sami Zayn’s constant interfering as an outside ref was really annoying, which I guess was the point. Sami Zayn disqualified Seth for grabbing him. Seth closed out the night in a really cool way, by taking out Sami and Kevin with multiple chair shots while bleeding. It was a cool visual.
Smackdown: The New Day vs. Dolph Ziggler, Sami Zayn, and Kevin Owens- This was a fun match, highlighted by Big E’s return. The match ended after Dolph superkicked everyone on the planet before getting it by Kofi’s Trouble in Paradise. The show closed with The New Day standing tall.
Winner: Raw- While the match wasn’t too great, the ending visual of Seth looking like a beast got me excited for next week.
4. Biggest Story Angle
Raw: The Revival Win Tag Titles- Raw was home to a title change this week, as the Revival defeated the Usos and Hawkins & Ryder to win the Raw Tag Team Championship. Good for the Revival, bad for Hawkins and Ryder, who I honestly forgot were the champions.
Smackdown: Aleister Black Wants a Fight- Aleister Black cut a brief promo, where he had whoever was behind the camera open the door. He shouted “The door is open! Someone pick a fight with me!” Hopefully this leads to something big for him.
Winner: Raw- While Black had an intriguing promo, I don’t want to give this a point just yet. Also, hopefully, the Revival makes the tag titles mean something.
5. Overall Flow of the Show
Raw: Raw had a ton of matches this week, and for the most part it they were average matches. But, they spaced things out well and allowed some segments to breathe.
Smackdown: Smackdown seemed to drag quite a bit, especially at the beginning. There is too much Shane McMahon across both shows. He has heel heat, sure, but its more of the crowd saying “go away, I’m sick of seeing you” rather than “Oh, I hate you because your a bad guy.” I think crowds are definitely sick of seeing Shane.
Winner: Raw- Raw was built better, although not by much. It’s sad to say Smackdown felt like the longer show this week.
Final Scores:
Raw: 5 Points
Smackdown: 0 Points
Summary: Wow, who would’ve thought that Raw would be the first show to get a clean sweep? This is proof that when Smackdown is bad, it is really bad. While both shows weren’t particularly great, Raw really outdid Smackdown this week to get their first win in this series.
Series Overview: Smackdown (2 Wins); Raw (1 Win)
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