by We are on the fast track to WWE Extreme Rules! After news broke that Paul Heyman and Eric Bischoff would be new executive directors of both Raw and Smackdown, were the shows any better this week? Let’s find out who had the better show in each of our five categories.
1. Best Match
Raw: Braun Strowman vs. Bobby Lashley (Falls Count Anywhere)- Raw literally started out with a bang with this match. No opening promo, just a match to kick off the show. The match wasn’t very long, and was primarily two giant dudes throwing each other around. It came to an end with Bobby Lashley hitting Braun with a suplex on the stage. As Bobby gloats and gets set up for a spear, Strowman runs up and tackles Lashley through the stage, causing a ton of explosions and causing Corey Graves on commentary to say “Holy S***” uncensored. They held a couple different cameras with no commentary for a while until both men were loaded into an ambulance. This was crazy.
Smackdown: Daniel Bryan vs. Big E- The Tag Team division dominated Smackdown this week. After the Kevin Owen’s show, which we will talk about later, Big E and Daniel Bryan had a match before their Triple Threat Tag Match at Extreme Rules. This was a fun match, with Big E having fun and Daniel Bryan doing some classic heel work. The match ended after Rowan hit Big E while the ref was distracted, allowing Bryan to hit the running knee for the win.
Winner: Raw: Obviously, it is Raw. As good as any match on Smackdown was, none of them could match the sheer adrenaline that Braun vs. Bobby gave us on Monday. I never thought that I would be saying that in 2019.
2. Best Segment
Raw: Drake Maverick and The Love of His Life (And Also His Wife is There Too)- Drake Maverick had lost the 24/7 Championship on his wedding day. He had been depressed since then, and in his latest scheme, he brought his wife to Raw as a pit stop to their Honeymoon. Drake is given a choice by his wife” her or the title. He chooses his wife, but afterwords R-Truth taunts him with the title. Drake is ready to leave while his wife uses the bathroom, and R-Truth stops at Drake after running away from a mob of Superstars. Drake finally had enough and he hits Truth with his luggage to win the title and go off on his honeymoon.
Smackdown: Kofi Kingston and Samoa Joe Face-to-Face: Well this was certainly intense. So Joe and Kofi go face-to-face, with Joe sending away the interviewer. Joe says Kofi is always positive, but he calls out Kofi, saying he is just using Xavier and Big E. Kofi says that he won the WWE Championship on his own against Bryan, and asked Joe what he has done lately. It boils down to a proposition from Joe, saying that everyone he loves will be safe if he just shakes his hand. Instead of this, Kofi throws up a middle finger and hits Joe with a Trouble in Paradise.
Winner: Smackdown- While the 24/7 stuff was fun, Kofi and Joe brought much needed intensity to this feud. Samoa Joe looked like a hit-man, speaking elegantly as well as intensely. Kofi left looking like a confident, defiant champion.
3. Main Event
Raw: United States Championship: Ricochet vs. AJ Styles- This story was built throughout the night, with Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson stirring the pot between the two men. This leads to AJ challenging Ricochet for the title backstage, which both men accepted by slapping each other in the face. The match had ended with Styles winning quickly, but Ricochet was under the rope, so the match is restarted. Ricochet gets a roll-up win, which angers Styles. Gallows and Anderson wanted to attack Ricochet, but Styles held them off. That is, he did until Styles himself attacked Ricochet before having The Good Brothers hit him with a magic killer. Styles ends the segment with a second-rope Styles Clash and celebrating with the boys.
Smackdown: Kevin Owens and Dolph Ziggler vs. Heavy Machinery- This match was made in the beginning of the night by Shane McMahon, with the winner fighting for the Tag Titles against New Day and Bryan and Rowan at Extreme Rules. Both of the other teams were on commentary, but ended up brawling and getting the match restarted. The match ended with Ziggler accidentally hitting a Superkick on Owens allowing Heavy Machinery to win.
Winner: Raw- PLEASE, DO NOT SCREW THIS UP WWE! The Club dominating Raw as a heel faction seems like an awesome story opportunity, and Ricochet could come out as a huge star at the end of this feud.
4. Biggest Story Progression:
Raw: Poor Mike Kanellis- See what happens when you have the nerve to re-sign with a company? So, after an awkward interview with Becky Lynch and Seth Rollins, Mike and Maria Kanellis challenge the couple, with Maria referring to Mike as her “b****”. During the match, Seth beat on Mike until Becky was tagged in. Maria runs off, grabs a microphone and says that she is pregnant! This is a surprise to Mike, until he is brought in to get locked in the Dis-Arm-Her (or Dis-Arm-Him in this case. After the match, Maria berates Mike for not being a man enough, and saying that maybe next time “The Man” Becky Lynch could impregnate her. Why did this happen?
Smackdown: Love-able Kevin Owens: Kevin Owens had quite the big night on Tuesday. He started off face-to-face with Shane McMahon and Drew McIntyre for the Kevin Owens Show, making fun of them for being scared of The Undertaker and generally making Shane mad. Dolph Ziggler interrupted them, and Kevin Owens just laid into him and put him down, saying he should’ve been “The Guy” years ago and he isn’t. Kevin says he deserves an opportunity at the WWE Championship, while Shane disagrees on both him and Dolph. He made the Main Event match, and after that match Kevin Owens hit a Stunner on Dolph. So it seems that they are giving this face run another go.
Winner: Smackdown- I am very confused at the point of this Mike and Maria thing, so I am going with the more solid option. I am excited for a face Kevin Owens, possibly against a heel WWE Champion in Samoa Joe.
5. Overall Flow of the Show:
Raw: Changing The Game- This show had a lot of really good stuff. Not a ton of wrestling, but there were a lot of good moments. This was an entertaining show from top to bottom.
Smackdown: Slow Start- This show started off pretty slow with the Kevin Owens show, as well as A Moment of Bliss hosted by Nikki Cross. While it was slow, it was a good show to watch.
Winner: Raw- While both shows were really good, Raw really needed it. It was really rough these past few months, and now it may be on the upswing.
NEW FEATURE: BONUS POINTS!
I noticed for these articles that these shows are so long that I needed an extra space to talk about good bits about these show that don’t really fit these categories. I will award a bonus point for every must-see thing on each show.
Raw:
- New Day vs. Viking Raiders and Samoa Joe was fun.
- Street Profits cut a few promos to debut
Smackdown:
- I may be the only one who thinks that Nikki Cross has a decent story? Possibly.
- Aleister Black is debuting soon and I am very happy about that.
Total Scores
Raw: 5 Points
Smackdown: 4 Points
Summary: Both shows had some really good stuff. Smackdown had some intriguing storyline set-ups while Raw was a breath of fresh air this week.
Total Wins: Smackdown(3 Wins); Raw (3 Wins)
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