WWE SmackDown Live vs. WWE Raw – Who came out on top before Tables, Ladders and Chairs?
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.