Welcome back to Brand Warfare, SLTD Wrestling’s one stop shop for all things Red vs. Blue.
Before we settle into this week’s action and see if Monday Night Raw was able to capitalize on the debuting cruiserweight division and the hype of Clash of Champions to try to get back in the game this week, we can tell you with absolute certainty that things couldn’t be anymore pivotal for Team Red than they are right now.
Last week, SmackDown Live took yet another clean sweep victory from the judges as well as an all-important 89% of fan votes to take things 6 – 2 against their competition, who at this stage isn’t looking all that formidable.
Was the Raw roster able to turn things around once again this week, however, or will they have squandered their advantage heading into their first brand-exclusive PPV in Clash of Champions on Sunday?
Let’s check in with Team SLTD, which will be undergoing changes from now on as Tom Robinson has had to pull out for the time being. Today, I’ll be replacing him myself, but we’ll be sure to source a new regular soon.
Colin Hebert – @ColinHebert614 – The Curtain Jerker
“This week’s RAW was the go-home show for Clash of Champions on Sunday night. It started off a little dis-jointed with Mick Foley giving Roman Reigns another shot at WWE Universal Champion Kevin Owens, this time non-title and in a steel cage and giving him a shot at Rusev’s U.S. title at Clash of Champions.
A steel cage match is supposed to be the blow-off of a feud and nobody is supposed to enter, but this was not the case. Of course Reigns in the future will get a shot at Owens’ Universal title, but Rusev interfered and then Seth Rollins made the save for Reigns, igniting rumors of a mini-Shield reunion in the future. Rollins’ dive from the top of the cage might have been the highlight of the show.
Also on the show, they gave a spot in the Raw Women’s title match to Bayley. I’m not surprised they did this, but I’m not supportive of it. Bayley, as over as she is due to her time in NXT, I don’t feel is ready for this. I’m still unnerved by the whole “just happy to be here” gimmick.
The cruiserweights finally debuted on RAW, with nothing from newly crowned WWE Cruiserweight Champion T.J. Perkins on the show. They did have a Fatal-4 Way match to determine who will face Perkins at Clash of Champions, which was won by The Brian Kendrick. The crowd in Memphis appeared that they didn’t watch the Cruiserweight Classic as the participants didn’t get that great of a pop.
SmackDown Live began their show with a contract signing for the SmackDown Women’s Championship between Becky Lynch and Alexa Bliss. It was a better opening segment than the Roman Reigns segment to begin RAW the previous night. Both women got their chance to shine on the mic and came off credible.
SmackDown Live also had a great final segment with the main event being Dean Ambrose vs. John Cena. Ambrose won… clean. I’m kind of shocked Cena has been doing these clean jobs lately, but it makes the SD Live brand that much better. AJ Styles came out and attacked both men, but was told by General Manager Daniel Bryan that next week AJ will defend his WWE World Championship against Dean Ambrose in the main event.
Even the “secondary” SmackDown Live titles remain a hot commodity. The Miz defended his Intercontinental Title in a fantastic match against Dolph Ziggler, winning by spraying something in the eyes of Ziggler. In the tag team ranks, The Usos, who are probably the hottest tag team act in WWE and they don’t even hold one of the two tag team titles, earned a SmackDown tag team title shot against Heath Slater and Rhyno by taking out American Alpha and Chad Gable’s knee in the process.”
Winner: SmackDown Live
Tybo Ledson – @Tybo_SLTD – Tybo Talks
“This is the week we have all be waiting for, the week where we find out if the Cruiserweight Division can turn Team Red around and pull it out of the slump it’s been in since the beginning of the brand split.
Once again, Raw had its moments, but as always (and I’m almost bored of saying it) the show just feels so long. It feels even longer as the weeks go on because I feel like I am slowly losing faith with the whole brand.
I loved the main event cage match, and would have liked to see what interaction happened with Rollins coming to ‘save’ Reigns. The Cruiserweight match was great, always great to see The Brian Kendrick moving up. I think the only downfall seemed to be the crowd. It’s like they had no idea who anyone was which is a huge shame.
Team Blue is getting better and better every week. The Women’s Division, Tag Division, and both Intercontinental and World Champions pictures are looking stronger than ever. Styles is amazing as Champion, and The Miz is making the Intercontinental Championship look stronger and stronger every week. Then there is the addition of Jack Swagger, and the heel turn from The Usos and Team Blue is delivering on every level.
It’s becoming more and more clear that SmackDown is pulling further and further ahead of Raw week after week. At this point I have no idea what Raw are going to do to pull this back and become the ‘A’ brand once again.”
Winner: SmackDown Live
Adam O’Brien – @AdamOB_UTS – Under the Spotlight
“It’s not often I get to weigh in on the weekly routines of Raw and SmackDown as part of Brand Warfare, so I relish the opportunity to throw in my two cents before we refill this role hopefully next week.
Without question, the blue brand has just been pulling off far smoother shows that come across way easier to digest than that of Raw. While the creative team on Monday nights is comfortable with the tried and tested method of putting its talent in tag-team matches prior to a big Pay-Per-View as suitable storyline progression, SmackDown actually showcases real emotion and intensity in its rivalries up to the last available second.
With the exception of the main event scene on Raw, which is most definitely not without its flaws, the rest of the card is booked so lazily. The athletes on show are incredible and nothing should be taken away from them, but very few of them are selling Clash of Champions, as a result of ineffective booking, which is a crying shame.
The brawl and subsequent ten-man tag-team match was a prime example of this. So many of the stars whose job it is to add some depth to the undercard are now heading into Sunday with very little buzz behind them because the match on Raw just took the air out of their feuds. Whereas on SmackDown, each entity is utilized either for the progression of a storyline or for the benefit of an uprising superstar.
You hear the buzzwords alone coming out of this week – Dean Ambrose beats John Cena, The Usos could be in line for a SmackDown Tag Team Championship victory, The Miz beats Ziggler to continue his journey to the top of the SmackDown roster, Alexa Bliss and Becky Lynch might just steal the show at No Mercy – the list goes on, and they all imply that SmackDown is leaving a bigger impact than Raw is.
Sure, Monday nights are filled with action, but it’s just not resonating with the fans, and that’s where they seriously need to up their game if they want to get back in this now one-sided affair we call Brand Warfare.”
Winner: SmackDown Live
For the fifth time since we started Brand Warfare, SmackDown Live has received yet another clean sweep vote from the panel here at SLTD Wrestling. At this stage, Monday Night Raw might be in an irredeemable spot in the rear view mirror as the blue brand picks up speed heading into No Mercy in two weeks.
Will that be reflected in the votes, however? That’s up to you! Make your mark in the poll to let us know which brand was superior this week, and be sure to give the team a follow to catch up with the latest in SLTD Wrestling.
Which brand put on the better show this week? #BrandWarfare
— SLTD Wrestling (@SLTDWrestling) September 24, 2016
Self-Professed Conversational Wizard.
Admin, Editor and Writer for SLTD Wrestling.
Creator of 'Under the Spotlight'.
Studying Computing in Games Development.
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