The Good
For Raw, Seth Rollins keeps on rolling as his match with Jinder Mahal was good. There were some close pinfalls and exciting moments in the match that made you feel like Mahal was possibly going to win. But, Rollins got himself DQ’d after using a chair on Mahal as payback for when Mahal used it earlier in the match without the referee seeing it. But, what happened after the match is where things got really good. After Rollins chased away Mahal with the chair, he celebrated on the announcers table. But, out of nowhere, Elias comes and smashes his guitar over his back, starting up what should be a very good Intercontinental championship program between Rollins and Elias.
For Smackdown, the main event got changed, but it got changed for the better. After all the rumors that Big Cass actually hurt his leg, those turned out to be false because Cass said that he was cleared to compete and the match between Daniel Bryan and Samoa Joe turned into a triple threat match. This match ended up being good from start to finish and the outcome made sense. Samoa Joe ended up solidifying the final spot in the Money in the Bank ladder match. Along with that, the rivalry between Big Cass and Daniel Bryan is far from over after Cass attacked Bryan after the match as well. Overall, they had great storytelling to help build up this match as well as future matches between some of the competitors.
The Bad
For Raw, while I do not mind the buildup between Nia Jax and Ronda Rousey, there are some huge flaws in the story. Before Jax started this rivalry with Rousey, she was a voice in stepping up against bullying and embracing who you are. But, now she starts this rivalry with Rousey and she beats up on a jobber and basically bullies her. It just shows that Alexa Bliss (who is a heel) was right the entire time in those “Moment of Bliss” segments in stating that she was a bully. After all of the buildup to have Jax stand up against bullies and then turn into one just because she is facing Rousey makes absolutely no sense.
For Smackdown, they really had nothing bad happen on their show. I thought the dance off between Lana and Naomi would possibly flop but it didn’t and they kept it short and entertaining. Smackdown has been getting better the past few weeks and they are using the two hours they have to its full potential.
The Final Verdict
This week was a pretty easy decision on who had the better show this week. Smackdown did everything right this week in building up towards Money in the Bank. They helped fill in the final slot for the men’s match, kept building up the WWE championship program, had an entertaining dance off segment, and helped start up the build for the tag team championship match. Meanwhile, on Raw’s side, they helped build up both money in the bank matches, but they had a repeat match between Braun Strowman and Finn Balor and they are showing massive flaws in the storytelling to build up the Ronda Rousey vs. Nia Jax program. In conclusion, Smackdown is doing the right things to build up the PPV, while Raw is just trying to cruise by into the program, which shouldn’t be the case considering they are the longer show.
