Raw VS Smackdown

[King Patrick Star]

I was always a fan of Inter-Brand wars between Raw and Smackdown. Just like the Invasion, I always thought the concept was great, but the execution and delivery weren’t as good as the idea behind it. Over the years, we only got a few matches pitting Monday’s “Best” vs. Thursday’s / Friday’s “Best”. Here are some of the matches between the Red Team and the Blue Team. Please let me know which matches I forgot about.

Survivor Series 2005
Team Raw – Shawn Michaels, Kane, Big Show, Carlito and Chris Masters
vs.
Team SmackDown! – Batista, Rey Mysterio, John "Bradshaw" Layfield, Bobby Lashley and Randy Orton (with Bob Orton and Jillian Hall)

Bragging Rights 2009
Team Raw – D-Generation X (Triple H & Shawn Michaels) (Co-Captains), The Big Show, Cody Rhodes, Jack Swagger, Kofi Kingston and Mark Henry
vs.
Team SmackDown! – Kane & Chris Jericho (Co-Captains), R-Truth, Matt Hardy, Finlay and The Hart Dynasty (Tyson Kidd & David Hart Smith)

Bragging Rights 2010
Team Raw – The Miz (captain), Ezekiel Jackson, Sheamus, John Morrison, CM Punk, Santino Marella and R-Truth (with Alex Riley)
vs.
Team SmackDown! – The Big Show (captain), Jack Swagger, Kofi Kingston, Tyler Reks, Alberto Del Rio, Rey Mysterio and Edge (with Hornswoggle)

WrestleMania XXVIII (not really Raw vs. Smackdown, but it was Raw GM vs. Smackdown GM, so I’ll count it)
Team Johnny (Team Raw) – David Otunga, Mark Henry, Dolph Ziggler, Jack Swagger, The Miz and Drew McIntyre (with John Laurinaitis, Vickie Guerrero and Brie Bella)
vs.
Team Teddy (Team Smackdown!) – Santino Marella, R-Truth, Kofi Kingston, Zack Ryder, The Great Khali and Booker T. (with Theodore Long, Hornswoggle, Eve Torres, Nikki Bella and Aksana)

Now as you can see, these aren’t exactly the “Best” possible lineups for each team. Also notice the fact that these battles didn’t happen annually. Now, if I could re-book the Raw vs. Smackdown series of matches, I would have started it in 2002. I wouldn’t have a Bragging Rights Pay Per View, but instead, I’d have the Raw vs. Smackdown Elimination Tag Team matches as the Main Events at Survivor Series.

Survivor Series 2002
Raw – (Triple H, Christian and Chris Jericho) (with Trish Stratus and Eric Bischoff)
vs.
Smackdown – (Brock Lesnar, Edge and Rey Mysterio) (with Jamie Noble and Stephanie McMahon)

Survivor Series 2003
Raw – (Goldberg, Rob Van Dam and The Dudley Boyz) (with Molly Holly and Eric Bischoff)
vs.
Smackdown – (Brock Lesnar, The Big Show and The Basham Brothers) (with Tajiri and Paul Heyman)

Survivor Series 2004
Raw – (Triple H, Shelton Benjamin, and La Résistance (Robért Conway and Sylvain Grenier)) (with Trish Stratus and Eric Bischoff)
vs.
Smackdown – (John Bradshaw Layfield, Carlito Caribbean Cool and René Duprée and Kenzo Suzuki) (with Spike Dudley and Theodore Long)

Survivor Series 2005
Raw – (John Cena, Ric Flair, Kane and The Big Show) (with Trish Stratus and Eric Bischoff)
vs.
Smackdown – (Batista, Booker T. and MNM) (with Juventud and Theodore Long)

Survivor Series 2006 – Big Show and Paul Heyman are the Special Guest Ring Enforcers
Raw – (John Cena, Jeff Hardy and Rated RKO) (with Lita and Eric Bischoff)
vs.
Smackdown – (King Booker, Chris Benoit, Paul London and Brian Kendrick) (with Gregory Helms and Theodore Long)

Survivor Series 2007 – CM Punk and Armando Estrada are the Special Guest Ring Enforcers
Raw – (Randy Orton, Jeff Hardy, Lance Cade and Trevor Murdoch) (with Beth Phoenix and William Regal)
vs.
Smackdown – (Batista, Montel Vontavious Porter, John Morrison and The Miz) (with Hornswoggle or Chavo Guerrero and Vickie Guerrero)

Survivor Series 2008 – Matt Hardy and Theodore Long are the Special Guest Ring Enforcers
Raw – (Chris Jericho, William Regal, CM Punk and Kofi Kingston) (with Beth Phoenix, Shane McMahon and Stephanie McMahon)
vs.
Smackdown – (Triple H, Shelton Benjamin, The Colóns) (with Michelle McCool and Vickie Guerrero)

Survivor Series 2009 – Christian and Tiffany are the Special Guest Ring Enforcers
Raw – (John Cena, The Miz, and Big Show) (with Melina and Roddy Piper)
vs.
Smackdown – (The Undertaker, John Morrison, and Chris Jericho) (with Michelle McCool and Theodore Long)

If you want to win a battle, put your Champions on the field!!

Your turn. What teams would you have liked to see represent Raw and Smackdown during the Brand Extension matches??

 

[Terry Gyimah]

I am a Smackdown guy so their 2005 team I think was probably their best team because they had Batista (WHC), JBL, Rey Mysterio, Randy Orton and Lashley which was a pretty good team but on RAW's team I would have had RAW captained by John Cena the WWE Champion, Kurt Angle, Carlito, Edge w/Lita and either Kane or Big Show as the last piece to the puzzle

Bragging Rights 2009 RAW team for me would have been Shawn Michaels & Triple H (co-captains), Rhodes, DiBiase, Big Show, MVP and Mark Henry and on Smackdown team I would have had Jericho & Kane (co-captains), Hart Dynasty, Rey Mysterio, CM Punk and Matt Hardy

Team 2010 Bragging Rights teams for RAW and Smackdown I thought matched up pretty well

 

[ShinChan]

Although Raw was always put ahead of Smackdown, Yet i used to like Smackdown that time....... Now Its just too bad that even nXt is better than Smackdown most of the times...

For me it was above par combination...

Bragging Rights 2010

Team Raw ¨C The Miz (captain), Ezekiel Jackson, Sheamus, John Morrison, CM Punk,and R-Truth
vs.
Team SmackDown! ¨C The Big Show (captain), Jack Swagger, Kofi Kingston, Alberto Del Rio, Rey Mysterio and Edge

 

[King Patrick Star]

I just watched Bragging Rights 2009, and a rebooking idea popped in my head. Here's the original 14-man tag team match for the Bragging Rights Trophy.

[quote author="@kingpatrick" source="/post/7430672/thread" timestamp="1445349350"]Bragging Rights 2009
Team Raw – D-Generation X (Triple H & Shawn Michaels) (Co-Captains), The Big Show, Cody Rhodes, Jack Swagger, Kofi Kingston and Mark Henry
vs.
Team SmackDown! – Kane & Chris Jericho (Co-Captains), R-Truth, Matt Hardy, Finlay and The Hart Dynasty (Tyson Kidd & David Hart Smith)

[/quote]

Here's my idea.

Team Raw – Randy Orton (Captain), John Cena, D-Generation X (Triple H & Shawn Michaels), The Big Show, Mark Henry, and Jack Swagger
vs.
Team Smackdown! – The Undertaker (Captain), Batista, Rey Mysterio, CM Punk, Kane, Chris Jericho, and Matt Hardy

The two WWE / World Heavyweight Championship Title matches could have taken place at the Survivor Series 2009 instead. The Star power added to this would have made the perfect Main Event for a Raw vs. Smackdown themed pay per view.

To make up for the lost time from not having the two WWE / World Heavyweight Championship Title matches, and to include the Intercontinental and United States Champions, I would replace all three of these matches with one more 14-man tag team match for the Bragging Rights Trophy.

Team Heat – The Miz (Captain), Kofi Kingston, The Legacy (Cody Rhodes and Ted DiBiase), MVP, Evan Bourne, and Chris Masters
vs.
Team Velocity – John Morrison (Captain) R-Truth, Finlay, Dolph Ziggler, Drew McIntyre, Mike Knox, and Eric Escobar

I'd probably add a Hart Dynasty vs Cryme Tyme match to determine the number one contenders to the Unified WWE World Tag Team Championship as well.