Featuring Many Current and Past OO Columnists 
Ratings Compiled by Rick Scaia

OOficial Brand of the Week:
RAW
RAW: 3.48  --/-- SD!: 2.43

RATING SYSTEM: Rather than go with the standard 1-10 integer scale for rating shows, OO has selected a 0.0-5.0 rating scheme.  Not only does this allow the reviewer to more precisely award points, but more importantly, it is our belief that our ratings will, in a way, be comparable to the weekly Nielsen Ratings.  Our ratings are based on show quality, however, whereas Nielsen's are based on eyeballs.  Just as WWE hasn't reached the real world 5.0 mark in a long, long time, it will take a monumental effort for a show to earn the highest OO World ratings...  but piss us off in a given week, and we'll be rating you like you're Nitro and it's 2001. 

RAW (4/05/04) vs. SMACKDOWN! (4/08/04)  
OOFICIAL RATINGS

Canadian Bulldog 
RAW: 3.0
The good: Once again, Triple H worked his magic in another good bout with Shelton Benjamin. Sure, it was a countout win, but that's a far cry from being pedigreed and pinned... Foley cut another classic promo, which will go far in making his Randy Orton match seem more special...  Same thing with the way they're building the three-way rematch at Backlash. It's looking like Benoit won't be able to win. And even if he doesn't now, it will be realistic and (almost) fair. A week before the fact, and Backlash is shaping up quite nicely.

The bad: As much as like William Regal coming back, the  Eugene character will either (a) bomb badly or (b) bomb badly AND outrage people. Not a smart move...  Why can't they give us a decent match between Chris Jericho and Matt Hardy? This is, what, the second try and nothing happens? The divas battle royale was shockingly short and I'm baffled by the winner in that one. Not only that, but why does Lita seem to be playing the heel more than Trish? Bizarre.

SmackDown!: 1.5 
The good: Glad to see Booker T formally turn on Rob Van Dam, though... wouldn't it have been better to have THEM against Scotty and Rikishi? At least then the match would have been more meaningful when Booker gave RVD the shaft. Then you could have put The Dudleys against Big Show and Whomever He Was With. Uh, let's see... what else... nope, that about does it for 'the good'.

The bad: Everything else. Seriously, not ONE decent match here. Very little storyline progression, even in the all-important JBL Vs. Eddy Guerrero feud. Not only that, but busting out the Velocity All-Star Crew doesn't help, either. Bleh. This has to be the worst SmackDown in a while.

Bulldogs battle-to-date averages: RAW (3.1), SD! (2.9).

 
Adam Gutschmidt 
RAW: 3.7
RAW was a notch or two below their past performances, but still a really solid show.  In fact I don't recall one real weak segment during the whole show.  I'm glad to see Benjamin didn't get destroyed in his rematch and I'm really excited about the 8 man next week.  I, like most, have some real reservations about "Eugene", but for now, I'm just thrilled to have Regal back.  So if that means I have to endure Eugene, I will.  My biggest complaint with RAW was some of their decisions as they head into Backlash. I still feel that the Kane/Edge match helps neither man and doesn't produce a ***** classic.  I'm frustrated that they have yet to give us any new reason to care about the main event.  And who was the braintrust that decided Ms. Botched Spot deserved #1 contender spot for the Woman's title? On the plus side, both the Orton/Foley and Jericho/Trishtian matches should be fun.

SmackDown!: 3.0
Oh, where are the days of great 30 minute matches for both the semi-main and main events?  This show continues it's slide and it grows even more frustrating by the week.  There is seemingly no direction for any feuds whatsoever on this.  Well, except for the nauseating Eddie/JBL feud.  Why waste viewers time with last week's tournament if you're going to choose the guy who didn't even have to win or hell, even wrestle, to be entered into it.  The one positive this week, was seeing Teddy Long continue to shine in all of his segment.  But even I have to wonder if he'll be capable of making me care about someone like Mark Jindrak.

Adam's battle-to-date averages: RAW (3.6), SD! (3.3).
 

Big Danny T 
RAW: 3.7
Very Watchable show this week, although a step back from the previous. HHH talking down to Shelton set a nice table that made the rematch just that much more interesting. Regal and Eugene should make for some nice comedy for the next few weeks, at least until Regal abuses him one too many times and Eugene turns on him. Jericho and Christian/Trish stayed put for this week, but last week was a big enough step ahead in that story so it's been compensated for. The women's Battle Royal was merely a time killer to allow Jericho the opportunity to mess with Trish (and too bad Gail Kim couldn't have made it two-for-two in debut BR's. Is it bad that I'm having strange dreams involving her, a Victorias Secret catalog, and a gallon of maple syrup...?). Foley/Michaels/Benoit vs. Evolution is going great, which brings us to the centerpiece of Raw this week: Mick Foley giving his graphic description of the atrocities that he's going to visit upon Randy Orton. I haven't enjoyed a Foley promo this much in a long time. Keep up the good work, Raw!

SmackDown!: 2.9 
On the other hand: Smackdown was boring, plodding, dull, and the least surprising shockers they could possibly manage. The way that I would work it is to reverse the feuds: Bradshaw taking on RVD (do a riff on him feeling RVD isn't a good American because he smokes dope or is too laid back and doesn't work hard enough or something) and Booker shooting for the world title. I think both feuds would be more interesting as a result (or at least, I wouldn't be pissed that Bradshaw is stinking up the main event.) Anyway, Check the Recap.

Danny's battle-to-date averages: RAW (3.4), SD! (3.4).

 
Rick Scaia  
RAW: 3.5
Another solidly-entertaining effort from RAW, albeit it one that seemed more about setting the table for next week than about delivering a blow-away effort in the here and now.  Geared more towards storytelling than in-ring action, Monday's show still seemed fast-paced and busy, and was highlighted by an outstanding bit of promo work by Mick Foley.  And with the pieces put into place for a big 8-man main event next week, RAW may very well have laid the foundation for a return to 4.0 and beyond in next week's BotB...  

SmackDown!: 2.3 
SD!'s re-tooling is officially starting to test my patience.  For the third week in a row, I've walked away from SD! feeling like I just got done with "Velocity" or something...  Thursdays just haven't had the same kind of sizzle as Mondays since WM, and Booker T's claims about SD! being the "minor leagues" are starting to ring WAY too true.  The best thing I can say about SD! is that I can't really isolate any one moment where the show sucked.  But I also can't remember even one moment that got me excited or on the edge of my seat, either.

Rick's battle-to-date averages: RAW (3.3), SD! (3.6).

FINAL OO RATINGS, WEEK ENDING 4/09/04

RAW average: 3.48
Actual Nielsen Rating: 3.3 (converted to broadcast rating)  
RAW OVERdelivers versus actual rating this week.

SmackDown! average: 2.43 
Actual Nielsen Rating:  3.0  
SD! UNDERdelivers versus actual rating this week.

BATTLE TO DATE TALLIES

Average OO Rating for RAW:  3.24 
Average Nielsen Rating for RAW: 3.16 
RAW is OVERdelivering, on average, versus actual ratings since the start of the Battle.

Average OO Rating for SD: 3.33 
Average Nielsen Rating for SD:  3.34 
SD! is UNDERdelivering, on average, versus actual ratings since the start of the Battle.

Rounds Won by RAW: 19 
Rounds Won by SD!: 23  
Current Streak: 3 by RAW (Since 3/26/04) 
Longest Streak: 7 by SD! (6/27/03 thru 8/08/03)

BROWSE PAST WEEK'S BATTLES OF THE BRANDS  

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