Following Raw on Monday night, the Survivor Series matches have begun to take shape, and this Tuesday was Smackdown Live’s turn to announce some members of their Elimination match teams.
But they weren’t the only issues that needed resolving on this week’s show. After last week’s shocking turn, what is next for Randy Orton and The Wyatt Family? And how much longer will James Ellsworth be a major player on the blue brand?
There was also the continued build to the Smackdown Women’s Championship match, set to take place next week in Glasgow. With all these elements crammed into a 2-hour broadcast surely this week’s Smackdown Live would be a stacked show, but did it play out that way?
#1 Recapping Raw
I included a similar point in last week’s “Say What?” moments, when Smackdown Live used a panel to hype Raw’s exclusive Hell In A Cell pay-per-view, and this week they aired a segment recapping this Monday’s Raw.
Why on Earth would they do that?!
They are in direct competition with each other, yet Smackdown Live keep using up time in their broadcast to talk about Raw. Stop doing this; it makes no sense whatsoever.
#2 Wyatts return the favour
The first match of the night saw Kane in yet another No Disqualification match, but this time his opponent was the man who turned on him last week, Randy Orton.
In what was a short and fairly predictable match, The Wyatts would get involved and help Orton get the victory.
This story didn’t develop as much as people might have hoped this week, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing. One interesting subplot that began this week was that Luke Harper seems very wary of Orton and there was some tension teased between the two men.
It’s certainly keeping people guessing, and that can only be seen as a positive.
#3 Bliss beats the Champ
Prior to their Smackdown Live Women’s Championship match next week, Alexa Bliss and Becky Lynch, would face off in tag team action, with Bliss teaming up with Carmella and Lynch with Nikki Bella.
It was Bliss who would get the victory for her team by pinning the Champion, Becky Lynch.
This traditionally means that she will not get the win next week, but this has certainly painted Bliss as a legitimate threat to Lynch’s Championship and sets up their match for next Tuesday nicely.
#4 Coach Nattie
After Naomi was revealed as the final member of Smackdown Live’s Women’s Survivor Series team, joining Becky Lynch, Alexa Bliss, Carmella and captain Nikki Bella, Natalya would suggest to Daniel Bryan and Shane McMahon, that she be made the coach for the team.
While this seems fairly pointless, it will be interesting to see how this develops, not just in the build to Survivor Series but also coming out of that pay-per-view. With the entire Smackdown Women’s division involved, (besides Eva Marie) there are many different ways that this can play out.
#5 Tag Team qualifiers
The majority of Smackdown’s tag team for Survivor Series was also decided this week, with American Alpha and The Usos both winning qualifying matches, to join the Hype Bros and Heath Slater & Rhyno on Team Smackdown.
With one spot left to fill, or two technically, and The Vaudevillains and Breeze-ango the only remaining teams yet to be involved, will one of these teams fill the remaining spots or do Smackdown Live have a surprise up their sleeve for Survivor Series?
#6 Team Smackdown
Finally, the Smackdown Live Men’s Survivor Series team was revealed this Tuesday. The team will consist of Randy Orton, Baron Corbin, Bray Wyatt, Dean Ambrose and WWE World Champion, AJ Styles.
It’s a strong team on paper but felt a bit odd in the way that Daniel Bryan just seemed to throw these names together, instead of having any qualifying matches like he has for the other Survivor Series teams.
There was also no explanation as to why people like Baron Corbin were chosen over the Intercontinental Champion, Dolph Ziggler. Maybe I’m looking into it too much, it’s still a good team and has some combustible elements involved, that could be fun to watch over the coming weeks.
#7 Miz/Bryan - Round 2
Despite being told that Daniel Bryan had been ordered not to get involved with The Miz a few weeks back, he was this week’s guest on Miz TV. It's no surprise that the two bitter foes traded more insults and continued to seemingly build a feud between each other.
After Bryan informed Miz that he would not be on Team Smackdown Live at Survivor Series, an argument ensued with both men again claiming that the other was a coward.
Bryan teased some physicality this week when he lost his cool and threw a chair across the ring. What do you guys think, will this lead to an in-ring return for Daniel Bryan or is he just being used to develop the Miz vs Dolph Ziggler feud?
#8 Hawkins makes his debut
To prove that he is a fighting Champion, Dolph Ziggler issued an open challenge to the entire Smackdown Live roster, for a shot at his Intercontinental Championship.
This challenged was answered by none other than Curt Hawkins, who would finally make his in-ring debut this week.
The match would last just over three seconds, however, as Hawkins would walk straight into a superkick from Ziggler at the start of this match. While Hawkins has now made his long-awaited debut, his gimmick has already grown tired, and he needs to develop into something more if he is to have any relevance on the Smackdown roster.
#9 Ziggler’s challenge to Raw
That wasn’t the only challenge that Dolph Ziggler issued on this week’s show as he has also challenged anyone on the Raw roster to face him for his Intercontinental Championship at Survivor Series.
This is interesting for a few reasons, firstly, who will answer this challenge? Will it be Sami Zayn, Neville or maybe Rusev? None of these men are currently involved in Raw’s side of things at Survivor Series and would be worthy challengers to Ziggler’s Title.
Also, what happens if the Raw challenger wins? Will they come over to Smackdown Live or would they take the belt back to Monday nights?
#10 Ellsworth won’t go away
In a repeat of last week’s main event, Dean Ambrose would face AJ Styles for the chance to become Number One Contender to Styles’ WWE World Championship, and yet again James Ellsworth would get involved.
James Ellsworth, or James Ellis as one of Smackdown’s new backstage interviewers would call him, would ignore Ambrose’s wishes and come out to try and help the ‘Lunatic Fringe’ get the win over Styles.
After looking like he would once again cost Ambrose the match, he would, in fact, help Dean pick up the victory this week.
Personally, I felt that Ellsworth was not needed in this match and should have been sent packing by Ambrose at the start of the show. He has overstayed his welcome. Do you guys agree, should the Ellsworth be brought to an end or do you think he still has a role to play? Let us know in the comments below.
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