5 Things We Learned from SmackDown Live (27 November 2018)

Tuesday Night SmackDown on November 27, 2018 seemed to have less decisive matches, and more promos and false starts. This led to the setting up of the pay-per-view on the horizon instead of delivering to the fans in attendance.

We have been seeing Monday Night Raw suffering from lack of creativity, repeated matches, and a lot of nonsensical booking. SmackDown Live and NXT have provided the cushion for the WWE to fall on to avoid losing viewers.

SmackDown Live did deliver more than the other brand did, and gave fans something to think about in terms of the future of some wrestlers, along with TLC, which is coming up in less than three weeks.

With that said, let’s take a look at 5 things that we learned from the November 27 episode of SmackDown Live.

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#5 Championship defenses will be reduced

Last week’s SmackDown saw none of the championships on the brand being defended. The WWE Champion Daniel Bryan came out to cut a promo but was not booked in any match.

Becky Lynch, the Women’s Champion, has been suffering from an injury and was absent from last week's show, which saw Charlotte Flair lead the women’s division from the front.

Shinsuke Nakamura was absent from the show completely, which is no surprise given his recent run with the United States Title. The Bar, who are the Tag Team Champions, did have a match, but it was a non-title match against The New Day which they lost.

Similarly, this week’s SmackDown had none of its titles defended on the show. The Bar once again featured in a non-title match which they lost again, this time to The Usos. Nakamura too was scheduled to defend his title, but attacked and knocked out his opponent before the match could begin.

Becky Lynch was unable to compete yet again, while Daniel Bryan did not even make it to the show.

This proves that the brand will have fewer title defenses going forward, probably until the beginning of Tables, Ladders and Chairs 2018.

#4 Nakamura’s title reign will be extended

Shinsuke Nakamura’s United States Championship run has been very questionable. Even though he’s functioning on the blue brand as a heel, he has been booked really badly, which makes the fans forget him until he actually shows up for a match.

His matches have been quite badly contested too, with only his defense against Rusev at Crown Jewel being a memorable battle. His defense against Rey Mysterio at WWE Starrcade ended in disqualification of the champion, while his match against Rusev this week did not even begin.

Nakamura won the title from Jeff Hardy at Extreme Rules 2018 and has held the title for over 130 days now. In that time, he has done little to increase the title’s value, and it can be argued he has damaged the title.

Nakamura can very well become the longest reigning US Champion since Dean Ambrose’s marathon run between 2013 and 2014, and that might be what the WWE is aiming for to make Nakamura a more successful wrestler on the main brand.

#3 Randy Orton will face Rey Mysterio at TLC 2018

Randy Orton has found a new target in the returning Rey Mysterio. After attacking Jeff Hardy nonstop and beating him repeatedly, The Viper has been punishing the masked crusader nonstop.

With the tensions between the two veteran superstars rising, it is possible that a major match will see their rivalry come to an end with a decisive win for one of the men.

Just like Randy Orton dismantled Jeff Hardy at Hell in a Cell, we could see these two highly successful wrestlers go head to head in the finale of this rivalry at Tables, Ladders, and Chairs 2018.

Since there is enough time for creative to build on this rivalry a bit more before TLC, it won’t make sense to take this rivalry any further and ruin it for the fans.

TLC seems like the most logical pay-per-view to have this rivalry come to an end, most probably in the extreme Tables, Ladders, and Chairs match.

#2 Women will continue competing in Battle Royals

Battle Royals, Battle Royals, and more Battle Royals. Whether it is to determine to a captain of tag teams, number one contenders, award meaningless trophies and titles, or just to fill the mid-card, Battle Royals have been used by creative generously to involve as many superstars as possible.

The Battle Royal on SmackDown on this week’s episode was no different, as there was no real story or background. It was illogical to first see all the female heels walk out first and then for all the faces to walk out next demanding their rights.

All we saw were a bunch of recognizable faces kicking, punching and forearming their way through the match without any memorable spot and a predictable winner at the end of it all.

The WWE has just found an easy way to keep the women of WWE involved each week by either having 6 or 8 women tag team matches, or 10 to 15 women Battle Royals. With the state of things right now and the storylines going it, it seems unlikely that these women battle royals will come to a stop any time soon.

#1 Kofi Kingston may get a shot at a Championship

Kofi Kingston, who is working in a tag team with The New Day, is undoubtedly one of the best wrestlers in the business today.

Since becoming a part of The New Day, the trio has won many tag team titles and very few individual titles. All three men of the team are extremely talented and can do wonders in the ring in single’s competition too, which has raised questions why they aren’t working against single’s champions.

Kofi Kingston is the most experienced man in the New Day and has won the Intercontinental Championship four times, the United States Championship three times, and the tag team championship with The New Day and other competitors a few times.

Now it’s time he wins the WWE Championship sometime soon, and this could be his calling. He competed with one of the top contenders for the single’s title, The Miz, and beat him in the match.

This could be a sign that the WWE might be bringing him closer to the prestigious title now, and giving him the chance fans have been demanding for him for some time now.