3 Interesting observations from WWE SmackDown (November 1, 2019)

By Kartik Arry
Modified Nov 02, 2019 14:58 IST
NXT declared war on RAW and SmackDown as Survivor Series looms in the distance!
NXT declared war on RAW and SmackDown as Survivor Series looms in the distance!

Last night's episode of Friday Night SmackDown was certainly in a league of its own. As you might have heard, several SmackDown Superstars were not able to make it to this week's show due to some travel issues following Crown Jewel.

However, the company had teased 'surprises' before last night's episode aired live as a result.

The Blue brand delivered on that promise as Triple H led NXT to invade Friday Night SmackDown, thus, taking advantage of the show's setbacks following Crown Jewel.

We can now say that NXT has officially fired the first shots in a triple-brand war that will eventually culminate at this year's Survivor Series.

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Here are a few interesting observations from this week's WWE SmackDown:

#3 The episode showed us that WWE can get remarkably creative when backed into a corner

History has proved that WWE can pull some magic out of their creative hats upon being forced to make firm decisions in a crisis.

Last night was no different, as the episode turned out to be drastically different from their recent programming in a good way.

The show only featured two basic plot points really - 1) Brock Lesnar quits SmackDown 2) NXT invades the Blue brand.

While there were various subplots attached to NXT's invasion, the show was structured in a simple, yet efficient manner.

On top of that, last night's episode was more sports-oriented than usual. This can be attributed to the fact that NXT as a brand is more sports-oriented than say, Monday Night RAW, or Friday Night SmackDown.

This shows us that sometimes the most simple things can work wonders for the Professional Wrestling business.

What was your favorite moment from last night's episode of SmackDown?

#2 Why Brock Lesnar "quitting" SmackDown was the right decision to make

The post-Crown Jewel edition of SmackDown kicked off with The Beast Incarnate, Brock Lesnar accompanied by Paul Heyman serving notice to the higher-ups in WWE.

Despite conquering Cain Velasquez in less than 3 minutes, Lesnar wasn't in the best mood last night.

Over the years, The Beast Incarnate has solidified himself as a character who doesn't play by WWE's rules. Lesnar also doesn't like it when things don't go his way, which is exactly what happened when Vince McMahon denied his request to face Rey Mysterio in the squared circle.

Later on, Heyman delivered the big twist at the end of this segment - Brock Lesnar officially quite the blue brand to get his hands on Rey Mysterio during Monday Night RAW.

This entire fiasco reinforced the brand split in two positive ways: Firstly, the fact that Lesnar couldn't get his hands on a RAW superstar (Rey Mysterio) without being a part of the Red brand showed that the brand split has concrete rules after all.

Secondly, Lesnar moving over to Monday nights means that two major world champions (Bray Wyatt, Brock Lesnar) wouldn't be on the same brand following Crown Jewel. This reinforces the brand split by keeping an uncontrollable entity such as "The Fiend" Bray Wyatt on SmackDown.

Do you agree that Brock Lesnar quitting Friday Night SmackDown is a good booking decision?

#1 Why the triple-brand fiasco benefits NXT the most

NXT's inclusion into this year's Survivor Series event has certainly spiced things up.

If NXT's invasion of Friday Night SmackDown was the beginning of this war, then be prepared for multiple cross-branded invasions during the next few weeks to come.

But one can't help think that this entire fiasco is NXT's chance to showcase their true worth in front of a mainstream audience.

For example, Adam Cole vs. Daniel Bryan (for the NXT Championship) was a great main event last night, and even though Bryan put over one of the best NXT talents right now, we know that the Yellow brand on USA Network has a limited viewership as compared to main roster giants such as RAW and SmackDown.

So in a way, all of the SmackDown superstars put over NXT wrestlers in the best way possible last night.

This gives the yellow brand an edge over its competitors at Survivor Series.

Not only that, but wrestlers from SmackDown could show up at NXT to redeem themselves next week.

It looks like WWE have kickstarted their Survivor Series plans a bit earlier than expected, but that is a good thing since there is room for more development in the next few weeks to come.

It might be a stretch to say at this point, but if WWE delivers on expectations and showcase NXT in good light, the yellow brand might even have an edge over its Wednesday Night competitor AEW Dynamite.

It all depends on how you want to portray NXT in front of a mainstream audience.

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