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This week's pre-taped episode of Friday Night SmackDown from Manchester, England wasn't as lively as one hoped it would be.
A huge reason behind why last night's show had a nonchalant vibe throughout its runtime is that the Manchester crowd were dead silent for the most of it.
To be fair, a lot of the segments paled in comparison to a rather momentous invasion themed episodes across WWE's programming in the recent few weeks.
But a few plot threads, such as the NXT invasion, as well as Bray Wyatt's future on the Blue Brand were an important and exciting part of the episode.
Here are a few interesting observations from this week's WWE SmackDown on FOX (November 8, 2019):
#3 Why SmackDown seems like the weaker brand in terms of unity so far
King Corbin defeated Roman Reigns in last night's pre-taped main event from Manchester.
Dolph Ziggler & Robert Roode assisted Corbin to pick up the victory. One thing that pops out from this scenario is the former RAW Tag Team Champions' inclusion into this match: The commentators speculated that a lot of Superstars aren't happy about Roman Reigns slacking as their locker room leader, and that could explain why Ziggler & Roode went out of their way to help Corbin win the match.
But on a broader scale of things, it doesn't look like most of the SmackDown talent are on the same page at the moment. Because of last night's show, WWE has established that a certain category of Superstars in the locker room (mostly heels) don't accept Reigns as their leader.
On the other hand, their main champion is an unstoppable entity (The Fiend) that acts on his own terms.
This disjointed energy amongst the Blue Brand talent shows why they have been on the receiving end of cross-branded invasions so far.
While RAW has managed to retaliate in some form or the other, SmackDown has a long way to go to reign supreme at this year's Survivor Series Pay-Per-View.
#2 Why New Day became the new Tag Team Champions just before Survivor Series
The New Day (Big E & Kofi Kingston) defeated The Revival (Scott Dawson & Dash Wilder) to become the new SmackDown Tag Team Champions for a record 7th time.
Of course, this also means that New Day will be the ones representing the Blue Brand on the tag team side of things at Survivor Series.
As good as The Revival were in the past, their current appeal hasn't matched WWE's mainstream demand in any way, shape, or form.
We also know that FOX wants to attract more eyes towards SmackDown as Survivor Series looms in the distance. A perfect way to do that in a week where the episode is pre-taped is by booking a title change, which will surely encourage more people to tune in as soon as the information is leaked.
But the title change isn't just a gimmick here, because it somehow just feels right for the New Day to pick up the victory at this point.
On top of that, this also seems like a new direction for Kofi Kingston, who had lost the WWE Title to Brock Lesnar in an embarrassing fashion quite recently.
Do you agree that New Day's title victory was the right booking decision to make last night?
#1 Why Daniel Bryan is Bray Wyatt's new victim
"The Fiend" Bray Wyatt's future on SmackDown was a mystery to the WWE Universe after his match with Seth Rollins at Crown Jewel.
But if last night's episode lacked a lot of elements, it certainly delivered during the point where "The Fiend" Bray Wyatt attacked Daniel Bryan in a backstage segment, seemingly out of nowhere.
Both men have shared a history in WWE. Daniel Bryan was once a part of the Wyatt Family during his initial run with the company.
Of course, things ended in a bad way between them, with Bryan betraying Wyatt, the latter of which had brainwashed the "YES" movement's leader into joining the dark side.
This incident would be one of the important milestones in Wyatt's downfall as The Eater of Worlds.
So it only makes sense that "The Fiend" would avenge those who have wronged Bray Wyatt in the past.
Now that Brock Lesnar is embroiled in a feud with Rey Mysterio, this also left an open slot for The Fiend at Survivor Series. Although Daniel Bryan's inclusion into Bray Wyatt's new chapter might seem a bit random at first, it was eventually going to happen at some point or the other.
Moreover, it has also been established that "The Fiend" Bray Wyatt's victims are likely to engage in a psychological battle that will change them forever (just take a look at Seth Rollins now).
Will this feud allow Bryan to eventually embrace his old gimmick as the leader of the "YES" Movement, or will this turn him towards an even darker path in the end?
Did you enjoy SmackDown this week? Rate every match and leave a comment by clicking on this link.
Thanks for reading this article, please share it to spread the word. Leave your thoughts in the comments section below, and stay tuned for more!
One of Samoa Joe's colleagues had harsh words for him HERE
