3 Reasons Why NXT Appearing on SmackDown Worked This Week

NXT completed a clean sweep over Smackdown Superstars on the night. Former NXT Champion Tommaso Ciampa defeated The Miz, plus Rhea Ripley made Mandy Rose submit to her vicious Modified Standing Cloverleaf. After Bianca Belair took out Rose and Sonya Deville's original opponents Carmella and Dana Brooke. NXT Women's Champion Shayna Baszler took out Sasha Banks and Smackdown Women's Champion Bayley. Although this was after Bayley had already had a title defense against Nikki Cross. Sami Zayn also felt the wrath of Matt Riddle and Keith Lee, after trying to escape them backstage.

In the main event, Adam Cole successfully defended his NXT title against former WWE Champion Daniel Bryan with Triple H and Shawn Michaels at ringside. With Adam Cole's successful title defense, NXT defeated and destroyed their Smackdown opponents clean in the ring, looking incredibly strong throughout the episode. The menace of NXT was felt throughout the episode, aside from the opening Brock Lesnar and Paul Heyman segment.

With the upcoming Survivor Series event being booked as Raw versus Smackdown versus NXT, the first shot in the upcoming 'war' has indeed been fired by the Black and Gold brand. We will just have to wait and see as to what Smackdown and Raw has in store for revenge.

# 3 NXT looked strong

Up until recently, NXT has constantly been referred to as the "developmental" brand. The place where former independent wrestlers would hone their craft before being brought up to the main roster. WWE had placed NXT as its third brand, behind Raw and Smackdown and made it exclusive to the WWE Network. It was seen as the stepping stone on the way to something bigger. First prove yourself on the Independent scene, then in NXT before you can finally make it to WWE and play amongst the best wrestlers in the World.

However, with NXT moving from the WWE network onto the USA Network, the brand is starting to get more and more mainstream recognition. It was time for NXT to be brought closer to Raw and Smackdown and be seen as a genuine comparable 'roster' on its own. To do that, NXT needed to make a statement. The Superstars certainly did that in a clean sweep victory over Smackdown this week and the brutal assault it placed on certain members of the Smackdown roster.

# 2 The Timing Was Perfect

Thanks to Crown Jewel being held the previous day in Saudi Arabia and the vast majority of Smackdown Superstars being stuck in Saudi Arabia. Smackdown wasn't exactly jam-packed with their usual top-line talents. Those that didn't fly over to Saudi Arabia for the show included the likes of Sami Zayn, The Miz, Daniel Bryan, and the majority of the female members of the roster.

Sami Zayn has not been booked to look strong and hasn't been booked to perform in-ring for weeks, instead, Zayn has been managing the Intercontinental Champion Shinsuke Nakamura. Zayn was beaten down by Matt Riddle and Keith Lee, two highly placed NXT Superstars who did a fantastic job of laying out the former NXT Champion.

The Miz, a multiple-time Intercontinental Champion, and former WWE Champion is a great wrestler. However, he was coming up against the former NXT Champion in Tommaso Ciampa who is currently at the top of his game. It's not entirely surprising that Ciampa beat The Miz clean in the center of the ring.

The only questionable match was in the main event, where former WWE Champion Daniel Bryan faced off against the current NXT Champion Adam Cole for the NXT title. The back and forth fight was great to watch with Cole retaining cleanly in the end. This would have been the best opportunity for a dirty finish, especially given the fact that Roderick Strong came out with Cole and seemed to turn back at the top of the ramp.

The fact that Cole won clean just shows how seriously WWE is taking NXT at the moment, but it would have also been perfectly acceptable for Bryan to win by DQ or for Cole to win after interference from members of the Undisputed Era as he regularly does on NXT itself.

# 1 Sets up Dream Matches

By introducing NXT to the Main Roster, we get dream matches between the various brands again. WWE pushed this concept earlier in the year after the World's Collide Tournament at Royal Rumble Axxess before running a series where members of various rosters would face each other on a series on the WWE Network.

With Tyler Breeze and now Finn Balor moving to NXT, the chance for overlaps and cross overs to occur now appears to be almost a reality. Survivor Series has now been billed as Smackdown versus Raw versus NXT, meaning that we will indeed see Superstars from all three rosters face each other, as we do at Royal Rumble and WrestleMania.

Imagine the idea of AJ Styles and the OC going up against Adam Cole and members of the Undisputed Era. When Ronda Rousey returns to WWE, she could potentially reunite with Shayna Baszler, Marina Shafir, and Jessamyn Duke to take on Charlotte Flair, Becky Lynch, Sasha Banks, and Bayley in a match that WWE first teased at the inaugural Mae Young Classic. We also possbily get to see the likes of Ciampa and Gargano go up against Seth Rollins, Roman Reigns, Daniel Bryan and many more.

Maybe WWE will even have Matt Riddle face Goldberg.

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