5 most impactful ways Raw can invade SmackDown Live

Is it just me or does the post-Hell in a Cell Shane McMahon seem to be a little on the edge?

He practically ambushed Kurt Angle and the other Superstars on Raw, without informing his own General Manager no less, and fell out with Daniel Bryan when he was asked about it the next day.

Not that you could blame him, to be honest.

I'd be far worse for wear had I thrown up a Hail Mary and gathered my courage to drop an elbow from the skies only to find that the person who was supposed to pad my fall had been dragged to safety...leaving a cold, hard table behind for me to crash on and burn.

But Shane's lack of equanimity aside, anyone with half a brain would realise that his balls-of-steel invasion of Raw this Monday will invite retribution.

It may not have been on this week's episode of SmackDown Live, but it will - sure as hell - come in the following weeks.

But how, you ask?

That's exactly what we've racked our brains to answer in the slides that follow.

We hope you enjoy reading it as much as I did, writing.

Oh and yes, if you can one-better my ideas, please don't hesitate to drop a bomb in the comments section below!

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#5 Kurt Angle takes out Shane McMahon

Yes, it's about SmackDown Live vs Raw...but it could just as easily be about Shane McMahon vs Kurt Angle

Kurt Angle's backstage banter with Shane McMahon was all in good jest...until it suddenly wasn't.

And Shane especially took offence when Kurt suggested that Raw Superstars will blow their SmackDown counterparts out of the water...with the backstage invasion that followed seemingly in direct riposte to that one comment.

So apart from making it seem like SmackDown Live is at war with Raw, which has been established beyond a doubt by now, the WWE also managed to throw in a personal-ish angle between Shane and Kurt.

And should the two men end up leading out their respective brands at Survivor Series, having Kurt Angle attack Shane McMahon on SmackDown Live to set the tone for Raw's revenge would be a nice touch.

#2 The Beast Incarnate decimates SmackDown Live

Brock Lesnar on Smackdown Live? Sign me up.

Having Brock Lesnar lead Raw's charge on SmackDown Live would both be a novelty to behold - because he's never really been used in such a capacity before - and a completely bada** move on the part of Raw.

He doesn't even have to personally sweep through the backstage area like the SmackDown Live Superstars did on Raw.

All he has to do is show up during one of SmackDown Live's numerous multi-person tag team matches (that seem to be the norm, nowadays) and lay waste to anything that moves.

Oh, and if Jinder Mahal and his cronies get caught in the crossfire, more power to Lesnar.

#3 The Shield returns!

When Reigns comes back...the WWE owes its fans a do-over of the Shield reunion!

Yes, seeing Kurt Angle wrestle at TLC was an unexpected treat...but at the end of the day, it just papered over the cracks left by Roman Reigns' last-minute withdrawal.

Angle may have worn the signature black vest of the Shield and entered the arena through the crowd with Rollins and Ambrose...but the whole shindig still felt pretty incomplete without Roman Reigns.

And while the match itself was a 100 mph, breakneck affair, it still felt rather arbitrarily pieced together to give the babyfaces the victory, while still protecting the WWE's second-most valuable commodity in Braun Strowman.

But the fact remains that the WWE had already built up an expectation for the Shield's return at TLC and - as evinced by Rollins and Ambrose still donning their vests on Raw - that feeling hasn't subsided yet.

But all is not lost.

The WWE can still capitalise on the Shield's reunion by having Roman Reigns return from an illness on SmackDown Live - flanked by Ambrose and Rollins, of course - and run roughshod over the Blue brand's roster.

It would give everyone the payoff that they were denied at TLC with respect to the Shield and advance the Survivor Series storyline with a bang.

#2 Go get em boys'

Kurt Angle returns Shane McMahon's favour in kind

So if the WWE decides to be predictable and boring - which isn't too hard to imagine, to be honest - they can book Raw's invasion just like they did SmackDown Live's.

Obviously, Kurt Angle would be at the forefront of it all and he would cut a promo stating that Shane McMahon's actions on Raw have consequences, before he calls on his troops to invade the backstage area and return the favour.

It would surely give us a sense that both brands enter Survivor Series on even footing if the WWE booked Raw's retribution manner...but it would be oh.so.boring, wouldn't it?

#1 Unleash the Monster

Braun Strowman is Raw's most potent weapon...but will they use him?

Ever since Brock Lesnar went over the "Monster Among Men" in insipid fashion at No Mercy, the WWE's been struggling to revive Strowman's momentum.

Even successive wins over Dean Ambrose and Seth Rollins on Raw couldn't do the trick and to compound matters, he ended up - technically - on the losing side at TLC, despite not being directly involved in the match-ending sequence.

I think it's fair to say that the WWE needs to pull out all the stops if they want to restore Braun Strowman's aura once again...and squashing Kane just isn't going to cut it.

But squashing the entire SmackDown Live roster just might.

Strowman direly needs a leg-up right now and Survivor Series needs a riveting build-up.

Combine the two, and Monday Night Raw gets its retribution for SmackDown Live's ambush by unleashing the most destructive force of nature in its ranks on the Blue brand's roster.

And just like that, Braun Strowman is legit once again.

SmackDown Live is portrayed as the underdog that we know and love it to be.

And the entire WWE Universe is sold on the Survivor Series elimination match storyline, hook, line and sinker.

What's there not to like?