5 takeaways from this week's Smackdown Live: October 31st, 2017

WWE presented the Halloween edition of Smackdown Live this week and produced a decent show which included the reveal of three more members of the Smackdown Live team for Survivor Series.

The tag team division of Smackdown Live continued to blossom with as many as four segments featuring the tag teams of Smackdown Live. Rusev's unusual pairing with Aiden English seems to be working well for the blue brand, and the WWE Universe is loving it.

The Zayn-Owens friendship continued to hog the spotlight in the main event, but the best friends won't feature in the Survivor Series team for Smackdown Live.

We look at five major talking points from this week's episode, as the run to the Survivor Series is on the way.

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#5 Shane McMahon vs Kurt Angle II

Ladies and Gentlemen, your team captain for Survivor Series

Shane McMahon opened the show once again and highlighted how the blue brand has always remained in the shadow of the flagship show. He went on to plug the 25th Anniversary Raw episode, while explaining his motives behind the "Under Seige" segment last week.

He announced himself as the Team Captain for Smackdown Live, just a day after the announcement of Kurt Angle as the RAW captain. Angle and McMahon have had previous history in the middle of the ring when they battled at King of Ring 2001, which is now considered one of the classic matches of the Attitude Era.

Both of these veterans will go at it once again at Survivor Series and expect tensions to rise as two fearless athletes battle for brand supremacy!

#4 Every day is Rusev Day

The tag team no one wanted but everyone loves!

Rusev has been floundering on Smackdown Live ever since his return and subsequent feuds against Cena and Orton. He could not prevail in either of those feuds and now looks to be paired opposite Aiden English in an unusual but fun tag-team.

Both Superstars are talented and charismatic performers and WWE are giving them a great gimmick to showcase their talents.

Rusev could benefit massively by having a feud with the New Day, where he can present his comic skills in a better way alongside the unicorn-horn wearing Superstars. Aiden English has also received a good push in this team.

Rusev is a high potential Superstar who can light up the singles division of any show he is in, but for the time being, his current position is a great platform for him to rejuvenate himself.

#3 Styles vs Singhs: Why?

The Modern Day Maharaja sent his lackeys to fight The Phenomenal One

AJ Styles faced off against Samir Singh this week after dismantling his brother Sunil Singh last week. He defeated Samir in a matter of seconds, similar to what happened last week. As pointed out earlier as well, he is stuck in a filler feud with Jinder Mahal which is currently doing no favours for either Superstar.

Styles vs Jinder is acting as a secondary rivalry to the Lesnar-Jinder match-up. WWE are trying to make Styles a future WWE contender, but with a string of pointless matches against the Singh Brothers, this rivalry will die a sad death soon.

Jinder's feud with Nakamura suffered due to the uninteresting involvement of the Singh Brothers, and if Styles has to face the same fate, the WWE Championship will continue to get devalued.

#2 Hair vs Mask Match coming up?

Sin Cara battles for the honour of Lucha Libre

Baron Corbin battled Sin Cara for the third week in a row and the match ended in a dirty finish once again. Corbin has done little as the US Champion until now and his feud with Sin Cara is not exciting the WWE Universe.

Corbin tried to unmask the Luchador during their matchup, which led to a heartfelt promo from Sin Cara about the importance of the mask in lucha libre. This could potentially lead to a match between these two with the Hair vs Mask gimmick, which has been used in WWE a few times before.

This stipulation could make their feud much more interesting and also give Sin Cara a decent run in the mid-card, which will be a worthy decision for all the hard work he has put in recent times.

#1 Mr. Survivor Series saves the day

The VIper saved the Artist in the main-event

Owens battled Shinsuke Nakamura in the main-event of the episode to decide who becomes the fourth member of Smackdown Live. Both the performers gave a great performance in this matchup, with Nakamura continuing his trend of giving fantastic matches on Smackdown Live after his matchup against Cena and Orton.

Sami Zayn looked to distract Nakamura and help Owens get the win, but he was ambushed by his opponent from last week, Randy Orton. Orton saved Nakamura, while also giving rise to a possible future rivalry with Owens or Zayn.

Orton, Nakamura, Roode (who defeated Ziggler earlier in the night) and Shane McMahon make for a great SDL lineup. The fifth member of the team will most likely be revealed next week, and the fans will be intrigued to see who joins this team, which has so far included only babyfaces.