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Friday Night SmackDown this week is officially in the books, which means that there's only one full week of WWE programming left before Survivor Series. That's a good 6 hours of content and 6 hours in five days to build to WWE's fourth-biggest PPV of the year.
We've noticed that this year's build has been more invasion-heavy than usual, primarily due to the addition of NXT. Superstars from the yellow brand have been busy, jumping from brand to brand and even jumping superstars from behind and causing havoc wherever they go.
They have, of course, got their receipt at Full Sail University but we can't recall previous years having more than 1-2 invasions in the build. Either way, tonight wasn't just about invasions.
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There was the build to the PPV and some fresh faces and new changes that took place. Without dragging it on much further, here's what WWE subtly told us on SmackDown this week!
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#5 The rebranding of the SmackDown title
Bray Wyatt, at the start of the show, pulled off a magic trick where he turned the red color Universal Championship blue. While our reaction was skeptical at first, the title honestly doesn't look as bad as we thought.
To begin with, the red title never looked great - it's just that we got used to it. Now that the title has changed brands (similar to the WWE and World Heavyweight title switching in 2005), why would WWE or FOX want to keep a red title?
The reason for the change in the appearance was purely for branding purpose and it makes sense since the Universal title will be the main one on SmackDown for years to come. With that said, we can understand the criticism of the laziness of the title.
#4 SmackDown Women aren't going to have a good night at Survivor Series
One of the problems that WWE has is its predictable pattern and the booking predicament that they often land themselves into. It's almost a rule of thumb in most cases where the Superstar who stands tall before a PPV doesn't end up winning the actual match.
While it's not always like that, there is undoubtedly a pattern there and for those who know of it, the predictability can be a tad bit problematic. While we can't state it as a fact, what we do realize from SmackDown is that the women from the blue brand won't be victorious at Survivor Series.
If you're not aware yet, what happened on SmackDown was that the women of NXT invaded yet again. This led to a match featuring Rhea Ripley, Mia Yim, Dakota Kai, and Tegan Nox vs Sasha Banks, Carmella, Nikki Cross, and Dana Brooke.
Shayna Baszler was once again present but her impact was minimal. The other women of NXT were challenged to a 4-on-4 match and it was team SmackDown who won, with Cross picking up the win. This is almost a certainty that they won't be winning at Survivor Series.
#3 Setting up a Bayley-Shayna Baszler feud in the future
When Becky Lynch and Shayna Baszler had that tense confrontation on RAW in the sit-down interview, the assumption was that Bayley was just a background character in a Triple Threat match, with Lynch and Baszler being the focus.
It made sense in the storyline since Becky Lynch was the one who defeated Ronda Rousey and Baszler is one of Rousey's best friends and training partners. They have a long association together and it seemed like Bayley would be forgotten.
To our surprise, the opposite has been the case. Bayley and Baszler have quickly established a rivalry with each other and it's one that's not truly going to be realized until later. Baszler has been one of the most important NXT figures during the Survivor Series build (which shouldn't be surprising, since she is the Women's Champion) and she and along with Bayley, has managed to create quite some heat between them.
WWE is planting the seeds for a Bayley vs Baszler feud in the future. Who the babyface would be in that situation, it would be hard to tell. But if Bayley is still a heel, it's a good opportunity for a heel vs heel feud.
#2 The Undisputed Era is the most important group in NXT
Like Shayna Baszler, Adam Cole and the Undisputed Era have been a constant feature on the main roster in the build to Survivor Series. It's safe to say that nobody is getting pushed the way Adam Cole is, especially given his two matches against Daniel Bryan and Seth Rollins.
However, the build has continued to feature The Undisputed Era heavily on all three shows, with their NXT presence being the most significant for obvious reasons. However, what's been established by WWE is that the Undisputed Era is the most important group coming out of NXT.
WWE loves stables and the Undisputed Era has been dominant for the last two years. This is one of the biggest television pushes that they've gotten and we can't help but be happy for Bobby Fish, Kyle O'Reilly, and Roderick Strong, all of whom have had to work extremely hard to get where they are now.
Hopefully, they continue dominating NXT and we expect them to have a great showing at WWE Survivor Series 2019.
#1 Daniel Bryan-Miz feud is still in the books down the line
The beauty of seeing Daniel Bryan and The Miz in the same ring is that it's just a matter of time before someone explodes. Whether it's The Miz cutting a passionate promo or Daniel Bryan ranting, there's a chemistry there that's been built up over years and one that can't be replicated.
Despite the two being babyfaces, the tension in the ring was visible. The Miz openly admitted the fact that neither of the men sees eye-to-eye and he called out Daniel Bryan and asked him which version he wanted to be - the leader of the "Yes!" movement or the "New" Daniel Bryan who was an environmentalist.
Bryan's promo was fantastic as usual and even as a babyface, he justified why he had to go down into the low depths to do what he did, i.e, kicking AJ Styles in his nether regions to win the WWE Championship. The promo was all about Bryan's mental instability and he said that The Miz didn't understand, but Bray Wyatt did.
It was a great transition to the Firefly Fun House, where Wyatt played more mind games, leading Bryan to accept a challenge for the Universal Championship at Survivor Series. While that's exciting, we can't help but be excited about a potential Bryan-Miz feud again down the line.
