The following editorial was written by Tyler Treese and does not reflect the views of WrestleZone as a whole. Feel free to chime in on our SmackDown Live review in the comments below.
SmackDown Live Review
Tonight’s episode of SmackDown Live was a jam packed one full of interesting events. To help you digest the episode, check out our five takeaways from the latest episode that showcased the blue brand in our SmackDown Live review for the November 13, 2018 episode.
Paul Heyman – Professional Instigator
Nobody is better than Paul Heyman when it comes to cutting promos., and he did a brilliant job tonight in getting AJ Styles distracted from his planned match against Brock Lesnar. By bringing up Daniel Bryan several times, he was able to play into the securities of both of SmackDown Live’s top singles competitors. It was a brilliant way to build to a title match tonight, and made Heyman look like a genius.
Jeff Hardy Joins Survivor Series Team
With Bryan no longer on the Survivor Series team for SmackDown, this meant that Miz was the sole captain. His first act was to add Jeff Hardy to the team after the WWE legend defeated Andrade ‘Cien’ Almas. The two put on a solid television match, but it does seem odd to constantly defeat Almas when he showed so much potential at NXT. However, he’s losing competitive battles against legends, and there’s far worse places to be on the card.
The Miz’s Ego Flares Its Ugly Head
As I mentioned in the last block, Miz was now the sole captain of SmackDown’s male Survivor Series team. He didn’t deal with this intelligently, as he immediately tried to kick Rey Mysterio off the team simply because Bryan picked him. SmackDown GM Paige wasn’t having it, though, and set up a match between the two with the condition that Rey would stay on the team if he won. The match was a good one as the two have always had great chemistry in-ring, and Mysterio got to get one up on Miz ahead of Survivor Series.
Charlotte Flair Steps Up
WrestleMania is coming early. Many expected to see Ronda Rousey and Charlotte Flair face off at a WrestleMania down the line, but they’ll do so at WWE Survivor Series this year. The match should be excellent, and I actually like it more than Lynch/Rousey since one of the champions doesn’t have to take a loss for no real reason here. It still sucks to see Lynch out of the match, but she’ll be back in the ring kicking ass sooner rather than later. Also, by having Becky embrace Charlotte, it really helped rehab her relationship with the crowd. This wasn’t her being gifted another shot.
And New!
The main event featured Daniel Bryan and AJ Styles going at it for the WWE Championship, and it was a great match as everyone expected. Putting the belt on Bryan makes all the sense in the world, and the dream match against Brock Lesnar is far more appealing than the same match we saw last year. I can’t wait for Survivor Series now, and WWE did an excellent job salvaging the card from some last minute disarray.
The Daniel Bryan heel turn is also an excellent change in character that will be entertaining for weeks to come. It was a shocking turn, but one that makes sense from a character perspective. Bryan wants the title more than anything, and if that means playing dirty then so be it.
Feel free to give your own SmackDown Live review in the comments below!
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