WWE painted the town red at Survivor Series in Hollywood.
“Monday Night Raw” swept “SmackDown Live” 6-0 at Staples Center in Los Angeles.
(That is if, like the WWE, you don’t count the fact that the Blue Brand won the tag team Survivor Series match on the kickoff show because what happens on the kickoff show, like the tag team division, doesn’t seem to matter. The announce team even said someone would get a 1-0 advantage. Guess not.)
It’s a new low for SmackDown trying to establish itself as Raw’s equal or superior. Raw has won for three straight years. The main event, which featured Raw’s Brock Lesnar versus SmackDown’s Daniel Bryan, epitomized that sentiment
The undersized underdog went to Suplex City early and often before putting up a fight and helping Lesnar to one of his better matches. But in the end, no matter how much Lesnar sold for Bryan, or how more torque the WWE champion put on the Yes Lock to The Beast, one too many F5s could not be overcome. Raw, like Lesnar, was just too big to fail.
The match was also a reminder that even after a heel turn, another low blow and a creepy grin, Bryan can still be likable and an underdog in the crowd’s eyes. They were behind him nearly the whole way.
SmackDown even threw away a match when Charlotte Flair snapped and hit Ronda Rousey with a kendo stick to lose by disqualification. It kept their storyline alive for bigger and better things — maybe WrestleMania — and whet people’s appetite for what’s to come. The match and the beatdown of Rousey that followed created a memorable personal issue to build off of.
The men’s Survivor Series also capitalized on the storytelling leading into it. You had Braun Strowman and Drew McIntyre fighting over getting to wrestle for Team Raw before the two came to blows. Finn Balor even kicked McIntyre, who refused to tag him in.
World Cup participants Shane McMahon and The Miz got some time with runner-up Dolph Ziggler. McMahon, who earlier hit Strowman with a elbow through the announce table, got a win over Ziggler a second time thanks to a Coast to Coast. Strowman stopped McMahon’s second attempt with a clothesline as part of an OK match.
The match was all about Strowman, who was promised a Universal championship match with a win. He eliminated four member of SmackDown’s team (Rey Mysterio, Jeff Hardy, Miz and McMahon — just not Samoa Joe) to help Raw win the match easily. Acting Raw general manager Baron Corbin, with Strowman now able to hit him, got the first shot in before running off with Bobby Lashley and McIntyre.
The women’s version did what it could with the little story it had. Sasha Banks and Bayley were added to Raw’s team thanks to a backstage fight during a kickoff show, which helped.
We are slowly seeing Mandy Rose and Sonya Deville’s relationship crumble. Rose eliminated her partner from the Evolution battle royal and Sunday grabbed a pin after Deville did all the work.
This match was about Jax — as it should be. She was booed loudly and WWE is running with her heat. They had her throw a “face-busting punch” during the match. Jax even knocked Banks off the top rope, sacrificing her to Asuka so she could win it for Raw and get the brand’s big night started.
However, even some solid storytelling and one great match couldn’t save a format that’s never been more broken.
Seth Rollins (Raw) over Shinsuke Nakamura (Smackdown)
The match didn’t burn it down, but it played out like two of the top wrestlers trying to best each other. There was caution and one-upmanship early, some strong style in the middle and both of them going for it all late. The crowd gradually become invested despite the lack of a real storyline coming in.
Rollins kicked out of a kinshasa to the back of the head. The Kingslayer ducked the second attempt and converted it into a stomp for the win. WWE thankfully didn’t make this match about Dean Ambrose, but did announce Rollins and the Lunatic Fringe will face off for the Intercontinental championship at TLC in December.
Authors of Pain (Raw) over The Bar (SmackDown)
WWE did Drake Maverick a real disservice by having him pee his pants and quiver after being grabbed by his throat and held up by the Big Show. Not only is Maverick at a bit of a disadvantage because of his height walking out with the monsters that are the Authors of Pain, he is an authority figure as 205 Live’s commissioner. You’ve just made it harder to take him serious with a bit that led to and cheapened AOP’s victory in a match that was a bit of a mess.
The Usos, New Day, Good Brothers, Sanity & The Colons (SmackDown) over Bobby Roode & Chad Gable, The Ascension, Lucha House Party, B-Team & The Revival (Raw)
Gable and Roode are starting to get good at this tag team thing and showed it off in a match that got fun late. Gable pulled off a German suplex from the top rope into a crowd before being eliminated by The New Day. The Revival and the Usos were a fitting final pair. Usos won it with an elbow from the top with a tribute to Roman Reigns. Too bad it didn’t count on the scoreboard.
Buddy Murphy over Mustafa Ali to retain the cruiserweight title
This was not as good as their no-disqualification match in July, but it was one of the most entertaining on the card. It hurt to watch as Murphy pushed Ali from the apron into barricade and Ali spiking his opponent with a reverse hurricanrana. The finish was OK, with Murphy landing a knee to a flying Ali and hitting Murphy’s Law the to end it.
— The fired Enzo Amore, who is currently a rapper named “nZo”, was caught on cell phone video being escorted from the front row by security after he stood up and started yelling to the crowd during The Bar’s match with the Authors of Pain. That’s probably as close to a WWE ring as he will get for a while — maybe ever, now.
— Smackdown’s R-Truth trying to join the brand’s women’s team, then settling down the Raw men’s team and then asking to be on the Blue Brand’s men’s team is such a fun R-Truth thing to do.
Biggest winner: Charlotte Flair
Biggest loser: Tag team wrestling
Match of the night: Ronda Rousey vs. Charlotte Flair
Predictions: 6-2
Grade: C+
