blue brand preps survival

It’s the end of yet another week, and our last SmackDown In A Nutshell for October, too. This time around, the blue brand preps for Survival.

As in, Survivor Series, of course. Just as RAW did on Monday, we are going to start seeing the blue team assembled for the brand versus brand matches.

Which, sadly, as of this moment, do indeed appear to exclude that OTHER brand.

So, what can we expect as the blue brand preps for Survival?

Well, it needs to put together two teams, a men’s and women’s quintet, to square off against the red brand.

So, SmackDown will be prepping for survival. Last year, NXT was victorious, but they certainly appear to be not invited this time around.

Let’s see how the blue brand preps for Survival!

It’s time to crack open this Nutshell!

Best Match of the night:

While we did have a few viable options, and I’d say we had mostly good but not great…I did pick one.

For me, I give this to Jey Uso and Daniel Bryan. Why?

blue brand preps survival

Because this one was about much more than just this one on one match. I’d argue that Daniel Bryan elevated the singles status of Jey Uso.

Bryan was the victim of Jey Uso’s heel turn. He took it well, he sold it well, and it helped further the whole tribal chief program.

Yes, that came after the match primarily, but the entire match, start to finish to post-match outcome, worked well.

Plus, in case it gets overlooked, Jey won and is now on Team SmackDown for Survivor Series.

Worst match of the night:

I am inclined to go with the women’s triple threat, for any number of reasons.

Primarily what bothers me is, you give three women a match to determine a spot on the blue brand team at Survivor Series, and then you provide them less than five minutes to tell a story.

I don’t fault the women for that, mind you. But there’s no reason a match like that shouldn’t have gotten at least double the time to tell a story.

Star of the Night

Conventional wisdom might have gone with Jey Uso, right? I mean, he did execute his latest heel turn well enough, and between all involved, it felt quite personal and emotional.

But no, it’s not Jey Uso.

Give me Lars Sullivan. That speaking segment gave us more depth to The Freak than I think we had ever had previously.

Others will say this too, but I think having Sullivan show he’s more than just a freak in the ring helps us see why Vince McMahon kept him around, in spite of his scandals and baggage.

If he continues to get  (and more importantly, listen to) good guidance…he could become a huge monster heel. We know how Vince loves those types…

Spot of the Night:

Not much, but I’d go with the post-match beating on Daniel Bryan for this one.

Jobber of the Night:

Daniel Bryan deserves some love. Doubt he would want it here, but he did a job tonight in establishing Uso as a newly minted heel.

Upset of the Night:

Nothing of note.

Holy Sh** Moment of the Night:

Honestly, not sure anything really qualifies.

I mean, the Jey Uso full heel turn was likely the closest we had? But seriously, that move has been telegraphed for a bit now.

Pretty sure most of the WWE Universe saw that coming. It certainly didn’t surprise me, and without that…I have nothing.

Botch of the night:

Not really a botch, per se, but I could do without whatever Bianca Belair was doing backstage before the triple threat.

I get it, it’s her thing…maybe…but the talking and dancing just seemed to be too much.

It’s funny to me, because we know she has a relationship with the Street Profits, being married to one and all. But going back to her time in NXT, she’s always come off as more of a heel than a face.

Noteworthy Moment:

I’d go with the Mysterio-Murphy-Rollins triangle here.

Some may enjoy this soap opera angle. I am not enthralled by it, but if you are, I get it.

I think the whole premise is a bit forced, for the sake of it or what have you…but I will acknowledge having Dom and Rey work against Seth Rollins, and then wondering where Murphy slots in? It’s not a bad move.

I just don’t care too much for that stuff, so as long as it doesn’t take away from real wrestling…it will be fine.

Overall lowlights:

Not a ton to gripe about really. I think my biggest issues tonight lie with the women.

I wasn’t loving Bianca Belair’s antics pre-match. And I really did not like that the women’s match got under five minutes to shine.

A match for a Survivor Series team slot should be a semi-big deal…certainly worthy of a ten plus minute match.

Overall highlights:

For me, the big ones?

Lars Sullivan showing he’s more than a Freak in the ring.

Jey Uso turning to the dark side, and Roman Reigns continuing to execute his very complex heel persona very well.

Some may love the Mysterio stuff too…but I think this post hits the nail on it’s head…

After the final bell:

In a two hour show, we got less of the blue brand teams assembled as compared to the three hours gave us from RAW.

Still, things aren’t looking too bad. It’s pretty clear that with Jey going over Daniel Bryan, Uso is going to continue getting a prominent push.

I am curious to see who else lands on the SmackDown teams.

 

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