SmackDown In A Nutshell: Who Survives Til Brooklyn?

It is our last SmackDown In A Nutshell before the big PPV, so who survives til Brooklyn?

Tensions within and between the two brands is running high. You’ve got Superstars on the same teams hating each other…but will they hate the other team more?

It’s a major question, and it drives us to ask…who survives til Brooklyn?

And if you missed it…well…Survivor Series lands in Brooklyn on Sunday.

This show has a pretty simple objective: get the blue brand home to Survivor Series. So what can we expect?

Follow up from last week’s beating on King Woods by Romain Reigns and The Bloodline? That seems likely, especially with Reigns in possession of the crown.

We no longer need to wonder who is replacing Aliyah, as Sonya Deville did that the other day. But what about the last SmackDown men’s team member?

See, it really boils down to Survivor Series and who survives til Brooklyn. Don’t you just love a nice clean show, so easy to book…

Well, it’s WWE, so they may goof and forget they just axed more people. But I digress…

Let’s dive into it, shall we?

SmackDown In A Nutshell: Who Survives Til Brooklyn?

Let’s crack open this Nutshell and see who survives!

Best Match of the night:

I guess I’d go with the four way battle that resulted in Sheamus getting that last slot.

Once it was clear he was returning tonight and being in that match, having him get into the SmackDown Survivor Series team was kind of obvious.

Match was fun for what it was though.

I did also enjoy Shotzi and Sasha. It is early, but it seems WWE is building up both Shotzi and Toni Storm…to maybe actually give them a deeper women’s division.

Worst match of the night:

Could go a couple ways.

Naomi losing on the super quick count? Probably.

Madcap Moss losing to Jeff Hardy, in just a weird match? Sure, why not…

Star of the Night

Tonight felt kind of star-less. I mean, Reigns and his folks were good…so too was King Woods and Big E.

But there was not a singular spectacular showing.

Spot of the Night:

Honestly…nothing.

Like, some nice spots, but nothing I really found memorable.

I mean, fine, if you press it…Big E tossing Jimmy and Jey onto the stage was fun…

Jobber of the Night:

Madcap Moss would be my choice.

For what he’s been-a sidekick, basically-there could have been a chance to do something with him.

WWE trotted him out for his Madcap in-ring debut…and he lost.

Upset of the Night:

Naomi and Aliyah losing in the fashion they did. That had to make them upset.

But in terms of matches? No, no upsets.

Holy Sh** Moment of the Night:

Sasha Banks hitting that Backstabber we all saw coming? Nah, it was super obvious.

Botch of the night:

Interesting one to pick on, but here goes…

Big E and Roman Reigns started to tangle. Reigns gets flung into the ring steps…and man that spot was bad.

Roman Reigns basically landed on both knees, a foot or two away from the steps, hands up, and slid in.

It’s a bad description…but it just looked bad.

Noteworthy Moment:

Sheamus is back. And he is in the Survivor Series fray,  becoming the replacement to Sami Zayn.

Toni Storm is surely gunning for Charlotte Flair. Not sure it goes anywhere beyond keeping Flair busy for a little while…but I dig the push while it lasts.

Hard not to catch the extra emphasis Heyman put on saying Brock Lesnar’s name. Will The Beast show up on Sunday?

Speaking of Sunday, Sonya Deville announced a 25 man battle royal, in honor of The Rock’s 25th anniversary.

And we’ve been told he won’t be there…but who knows.

Last one? Deville has a crooked ref, though she will deny it, and did.

Overall lowlights:

I gather they want to get past Survivor Series…but I do hope we get to see the next steps in the Deville-Naomi clash sooner than later.

The shuffling of Survivor Series teams is kind of disappointing to me. Not that the teams change-that happens.

But that WWE didn’t want to keep any surprises, at least not so far as the teams were concerned.

Overall highlights:

Anyone paying attention could see it coming, but Big E gave us a nice ending of the show.

Did not quite get all of Reigns yet…but evened the odds a wee bit.

In general, hard to hate on the Bloodline/New Day stuff.

I will argue here that WWE missed a chance to have a Survivor Series match…I mean, New Day plus 1 or 2, versus The Bloodline, plus 1 or 2?

Sign me up.

After the final bell:

Well, that’s it. The setup is all done, now we know who has survived to make it to Brooklyn.

SmackDown added a couple names, and no real big surprises.

Sunday may be interesting, in and out of the building.

I’d argue the biggest match might just be Becky Lynch and Charlotte Flair. WWE decided to keep the two apart, ever since their belt issue.

Might not have been a bad idea.

I think the only way that gets topped is if Big E and Roman Reigns goes big…or has some big help.