8 Ups & 3 Downs From Last Night's WWE SmackDown (Nov 6)

Survivor Series chaos highlights another big blue triumph.

by Andy H Murray
The Miz Daniel Bryan Samoa Joe
WWE.com

WWE's recent pay-per-view crush almost makes it hard to believe we're now only a matter of days away from Survivor Series 2018, with Evolution and Crown Jewel taking much of the year's last 'Big four' event's shine over the past few weeks. Fortunately, the build is now 100% on, and while many aspects feel rushed, last night's SmackDown set the blue side off in effective fashion.

These two hours offered few objective failures. With Raw gradually piecing their elimination teams together, SD did the same, as Team Blue's co-captains assembled entire men's side - though the process wasn't entirely smooth. The female unit suffered similarly. Paige thought she had her line-up nailed, but a brawl erupted when her top pick failed to appear when summoned, and it's still unclear how things will fall in-line for 18 November.

Elsewhere, we got The New Day and Usos reprising their awesome 2017 rivalry, a first-time Rey Mysterio vs. Andrade 'Cien' Almas bout, and Becky Lynch clapping back at Raw Women's Champion Ronda Rousey after the former UFC fighter's excellent Raw promo.

A strong show on the whole, marred only by a handful of flubs...

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Andy has been with WhatCulture for six years and is currently WhatCulture's Senior Wrestling Reporter. A writer, presenter, and editor with 10+ years of experience in online media, he has been a sponge for all wrestling knowledge since playing an old Royal Rumble 1992 VHS to ruin in his childhood. Having previously worked for Bleacher Report, Andy specialises in short and long-form writing, video presenting, voiceover acting, and editing, all characterised by expert wrestling knowledge and commentary. Andy is as much a fan of 1985 Jim Crockett Promotions as he is present-day AEW and WWE - just don't make him choose between the two.