3 Ups & 7 Downs From Last Night's WWE SmackDown (8 Nov)
6. Imperium's Unexplained Cameo
'Blink and you'll miss it' summed up Imperium's mini-invasion on SmackDown.
Walter, Fabian Aichner, Marcel Barthel and Alexander Wolfe attacked Heavy Machinery, were run off by New Day, Ali, Shorty G, Apollo Crews and more, then quietly left the ringside area. That was it. That was the extent of some NXT UK influence on the Manchester edition of SmackDown, and it wasn't quite enough.
WWE take fan knowledge for granted constantly when it comes to these sorts of things. They must realise that most casual fans don't watch NXT UK, and therefore probably have zero idea who most of these guys are or why they were attacking Otis and Tucker. Some context might've been nice.
The presentation didn't make much sense either; problems arise when WWE forget actual storylines (Imperium aren't "protecting home turf", as Michael Cole put it, they're elitist heels on the UK brand), and conveniently forget that these acts have to continue working their own programs on niche shows beyond Survivor Series.