11 Ups & 4 Downs From Last Night's WWE SmackDown (Nov 13)

by Andy H Murray

1. A Game-Changing Heel Turn

Daniel Bryan AJ Styles
WWE.com

When Sami Zayn turned heel at Hell In A Cell 2017, gifting career-long rival Kevin Owens a victory over Shane McMahon, the initial reaction was largely one of disbelief. WWE had just sent one of the most natural underdog babyfaces in wrestling history to the darkside, and cynics were quick to condemn it a failure.

Similarly, many branded Becky Lynch's SummerSlam 2018 heel turn an immediate flop when the live crowd hilariously cheered Charlotte Flair as she sat crying her eyes out behind a broken announce table.

Daniel Bryan became the latest beloved WWE folk hero to embrace the darkness on last night's SmackDown, and the negative voices are already out in force. "This won't work," they say, and not entirely without merit.

But Zayn and Lynch weren't supposed to work either, and their examples show that SmackDown's writing team deserve our faith when it comes to matters like this.

Though the turn does leave SmackDown with a dearth of top babyfaces, it was completely unexpected, made for a great moment on the show, and, if you believe Dave Meltzer (calm down, you at the back...), something the man himself had actually been campaigning for. Besides, Bryan was an outstanding bad guy in the past. He can absolutely become one again.

It'll work out just fine.

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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.