4 Ups & 3 Downs From Last Night's WWE SmackDown (Nov 15)

1. Suddenly, We're All Friends Again

The past few weeks have been rife with infighting. Raw and SmackDown's teams have both struggled to get on the same page ahead of Survivor Series, and it was strongly implied that whichever team found even the slightest shred of cohesion would prevail. Regardless of this, and in spite of the authority figures' protests, both brands have been a warzone, and the wrestlers looked happier to squabble amongst themselves than set their differences aside.

Things took a sharp U-turn last night, however. The Usos celebrated with American Alpha like they hadn't spent most of October trying to tear Chad Gable's knee apart, and when Raw's females attacked Nikki Bella, Carmella suddenly forgot all about their bitter rivalry. In the end, SmackDown's women put on a united front to ward the Raw invaders off, and though the men bickered, The Undertaker appeared to scare them into submission.

After weeks of gnashing at each other's throats, fans are now expected to believe that SD's Survivor Series teams are all best mates all of a sudden. It was too much, too fast, but depressingly typical of WWE's impatience and short-termism.

Both Raw and SmackDown had the opportunity to tell a slower, more logical tale of their teams gradually finding cohesion over a longer timescale. Instead, they chose to cram everything into their respective go-home shows. A disappointing shortcut, and a real missed opportunity.