4 Ups & 5 Downs From WWE SmackDown (Nov 5)
Drew McIntyre saves SmackDown; WWE waste everyone's time; Roman Reigns gets a new challenger?
This sucks for an old-school fan to type, but it might be time for WWE to chuck Survivor Series off the annual calendar. That pay-per-view is only two weeks away, and yet the company is doing nothing to build towards it on TV. Friday's SmackDown featured some super-soft hints about a Roman Reigns vs. Big E match, but even that was tenuous.
Survivors surely can't...survive much longer in the modern climate. It's dull as dishwater, and even WWE seem bored of the typical brand vs. brand b*llocks that only becomes important when calendars turn to November. This week's show was indicative of creative malaise - SmackDown's writers just cannot be arsed with this time of year.
The show wasn't all bad, in fairness.
Drew McIntyre continues to be a weekly highlight, and Shotzi has a real chance to come into her own as a fine heel. Plus, WWE even managed to do some solid business with the usually-terrible Naomi vs. Sonya Deville feud too. That was unexpected.
Almost everything else? Meh. It ranged between average and a total waste of everybody's time.