5 Ups And 8 Downs From Last Night's WWE Raw (Nov 4)

2. Brand Loyalty Brawl

Raw Brawl
WWE.com

If it’s Survivor Series time, then that means it’s time for the annual brand loyalty brawls, where everyone fights on each others’ show and defends their brand’s honor. Because, well, it’s Survivor Series time.

This year, at least, there’s a veneer of logic to it all, with the upstart NXT looking to make a name for itself at the expense of Raw and SmackDown. But that still doesn’t make everything entirely jibe.

For example, we’re supposed to boo The OC as they cheat to win in one segment, then cheer them on for coming to Seth Rollins’ defense and supporting Raw in battling NXT. Undisputed Era is standing with Keith Lee and Tommaso Ciampa in fighting Raw. And so on.

That’s not to say that this is unforgivable – and again, the NXT angle makes it better – but it’s just an annual cliché this time of year. At no other point do the brands get into this heated rivalry, but because the calendar flips to November, the different shows must feud.

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Contributor
Contributor

Scott is a former journalist and longtime wrestling fan who was smart enough to abandon WCW during the Monday Night Wars the same time as the Radicalz. He fondly remembers watching WrestleMania III, IV, V and VI and Saturday Night's Main Event, came back to wrestling during the Attitude Era, and has been a consumer of sports entertainment since then. He's written for WhatCulture for more than a decade, establishing the Ups and Downs articles for WWE Raw and WWE PPVs/PLEs and composing pieces on a variety of topics.