8 Ups & 3 Downs From Last Night's WWE SmackDown (Nov 6)

Ups...

8. Sowing The Seeds

Bingo cards at the ready, because here's your weekly "effective table-setting opening segment" entry.

The lively Manchester crowd helped make this one a little more fun than usual. Paige, of course, got monster pops on home turf, while Shane 'Best In The World' McMahon was jeered. In fairness, the Commissioner talked this status down, claiming that the World Cup trophy belonged to SmackDown as a whole, before putting the spotlight back on Survivor Series.

After going through the card with his GM, McMahon revealed Daniel Bryan as the men's team captain. Out came a limping Miz to protest, and thus, the SD turmoil was established, as Shane confirmed 'The A-Lister' would co-captain the group with his mortal enemy.

Though the final announcement didn't quite go over as intended, the segment was perfectly solid. It set the tone for the rest of the night, didn't ram the idea of Shane as the best wrestler on the planet down our throats, though it almost certainly won't have sat as well with those who dislike the idea of the blue brand's guys squabbling amongst themselves.