9 Ups & 5 Downs From Last Night's WWE SmackDown (29 Nov)

Bray Wyatt is the Champion of the Universe. But which one?

Bray Wyatt
WWE.com

Neither Raw nor NXT were permitted to let the Survivor Series pass without mention this week.

At the Thanksgiving Classic, the black-and-gold brand prevailed in the battle for Brand Supremacy by winning more matches than the other two shows combined. A celebration opened up Wednesday's NXT, whilst Monday's Raw began with an enjoyable "Town Hall" that triggered Seth Rollins' overdue heel turn.

Both effective in moving things forward past the point where everybody had to be besties with anybody else in the same coloured shirt, SmackDown followed suit by rapidly pushing things forward to the next pay-per-view with only the echoes of the last one really lingering.

Key to SmackDown's success on Sunday was Roman Reigns, but a simmering rivalry with Baron Corbin nearly smashed the team to pieces. It threatened to do the same to that billion dollar Fox deal a fortnight ago. How would 'The Big Dog' and 'The Lone Wolf' - as well as the rest of the no longer united roster - proceed with just two weeks to go until the TLC pay-per-view?

We'd have a few answers soon enough, but new questions foreshadowed a final month in 2019 that'd be just as weird all the rest. Feeling blue? Jump in...

Advertisement
Contributor
Contributor

Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation nearly 8 years. He primarily produces written, audio and video content on WWE and AEW, but also provides knowledge and insights on all aspects of the wrestling industry thanks to a passion for it dating back over 35 years. As one third of "The Dadley Boyz" Michael has contributed to the huge rise in popularity of the WhatCulture Wrestling Podcast and its accompanying YouTube channel, earning it top spot in the UK's wrestling podcast charts with well over 62,000,000 total downloads. He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times, GRAPPL, GCP, Poisonrana and Sports Guys Talking Wrestling, and has covered milestone events in New York, Dallas, Las Vegas, Philadelphia, London and Cardiff. Michael's background in media stretches beyond wrestling coverage, with a degree in Journalism from the University Of Sunderland (2:1) and a series of published articles in sports, music and culture magazines The Crack, A Love Supreme and Pilot. When not offering his voice up for daily wrestling podcasts, he can be found losing it singing far too loud watching his favourite bands play live. Follow him on X/Twitter - @MichaelHamflett