9 Ups & 5 Downs From Last Night's WWE SmackDown (Nov 27)
SmackDown's quality soars again as 'The Man' comes back around.
Welcome back, Becky Lynch, and welcome back, SmackDown's quality levels.
Last night wasn't quite on par with the blue brand's strongest 2018 offerings, but it was a clear return to form after the previous week's mediocrity. Though the highs and lows were relatively tepid, nothing that transpired within these two hours was trash, our complaints are minor, and even the less enjoyable segments succeeded in pushing their respective storylines forward.
Lynch's return yielded a typically memorable opening promo and a big TLC pay-per-view bout, with a third party joining Becky and Charlotte Flair after triumphing in the night's thrown-together battle royal main event. Elsewhere, AJ Styles was back in the house and throwing barbs at Daniel Bryan, though his foe was nowhere to be found. The Miz and Shane McMahon's weird relationship continued, The Usos and Bar battled for supremacy, and Rey Mysterio sought revenge on Randy Orton after the previous week's unmasking.
WWE's late-year pay-per-view logjam leaves them with just two more weeks to build to TLC. SmackDown is off to a solid start, and while last night wasn't perfect, we have faith the writing team will overcome any concerns before 16 December. They've earned that trust.
Let's get to it...