SmackDown has been on a streak of putting together several months of excellent programming, particularly the go-home episode right before a Pay-Per-View.
Three examples are:
- The finals of the Intercontinental title tournament after Sami Zayn relinquished it earlier this year between Daniel Bryan and AJ Styles right before Backlash,
- The Intercontinental championship match between Jeff Hardy and AJ Styles on the go-home episode right before SummerSlam,
- And, even the recent encounter between Seth Rollins and Murphy, all three of which were Pay-Per-View-quality matches.
The November 20th edition of the program was quite possibly the greatest episode SmackDown has presented in 2020 because of the excellent transitions into each segment. Every part of the show seemed to flow together brilliantly.
Daniel Bryan was one of the highlights of the night. This edition was so well-done that there were about three segments that could have been perceived as the highlight of the night, but this was an awfully big deal, nonetheless.
The superstar Mr. McMahon opted to focus on most heavily this week was Daniel Bryan, which makes perfect sense in theory because he does not have a match scheduled for Survivor Series this Sunday. Bryan got some retribution by getting a victory over Jey Uso after being attacked by him several weeks ago. Speaking of Uso, he has benefited every bit as much as – if not more than – his cousin Roman Reigns in the past couple months since the storyline began between the two family members. Uce has been firmly established in the main event scene right beside his cousin and is serving as almost an indentured servant to The Head of The Table.
The leader of the Yes! Movement also hinted at the possibility of potentially beginning a rivalry with Sami Zayn starting immediately after Survivor Series for the Intercontinental title. Zayn has Bobby Lashley to worry about this Sunday, but Bryan has been involved on and off in the IC championship picture since June of this year. He has always been a proponent of the idea of the Intercontinental Champion defending the title on a weekly basis. AJ Styles didn’t share the same sentiment earlier in 2020, and Zayn has had similar disagreements with Bryan in recent weeks.
The Tribal Chief Roman Reigns is portraying a character right now who is so arrogant and sure of himself that people cannot help but like him, even though they know in the back of their mind that he is behaving in a very conceited manner. It is reminiscent of the way Paul Heyman’s mentality was when he was advocating for Brock Lesnar. Now that Roman has established himself as The Head of The Table and the unquestioned leader of WWE, he can now let loose and rule exactly how he sees fit.
If my memory is correct, Paul Heyman told Roman in 2015 (the year Reigns won the Royal Rumble which was not received very well – the WWE universe was clamoring for the returning Daniel Bryan) during the buildup to the WrestleMania 31 main event against Brock Lesnar that he was “the right guy, in the right place, at the wrong time.” So it’s extremely ironic that Roman does the same thing to Drew McIntyre just five years later – with Heyman at his side. This is a full-circle moment and maybe it will turn out differently for McIntyre – on the other hand, maybe it won’t. We will find out at Survivor Series.
Rollins, Mysterio and Murphy have told a brilliant story with many layers and nuances over the past six months. Murphy got the victory over Seth and it will hopefully launch him as a major superstar (as was Rollins’ intention all along. Young people like Dominik Mysterio also benefited.
The open storyline between Seth Rollins and Murphy was extremely well-done and executed nearly to perfection. It was about as good as a long-term story gets in WWE – primarily because it did its job effectively of writing Rollins off TV for his paternity leave presumably after Survivor Series. It also firmly established some groundwork for Murphy to work off of and it will hopefully springboard him into superstardom – now having an affiliation with the Mysterio family and being closely tied with them.
It’s great to see that the company found meaningful work for Chad Gable after dropping the Shorty G moniker – Otis as well after Tucker departed from SmackDown for RAW after the draft to seek greener pastures. Otis as well as Chad Gable now each have something meaningful to occupy themselves with now that Otis – with Gable in his corner – is the fifth member of Team SmackDown. And The New Day is always a welcome addition anywhere they decide to show up – now they dominate both brands, which is great marketing.
Bayley is also providing continuity between storylines by proclaiming herself the captain of the SmackDown Women’s Survivor Series Team. Bianca Belair might have something to say about that given how she has dominated every woman on the roster since WrestleMania 36. The company is looking to establish her as the next major superstar in the women’s division. Carmella also made sure Sasha Banks did not forget about her challenge for the title after her rivalry with Asuka finishes.