5 Things We Learned from SmackDown Live (27 November 2018)
Tuesday Night SmackDown on November 27, 2018 seemed to have less decisive matches, and more promos and false starts. This led to the setting up of the pay-per-view on the horizon instead of delivering to the fans in attendance.
We have been seeing Monday Night Raw suffering from lack of creativity, repeated matches, and a lot of nonsensical booking. SmackDown Live and NXT have provided the cushion for the WWE to fall on to avoid losing viewers.
SmackDown Live did deliver more than the other brand did, and gave fans something to think about in terms of the future of some wrestlers, along with TLC, which is coming up in less than three weeks.
With that said, let’s take a look at 5 things that we learned from the November 27 episode of SmackDown Live.
#5 Championship defenses will be reduced
Last week’s SmackDown saw none of the championships on the brand being defended. The WWE Champion Daniel Bryan came out to cut a promo but was not booked in any match.
Becky Lynch, the Women’s Champion, has been suffering from an injury and was absent from last week's show, which saw Charlotte Flair lead the women’s division from the front.
Shinsuke Nakamura was absent from the show completely, which is no surprise given his recent run with the United States Title. The Bar, who are the Tag Team Champions, did have a match, but it was a non-title match against The New Day which they lost.
Similarly, this week’s SmackDown had none of its titles defended on the show. The Bar once again featured in a non-title match which they lost again, this time to The Usos. Nakamura too was scheduled to defend his title, but attacked and knocked out his opponent before the match could begin.
Becky Lynch was unable to compete yet again, while Daniel Bryan did not even make it to the show.
This proves that the brand will have fewer title defenses going forward, probably until the beginning of Tables, Ladders and Chairs 2018.