Was Smackdown A Consolation Prize For NXT?

NXT became DXT and invaded Survivor Series DX-Nitro style, complete with a jeep! But was that a consolation prize for what’s happening at Survivor Series?

That weird image of HHH, Road Dogg, and Shawn Michaels standing atop the Smackdown ramp as NXT brawled with Smackdown and Raw superstars probably sums up a lot of things that are wrong about WWE, and about Survivor Series (at least how WWE perceives it).

The cool visual of those guys riding a jeep to the ring, a la 1998 WCW invasion, is instantly hampered by the fact that it is those guys who are doing it. In a perfect world, Undisputed Era would have been the ones to lead the raid not HHH and co. We don’t have to go through the obvious things, but we need to do that or else there will be no point writing this piece.

First, HHH and co won’t take part in any match at Survivor Series, so why they were there stealing a bit of the spotlight from the NXT stars?. Second, why is everybody loyal to the point they completely drop any kind of animosity for brands’ sake?. Finally, Is anyone really sure that WWE will stnd behind NXT and book them well on Sunday?.

Onto the real point, though. The conclusion of this week’s Smackdown made it feel like NXT are being prepared for a mugging at Survivor Series, and this was their 15 minutes in the sun (or whatever anyone wants to call it). Yes, NXT got some important wins, and had some decent mic time to cut promos (as short as they were), yet nothing feels special anymore. The gold and black brand could not rekindle the fire that was Wednesday’s show, although that may heavily fall on the shoulders of Vince and co. who are in charge of booking Smackdown. Rhea Rhipley got a pinfall over Charlotte Flair, but I wouldn’t call it a victory because she was a third wheel (despite being really good) to both Charlotte and Sasha in that triple threat. The way she got that pinfall tells the story actually, as she was portrayed as a sneaky heel or worse, an incompetent one.

The Undisputed Era had a better roll of the dice against New Day and Heavy Machinery, yet their victory feels bland. The New Day could have easily eaten a pinfall loss, and it would not harm them. What does UE get by beating Heavy Machinery, who are despite how over they can be, a no-name compared to them or the New Day. UE would have done better by just battering the New Day and making a strong statement ahead of Sunday, especially considering that New Day are almost bullet-proof at this point. Speaking of Strong, he picked up the win, yet had his ass handed to him by Sami Zayn who is not going to wrestle (by the way, i would love to see that match between them) and how does that make Undisputed Era look dominant? No Idea!.

Now let’s talk about the go-home angle, which was messy as hell. To be fair, it is expected to have a MASSIVE brawl like that closing out the show, but the devil hides in the details. Aside from the usual continuity issues, (again) why HHH and co. should be the ones leading and giving orders. I mentioned in my article about whether NXT needs a clean sweep at Survivor Series, that this invasion may quickly become a mirror of the  2001 invasion. For me, that was a shade of that, although not quite as centered around the McMahons as 2001’s was. In the end, I felt that Smackdown was a show built around NXT getting as many good moments and victories as they can, because they might be jobbed the hard way on Sunday (which is a bad booking by the way). If that happens, I will probably start to sour on WWE. If not, I will give them enormous kudos even If NXT only wins one or two matches.

This is only one man’s opinion after all, tell me yours in the comments below and reach out to me on twitter @Austin316Tn. Till next time.