Happy Sunday everyone! The annual November event is finally here, in spite of plenty of changes leading up to the show. While I am always more enamored with the Survivor Series shows from years gone by, tonight’s card still has the chance to be something special. While a couple matches were late changes, we have two WrestleMania worthy bouts, as Charlotte battles Ronda Rousey, and a clash between Brock Lesnar and newly minted champ Daniel Bryan. So which brand comes out on top? Let’s crack open this Nutshell and find out!
Best Match of the night:
For my money, the last two matches of this card (Flair/Rousey and Lesnar/Bryan) were the best the show had to offer…but honestly, a lot of the matches were very good. Top to bottom, the entire show far exceeded my expectations
Worst match of the night:
AoP versus The Bar. Seriously, booking an ending where the dumb manager appears to wet his pants? I thought we were better than this, WWE?
Crowd Chants of the Night:
One more time
burn it down
Joe
this is awesome
thank you Charlotte
you deserve it
Becky
Let’s go Ronda
Let’s go Charlotte
Yes! Yes! Yes!
Star of the Night
Braun did well in the five on five match. Almost well enough to get this spot.
However, I think the top two stars have to be Brock Lesnar and Daniel Bryan. It was a tale of two matches for the main event. Some of the throws that Bryan was on the receiving end of were scary, and hopefully he was just playing up those fears by grabbing at his arm and making fans think he lost feeling again. And just when you thought it was a Cena-esque squash, Bryan hit Brock with what seemed like desperation kicks, but Lesnar sold them like crazy and the tide shifted. Sure, the low blow helped, but the two of them worked a really excellent match. Check out social media if you disagree, there were many, many fans calling this one of Brock’s best efforts.
Spot of the Night:
If I am picking a single spot, which I suppose I should from time to time, then this one goes to Shane’s leap through the announce table (and also through Braun)
Jobber of the Night:
I have two choices for this spot.
First one is Samoa Joe, because why else would you have him not only be the first man eliminated in the RAW versus SmackDown 5 on 5 match…but then, you have him out in a blink?
The next would be to the officials. Specifically, all the ones laid out by Charlotte, plus the one that faked being hit by Daniel Bryan as he was supposed to be taking an F5.
Upset of the Night:
In a match, not much I can go with here. Fans could be upset about several things, however.
Like, how do you ditch Joe that fast (to make Drew more over than ever, of course)
Or, how Braun Strowman got punked out, but Daniel Bryan had a chance against The Beast (makes you think there’s some truth to the rumors of Strowman having heat backstage).
Holy Sh** Moment of the Night:
Charlotte Flair absolutely snapped on Ronda Rousey. giving us a dirty finish as a way for WWE to preseve the bigger payoff for a later match. Flair absolutely lit up the RAW champion, delivering a brutal beating. Even though Shayna Baszler won on Saturday to retain her NXT title, I was surprised there wasn’t a run-in
Noteworthy Moment:
Not even on the card itself, but surprised to see WWE running vignettes that Lars Sullivan, late of NXT, would be arriving soon. No word on what brand yet, but soon in any case. Is soon tomorrow? Or Tuesday? Or no, not that soon, but soon…
Nia had legit heat from the fans because of what she did to Becky on RAW.
It was shown during the event that Dean Ambrose and Seth Rollins will battle it out at TLC.
The crowd response was impressive
Overall lowlights:
Hated seeing Samoa Joe be a non-factor in the big Survivor Series match. Makes me think he’s not 100 percent.
I could have said I disliked the dirty finish for Flair and Rousey, but in truth, the booking makes a tremendous amount of sense for preserving the long term viability of the feud. That match was WrestleMania close worthy, and WWE wanted to make sure they didn’t give the whole thing away early.
Overall highlights:
Really happy with the overall show. It was a good to great show, in spite of the marketing efforts (or lack thereof)
After the final bell:
Lots of unexpected endings for matches, but all in all things went well. Still surprised at the finish on his prior car, as Lambs had a bad reputation. Definitely some seeds sewn, both for the at-home efforts as well as on site. In the grand scheme of things, it was a strong show from start to finish.
