WWE: The Good, The Bad And The NXT
Thursday 9 November 2017 12:06, UK
This annual autumn trip to the UK allowed WWE to maximise the use of their United Kingdom Division, with the roster playing its part on both Raw and 205 Live this week.
Of course, Survivor Series is just over a week away now and even though the WWE has a fortnight of hectic travelling, their final dual brand pay-per-view of the year has still been the main focus of both main WWE shows.
Good Week
AJ Styles (SmackDown)
AJ Styles made it a memorable trip to the UK on SmackDown Live as he managed to lift the WWE Championship for the second time when he defeated Jinder Mahal with a Phenomenal forearm. This ended Jinder's 170-day reign as Champion and means that AJ will now step into The Maharajas shoes at Survivor Series in his match against Universal Champion Brock Lesnar.
This was the first time the WWE Championship had changed hands outside North America in the company's history and now AJ has gone from not being on the card for Survivor Series, to jumping into the main event. If anyone can step up to The Beast, then it is would arguably have to be the best wrestler in WWE right now.
Cesaro and Sheamus (Raw)
The Bar definitely lived up to their name on Monday Night Raw when they were able to defeat Raw Tag Team Champions Seth Rollins and Dean Ambrose and in the process earn the right to face The Usos at Survivor Series as the new Raw Champions. Of course, their victory wasn't an honourable one as The New Day invaded WWE's flagship show and cost two-thirds of The Shield their titles.
It's hard to argue that Sheamus and Cesaro didn't deserve this victory after the work they have put in over the past few weeks, and if their match against The Usos does go ahead next Sunday night, then it will be interesting to see which team will earn the bragging rights for their brand.
Lars Sullivan (NXT)
Lars Sullivan has a storyline! Finally, after months of floating around NXT aimlessly, it seems that Lars has been able to step into some kind of angle with Kassius Ohno after the popular star came out and confronted him following his match with up and comer Raul Mendoza.
Lars has gained a lot of attention from the NXT Universe over the past few weeks and has been waiting for his moment to pounce and now it seems that he will finally be able to test himself against one of the biggest stars that NXT have right now. This feud could be the making of Lars and it will be interesting to see how he fairs.
Bad Week
Sami Zayn (SmackDown)
It could be argued that Jinder Mahal had a worse week that Sami Zayn, but after a clean loss to Kofi Kingston in the opening match on SmackDown Live, Zayn and his best friend Kevin Owens were reportedly sent home from the European Tour for "Unprofessional conduct" and the duo still don't have a match at the Survivor Series event.
With Team SmackDown now complete for Survivor Series, it is unknown where the duo will fit into the show next weekend and given the recent developments outside of the ring, it's possible that there may not be a scheduled match for Owens and Zayn next weekend.
The Miz (Raw)
The Miz definitely bit off more than he could chew on Monday Night Raw when he got into the face of General Manager Kurt Angle, who then put him in a match against Braun Strowman. Miz and The Miztourage attempted to outnumber The Monster Among Men, but even with Kane's interference, Braun was able to leave Miz flat on his back in the middle of the ring.
With a bragging rights match against Baron Corbin looming at Survivor Series, the last thing Miz needs is to be looking over his shoulder for Strowman when he should be concentrating on defeating The Lone Wolf and maintaining brand supremacy for Raw.
Drew McIntyre(NXT)
The undefeated NXT Champion seems to have underestimated the challenge of Andrade 'Cien' Almas and this week he paid for it. Zelina Vega is the reason that Almas is in the position he is on NXT right now and she paid dividends once again this week as she provided the distraction for Almas to send a message ahead of their match next weekend at NXT Takeover: War Games.
McIntyre puts his title and his undefeated streak on the line in this match, so he may need to find a way to neutralise Vega at ringside if he wants a fair fight with his number one contender.
