WWE: The Good, The Bad and the NXT
Thursday 16 November 2017 09:39, UK
The only WWE pay-per-view of the year where both SmackDown and Raw go head to head is now merely days away.
And not only that but NXT Takeover: War Games will take centre stage on Saturday night as the NXT roster look to make history in the first ever WWE-sanctioned War Games match in more than 20 years.
The build-up to Survivor Series this year was exactly as the WWE Universe expected and it seems that this was the perfect week for a number of WWE stars to finally stand out.
Good Week
Roman Reigns (Raw)
Roman Reigns made his return to WWE on Monday Night Raw after a brief period of illness and in a stark contrast to his usual reception, Reigns was cheered as he made his way to the ring alongside his Shield stablemates Seth Rollins and Dean Ambrose.
The Shield then went on to defeat The Miz, Cesaro and Sheamus in their first six-man tag team match as a functional unit in more than three years.
Reigns then helped his brothers to lead the charge on Tuesday night as Raw exacted revenge on the SmackDown roster, who themselves put the red brand under siege last month.
The odds are definitely in The Shield's favour as they head into Survivor Series this weekend and their first ever six-man tag team match against The New Day.
Charlotte (SmackDown Live)
Charlotte left it late to lift the SmackDown Women's Championship for the first time, the week before Natalya was set to face Alexa Bliss at Survivor Series.
Her win on Tuesday night now means it will be Charlotte who steps into Natalya's place on Sunday night to represent the SmackDown brand against The Goddess.
Flair was in her hometown of Charlotte, North Carolina when she was able to defeat Natalya on Tuesday night and just to add to the moment a little bit more, 16-time world champion Ric Flair made his way out to congratulate his daughter in his first appearance on WWE television since he was hospitalised through illness earlier this year.
Ember Moon (NXT)
Ember Moon got a confidence-boosting win over Mercedes Martinez this week on NXT ahead of Saturday night's fatal-four-way match to crown a new NXT Women's Champion. Following that win, Kairi Sane, Peyton Royce and Nikki Cross made their way to the ring and all four women had a staredown.
These four women know what is on the line this weekend and it seems that Ember was the one who was able to make a statement and show that she is prepared to overcome the odds in order to make history.
Bad Week
Kane (Raw)
It was a strange week for The Big Red Machine as he stepped into the ring with The Monster Among Men, Braun Strowman for the first time in Raw's main event.
Kane has been one of the standout stars on Raw ever since his return a few weeks ago, but he has been completely overlooked when it comes to the Survivor Series team this weekend.
He was then powerslammed through the ring as part of Raw this week in his match against Strowman, even though the match never actually started.
The duo brawled until the former Wyatt Family member picked up Kane and powerslammed him so hard that both men crashed through the canvas.
Shane McMahon (SmackDown Live)
A few weeks ago, Shane McMahon thought it was smart to put Raw 'under siege' ahead of Survivor Series because he knew it was the only way SmackDown would ever be able to take any kind of advantage in a fight against WWE's flagship show.
This act of defiance turned Shane's own general manager against him before the Raw roster decided to get even.
The Shield laid waste to a number of SmackDown stars before Shane made his way to the ring and was then greeted by two triple powerbombs from the trio and an Angle Slam.
Raw has definitely sent a message to SmackDown ahead of this Sunday's event and if Shane has any hopes of SmackDown becoming something more than 'the B Show' then he has to rally his troops and ensure that bragging rights go to the Blue Team this weekend.
Tino Sabbatelli and Riddick Moss
The hard-hitting tag team of Sabbatelli and Moss have been building momentum in NXT's tag team division over the past few months but it seems that this week Tino's arrogance ended up costing them a match against The Street Profits.
NXT's tag team division is becoming quite crowded lately, so a loss like this could prove costly for the up-and-coming team in the coming months when new contenders are looking to be crowned for the NXT Tag Team Championships.
