This weeks RAW and Smackdown LIVE Highlights

Hello everyone and welcome back to Talk Wrestling World, I hope you're all well and good and so far have had a good week! So of course, we have reached the middle point of yet another week which means it's time to take a look back at the most recent episodes of RAW and Smackdown LIVE. This week we've had a lot to take in, Monday's show saw the first episode of RAW following the two thousand and seventeen TLC pay per view which you can check out my review of in the link at the end and with Survivor Series less than a month away the WWE have kick-started the road to their last big time pay per view of the year. Matches have already been announced and teams for the show have begun to build with team captains being announced also. I have to admit that Survivor Series is one of my personal favorite pay per views of the year and so I've one hundred and ten percent jumped on the hype already checking out all the rumors and buzz around the show. In today's blog post I'm going to be running you through some of the best moments from this week's RAW and Smackdown LIVE pay per view and adding a couple of early Survivor Series prediction throughout the post also. I am going to be live tweeting throughout the pay per view when it rolls around and in a couple of weeks time, a prediction will also be uploaded on the last Friday before the pay per view and a review will also be uploaded the following day just like every other pay per view. Also coming up this week I have a Lucha Underground review and one last Halloween blog post so keep an eye out for those! In the meantime, any recent blog post will be linked below and finally, you can let me know what you thought of this week's RAW and Smackdown LIVE by leaving a comment below or by tweeting me over at @TezangiVictoria.

AJ Styles Teams With the Shield 

One of the standout matches of the TLC pay per view this past Sunday was without a shadow of a doubt AJ Styles VS Finn Balor. While the demon king was originally supposed to face off against Bray Wyatt the sudden change meant that Balor's TLC pay per view match became one of the biggest must-see bouts of the year as two of the biggest most globally popular stars in the world of pro wrestling were set to go face to face for the first time on WWE TV.  The match, of course, did not disappoint and the demon king and the phenomenal one provided fans with what was easily the match of the night and one of the best bouts of the year so far. On this weeks episode of Monday night RAW former WWE Champion  AJ Styles made yet another appearance on a RAW show when he teamed up with the Shield to take on the Miz and Sheamus and Cesaro. This was honestly something I had mixed feelings about at first. I liked the idea of Styles making one rare appearance for TLC and facing Balor in a one night only match but I wasn't sure another appearance for a RAW show the following night was a good move. However, seeing AJ Styles team up with the Shield was honestly a highlight moment not only of the show or the week but just a general highlight of the wrestling year. It was a brilliant booking choice, I and everyone else watching was entertained and it must have been an epic moment for everyone sitting live in the arena. I also liked how it worked as a little set up for things later to come in the night which will move onto later on in the post today.

Paul Heyman Sets the Record Straight 

During last weeks episode of Smackdown LIVE WWE Champion Jinder Mahal made what could be considered either a very brave or very stupid move when he challenged the WWE Universal Champion Brock Lesnar to a one on one matchup at Survivor Series. It was the first blow Smackdown LIVE made at Monday night RAW and as we found out during last weeks show, Brock Lesnar was set to address Mahal's demands this week on RAW and that is exactly what we got. Midway through the show, Paul Heyman came out to address what had been said by the Modern day Maharaja last Tuesday night. The promo was just like every other we have seen from Heyman; he completely tore the champion apart making the up and coming match sound like a piece of cake for Lesnar which honestly is exactly what it is. I'm still not looking forward to this match and I don't believe anything will change that. This just isn't something that sells tickets and while I'm super excited for the pay per view itself this isn't a match I'm jumping up and down about full of excitement. I am hoping I can gain some kind of interest in the build-up to this pay per view.

Survivor Series Captains are made Official 

One thing has been made very clear this week was that the road to Survivor Series had kick-started good and proper. As we will touch on later on in the post, we saw Smackdown LIVE make a huge statement on Monday night but what we also saw during that episode of RAW was the start of seeing the teams for the up and coming pay per view kickstart also with Kurt Angle announcing that Alicia Fox, Bayley and Sasha Banks would compete in a triple threat match with the winner becoming captain of Team RAW for the women's Survivor Series elimination match. The match was a little thrown together and I do feel as though there should have been more of an effort made to make this feel like a slightly bigger deal but the women involved made some kind of sense at least. Foxy has finally been being given the chance to show what she can do in the ring and finally been given the opportunity to work more matches on WWE TV which I'm all for; and so adding her to what was originally only set to be Banks vs Bayley really did go down well with me and when she won the actual match while I was surprised I was also really happy for her. I understand this won't be the most popular decision in the world but I liked it. We need something different and Fox being given another opportunity was just that and I'm glad we're getting a new woman in the spotlight a little and I'm even happier that women is Alicia Fox.

Over on Smackdown LIVE Tamina, Naomi, Carmella, Charlotte and Becky Lynch all competed in a fatal five-way match once again this time to determine the Survivor Series team Captain for the women's elimination match. What I did like about this was the fact that every woman (expect Lana) got to compete for an opportunity as captain unlike what we saw on RAW earlier in the week. This is something I've mentioned plenty of times before but I do really like the fact that over on Smackdown LIVE we are constantly seeing every woman used to her full advantage and we are forever seeing the entire division on screen week in and week out. Becky Lynch did walk away the victory last night which I do have mixed feelings about. I'm  not the worlds biggest Becky Lynch fan but I know so many people really do love her and she does deserve the spotlight a little more. Lynch is a big part of the Smackdown LIVE women's division and for quite some time now she has taken a little seat back and this role for Survivor Series is good for and exactly what she needs.
Keeping on the topic of Smackdown LIVE and Survivor Series, Randy Orton defeated Sami Zayn in this week's main event to be named the first superstar qualifying for team Smackdown LIVE. In all honesty, I do struggle nowadays to have an interest in anything Orton does but he is much much needed for the blue team at Survivor Series and I'm interested in seeing which other names will be added to the team. The likes of Bobby Roode, AJ Styles, Shinsuke Nakamura and Kevin Owens do spring to mind but we shall see who qualifies in the coming weeks while over on Monday night RAW we can expect Angle to simply announce the five superstars competing in four weeks time.

Smackdown LIVE invades Monday night RAW

As I've mentioned what feels like a million times already this week Survivor Series is one of my personal favorite pay per views of the year. It's the one time of year where we see Smackdown LIVE VS Monday night RAW and honestly, this week really has gotten me super excited for the up and coming pay per view. We've has team captains made official, matches added to the card and one of the biggest moments of the week, we saw Smackdown LIVE invade Monday night RAW. With Shane McMahon and AJ Styles both making an appearance during the show the blue brand waited until the final segment to reveal their true intentions as commissioner Shane McMahon made his first appearance since Hell in a Cell leading his team to the "flagship show" and ordering his team to head on backstage and surprise the guys and girls of Monday Night RAW with a surprise attack. Now, I know this was supposed to be pretty serious but honestly with the New Day and Rusev it really did kind of feel as though the Smackdown LIVE crew had just been smoking something a little odd. I

mean, I loved it and I really enjoyed the entire thing and how it was done. Smackdown LIVE fired the shot as we get ready for Survivor Series. This was such a  key moment for the blue brand. They really needed to make their mark and build momentum very early on. I liked that they came down from the crowd, I liked that they brought some of their female superstars and I liked seeing the intensity between Shane McMahon at the very end of the night. I also really liked the fact that no time was wasted. The WWE has gone from TLC straight to building Survivor Series and there really is a buzz around this pay per view and it's super exciting. On Monday night the Smackdown LIVE girls and guys got the upper hand when they surprised the RAW roster taking out the talent backstage but with a fire now lit what will next week hold and will and how will the Monday night RAW roster make their mark.

And there we have it! Those were this week's RAW and Smackdown LIVE best bits. This was a really big week for both brands as the preparation for Survivor Series really did kick start. We saw the Smackdown LIVE get the upper hand this week but I'm confident that next week the guys and girls of Monday night RAW will come back fighting and find a balance. There's plenty to look forward to in the coming week and I cannot wait to see what the WWE has coming up. As always you can have your say and let me know what you thought of this weeks shows by leaving a comment below or by tweeting me over at @TezangiVictoria.

Recent Blog Posts:
5 WWE Superstars Giving us Serious Halloween Inspiration
What I Really Thought of: WWE TLC 2017
5 Dream WWE Opponents for Kenny Omega