This weeks RAW and Smackdown LIVE Best Bits

Hello everyone and welcome back to Talk Wrestling World, I hope you're all well and good and of course have had a good week so far. So we have reached the middle point of yet another week which can only mean one thing, it's time to take a look back at the past few days in my RAW and Smackdown LIVE highlights. Now, I actually really enjoyed both shows this week which is pretty rare, in fact, the past couple of weeks have been pretty strong for RAW and even though I haven't been live-tweeting much I have been turning in and I've got to say that I've been really really impressed and massively entertained. As for Smackdown LIVE, I've always been the bigger fan of the blue brand anyway and always seem to look forward to Smackdown LIVE regardless. Because both shows were so strong this week and there was so much I like it does mean that there is plenty to write about today and get into so I don't want to waste too much time on the intro. Tomorrow, I should be uploading my Last month in NXT post, this was supposed to go up last Thursday but of course that was when I had my Halloween specials going up and so there was a little shakeup in terms of uploads and instead, that post should be going up tomorrow. I mentioned on Twitter earlier in the week that I have a lot going on right now in my personal life so things are a little all over the place at the moment but I am slowly trying to get my life back in order and sort everything out bit by bit. I wanted to quickly say thank you for all the nice messages and support I've had throughout the past week or in fact the past year! It really means a lot. Anyway, any recent blog posts will be linked below and you can let me know what you thought of this weeks episodes of both RAW and Smackdown LIVE by leaving a comment below or by tweeting me over at @TezangiVictoria.

Kurt Angle is made RAW Captain for Survivor Series 

Something I'm going to get into very soon is the returns we saw during this week's episodes of Monday Night RAW, but we have to kick start today's blog post off by talking about one, in particular, the return of Stephanie McMahon. The last time we saw Stephanie dated all the way back to Wrestlemania and so when her music hit this past Monday it was a real shock. I personally hadn't seen any rumors or hints that she could be making a return to WWE TV this week so I genuinely was surprised. I felt as though the timing was completely right, following the "RAW Is under siege" stunt from last week it made perfect sense for Stephanie to return to TV. Her roster was under siege just a week ago, the brand had taken a blow and she was back to put things right and get Monday night RAW back on top. She got a big pop from the crowd and the look of surprise on the faces of the superstars was a great little touch. Once in the ring Stephanie owned the mic and the stage like true boss and went straight to business announcing that Kurt Angle will be the team captain of RAW for Survivor Series but with a twist; if he fails to bring home the win with the rest of team RAW then McMahon will be putting forward a new general manager of Monday Night RAW. Honestly, I thought it was a strong opening. It all made sense, it tied together, and once again it gave me more interest in the up and coming pay per view. I like the fact that we're most probably getting Shane and Kurt as team captains and I like the pressure Kurt's under. I am hoping that this week show really was planting the seeds for Triple H vs Angle for next years Wrestlemania but I know... It's a tad far-fetched and unlikely but hey a girl can dream right!?

A night of Returns 

Okay, so as we just touched on, this weeks episode of Monday night RAW was jam-packed full of returns! From Stephanie McMahon to Samoa Joe to Nia Jax to Bruan freaking Strowman, everyone was back on my screen and it felt damn good to have some favorites back. As I've made clear, I was totally a fan of McMahon's return to the screen and honestly the same can be said for the other three. First up, Nia Jax, I was really glad to hear the rumors that Nia was going to be making a return to WWE TV. I know she's only been gone a couple of weeks but the headlines and articles I've read over the course of the two weeks really have had me worried that Nia could be heading out the door. The pop from the live crowd and the reaction online really did speak volumes and her dominant return did not go unnoticed. Joining Alicia Fox for Team RAW Nia is sure to be a dominant force for her team heading into Survivor Series and with Asuka also likely to be on the cards the women of Smackdown LIVE better come prepared!

Up next we had Samoa Joe, literally, these returns were one after the other and it was bloody amazing! You guys know I've been a Samoa Joe fan for what seems like forever and while I haven't been the biggest fan of the work we've seen from him over the past year he remains one of my favorite superstars in the WWE today and his return this week was a real treat! I and everyone else has been waiting to see him back on screen and now that he is he too has to be a name currently being considered to join team RAW at Survivor Series. It's exactly what he needs and will put him right back where he deserves to be and of course on track.

And then, of course, we had my personal favorite return this week, Braun Strowman. Again, he hasn't been gone as long as the likes of Samoa Joe or Stephanie McMahon but Braun is literally my favorite WWE superstar right now and so I, of course, have missed him being on my screen. I didn't like how he was booked at TLC and what went down there but I'm trying my best to forget the majority of what happened that night all together! His return did see him attack current Intercontinental Champion the Miz which got a few people wondering whether or not this is the start of something fresh for Strowman and anew direction for him but personally I'm  not sure. I love the Miz more than anything and believe he really is one of the best IC champions in WWE history but having that title on the shoulder of Braun Strowman may be the next best move and to be fair it all does work and make sense considering what happened at TLC. I'm sure this will be something I talk about in more detail in blog posts to come!

This week on RAW

Also this week on RAW, we saw Alexa Bliss once again successfully defend her RAW women's championship against Mickie James as well as a brilliant match between Finn Balor and Cesaro (something I would love to see again and only longer), and of course another big talking point was Daniel Bryan's appearance on the show this week. He wasn't around for long but I liked his involvement during the show and I liked how it really did add to the build-up of Survivor Series which is shaping up to be a real must-see pay per view! As far as everything Kane, my opinions remain the same, I'm not the biggest fan of this return and while the attacks work and are pretty good it just all feels pretty random at the moment.

Shane McMahon Sets the Record Straight

The build-up to Survivor Series has so far been fantastic. We're only a couple of weeks in and already I'm crazy excited for the show. Survivor Series has always been one of my favorite WWE pay per view and this year we really are feeling that RAW VS Smackdown LIVE vibe more than ever. It feels like an all-out war, a battle to be named the best brand in the WWE today and Shane McMahon has his game face on stronger than anyone else. Kickstarting this weeks show, Shane came down to the ring to address the weeks events. He touched on the fact his sister was back on Monday night  RAW and the fact that Kurt Angle was now named the captain  of team RAW heading into Survivor Series and would soon announce that he was making things even more personal and he himself would now be taking on the role as the captain for team Smackdown LIVE. It was a predictable move but I liked it a lot. Kurt has a lot on the line with Stephanie revealing that if her team doesn't win then a new GM will be something she will consider while for Shane he really needs this. He has a lot to prove and since he really kick-started this war he needs to end it on a high. Throughout the night Shane and the rest of the RAW roster also touched on the fact that they wanted to prove Smackdown LIVE is not the B show and so Smackdown really does have a lot to prove at this year's Survivor Series pay per view.

Team Smackdown Contiues to Grow

Also, on this weeks episode of Smackdown Live, we saw team Smackdown LIVE (the men's team) grow even more as two qualifying matches saw the numbers increase. After defeating Sami Zayn in last weeks main event Randy Orton was the first name added to the team and with Shane McMahon announcing at the top of the show that he will be the captain another two spaces were filled last night when Bobby Roode defeated Dolph Ziggler in a two out of three falls match and Shinsuke Nakamura (with the assistance of Randy Orton) defeated Kevins Owens to take the fourth spot. Both decisions I was a big fan of. Roode and Nakamura are exactly what team Smackdown LIVE need as the two really do make the team feel legit and come across as a genuine threat to Monday night RAW. Both qualifying matches this week were strong. I can honestly say that I really enjoyed them both and I felt as though the right men were competing for a spot. I'm still not sure how I feel about Zayn and Owens not being apart of the team but I really do feel as though in the long run it will really benefit their story and I strongly believe the right superstars are apart of the team for Survivor Series. As for next week, we can expect to see AJ Styles and Rusev go one on one for that last spot which while I love RuRu should be taken by the phenomenal one.

This week on Smackdown LIVE

As a whole, I really really enjoyed this weeks episode of Smackdown LIVE also. I would have liked to have seen more from the women's division apart from the backstage segment we got and I'm

hoping next week the WWE focus on pushing the women's matches for Survivor Series a little more. I loved the Breezango segment as always and the build-up for Harper and Rowan's return is something I can totally get behind.

And that is it for this week's RAW and Smackdown LIVE. Both shows delivered this week with strong matches, decent segments, and the build-up to Survivor Series again being so so strong. We have plenty to look forward to next week but for now, you can check out any recent blog posts by clicking the links below and you can have your say and let me know what you thought of both shows this week by leaving a comment below or by tweeting me over at @TezangiVictoria.

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