This Weeks RAW and Smackdown LIVE Highlights

Hello everyone and welcome back to Talk Wrestling World, I hope you are all well and good and so far have had a good start to your week. Now, this up and coming weekend is set to be a pretty big one for the WWE as on Saturday night NXT Takeover: War Games will take place with an epic, stacked, must see card and on Sunday night the thirtieth annual Survivor Series pay per view will take place in Houston Texas with yet another stacked and must-see card prepared for us. Later this week I will be uploading my predictions for both these shows and I, of course, will be live tweeting throughout both NXT Takeover and Survivor Series; however, before we get to that point its time to take a little look back at some of the highlight moments from this week's RAW and Smackdown LIVE. Now, usually, on pay per view weeks, I wouldn't be uploading a RAW and Smackdown LIVE highlights, however, with this being such a big pay per view and with so much happening this week I thought it be best I write one anyway and I really do have so much I want to talk about today. I know I haven't live-tweeted very much recently but it has been because I've been staying at my grandparents helping care for my Grandad but the plan is for things to go back to normal next week starting with NXT Takeover: War Games. As always, any recent blog post will be linked below including my last week in wrestling post uploaded on Monday. Finally, you can let me know what you thought of this weeks shows by leaving a comment below or by tweeting me over at @TezangiVictoria.

The Original Shield Reunite

It was around a month ago that we saw the Shield reunite for the first time in years as three of RAW's biggest stars stood united once again as part of one of the most dominant and effective factions in WWE history. However, an illness meant that Roman Reigns was unable to compete at the TLC pay per view last month and the original Shield reunion was pushed back just a little bit longer. It was during the opening of this weeks episode of Monday Night RAW we saw Roman Reigns make his WWE return joining Shield brothers Dean Ambrose and Seth Rollins. Confronting Stephanie McMahon and backing general manager Kurt Angle, Reigns soon announced that he and the rest of the Shield are challenging the new at Survivor Series with the match becoming official later on in the night. Honestly, I have to admit that I really liked the opening this week. The chemistry between Stephanie and Angle is brilliant and I liked the mic work we saw there but seeing the Original Shield back together was a real highlight of the week and I cannot wait to see them compete together at Survivor Series. The faction has already started gaining momentum after scoring a victory over Sheamus, Cesaro and the Miz on this weeks show.

Triple H makes Epic Return & Shakes up Survivor Series

On this weeks episode of Monday night, RAW Jason Jordan was forced to prove himself after his kayfabe father was questioned on his reasoning for making Jason Jordan the final member of Team RAW. With Smackdown LIVE announcing John Cena as their final member last week, team red needed to show they have the dominant team and Jordan being the weakest member really did have a lot to prove. Going one on one with Bray Wyatt, Jordan was unable to pick up the victory and as a result, Kurt Angle was left with no choice but to replace his son, but of course, things didn't go quite to plan. Hesitating to announce his replacement, Angle was soon interrupted by a returning Triple H who was welcomed back by a very vocal crowd in Atlanta. The crowd reaction really did speak volumes. They expressed their joy in the news that Jordan would no longer be apart of team RAW and when Triple H revealed he was the fifth and final member of team RAW the crowd yet again showed just how they really feel about Jordan. The segment ended with Triple H hitting a Pedigree on Jason Jordan which the crowd responded to once again. Honestly, I did not see this coming what so ever but  I loved it. I sat at home and totally marked out when Hunters music hit and what followed after was just perfect. It does set up multiple possibilities at Survivor Series which I'll be talking about in Friday's prediction post but what we can take away from this is how much it should benefit Jason Jordan. If the WWE get it things right from this point onwards then we really could see Jordan get on the right track finally.

Final RAW Thoughts

Honestly, I did actually enjoy this weeks episode of RAW again. It wasn't as strong as the shows we've seen over the past couple of weeks but it was yet another stacked episode the ranks with some of the best of the year. We saw Braun Strowman go one on one with Kane where the running powerslam saw the two stars go through the ring and Bayley was announced as the final superstar apart of the women's team heading into Survivor Series after defeating Mickie James and Dane Brooke in a triple threat. The disappointment of the night was, of course, Paige not returning.

Daniel Bryan returns and Shane McMahon Rallies his Team

This weeks episode of Smackdown LIVE kick-started with a bang as the blue brand yet again showed their fight and preparation heading into Survivor Series. With the first scenes broadcasting from backstage, Shane McMahon gave his team the pep talk they needed before going to war against the superstars of Monday night RAW. Making sure his brand was ready for RAW to retaliate during the final show before Survivor Series and encouraging the likes of Becky Lynch, Baron Corbin and the New Day to show their fight and determination before their up and coming pay per view matches. The entire segment was a fantastic start to the show and I honestly really enjoyed it. We got to see just how prepared and determined the blue brand is and it only got me even more excited not only for Survivor Series but for the rest of the night. Personally, I'm team Smackdown heading into Sunday's show and the passion they showed throughout last nights episode really did prove exactly why. I thought this was an entertaining, fun start to the show and I honestly have no complaints in regards to the opening.

We then saw the return of Daniel Bryan.After being attacked by Kane following his appearance on Monday night RAW, this was Bryan's first performance since and the crowd reaction showed just how happy the WWE universe was to see him back on screen. Briefly touching on what happened when he went to visit RAW the former World Champion then went on to welcome to the ring the new WWE Champion, AJ Styles. Addressing Styles championship win last week in Manchester England, Smackdown LIVE general manager took on the role for the night as the champs advocate mocking Brock Lesnar and Paul Heyman and yet again I really liked the opening. Bryan got very personal during this segment and did just as good as job as Heyman did this past Monday on RAW hyping and selling not only Survivor Series but the huge must-see matchup between AJ Styles and Brock Lesnar. My predictions for this match will go up on Friday!

Charlotte Flair becomes Champion 

One of the biggest highlights of the week in my personal opinion came from the Smackdown LIVE women's division as Charlotte went one on one against Natalya for the Smackdown LIVE women's championship. Now, we've all seen these two superstars go one on one in the past and they have always impressed. They make do with the time they have and their chemistry always makes their matches feel important and special. Their championship bout last night may not have been the longest match they have competed in but it had its intense, entertaining moments and I know I was invested from start to finish. The end result didn't come as a surprise, I think it's safe to assume we all were expecting to see Charlotte walk out the victory but it didn't change how happy I felt. Charlotte really does feel like a big deal whether she is champion or not and while the women's division is strong she is the queen and the all-around star and having her as champion again just feels right. It also feels as though her match with Alexa Bliss at Survivor Series is a bigger more appealing match than Natalya vs Bliss. These are the two women leading their division, they're the first and only two women to hold both the RAW and Smackdown LIVE women's championships and I can't wait to see them collide. Charlotte did make history as the first women to hold the NXT, Divas, RAW, and Smackdown LIVE women's championship, and she's done it all in under five years... wow.

RAW Invade Smackdown LIVE

We all knew it was going to happen. After the blue brand made their mark at the start of the build-up to Survivor Series, the stars of Monday night RAW have been at a disadvantage. Smackdown LIVE has been the dominant brand in terms of the war against the two shows throughout the past month and we have all been sitting back and waiting for RAW to retaliate. This week they did just that. I was totally expecting to see it and so the segment didn't come as no surprise but again, I loved it. This week's Smackdown Live main event saw The New Day take on Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens in a

match I was actually looking forward to, however, of course, things did not go to plan and as the match was building up and getting stronger the Shield's music hit and it was on. As The Shield took out the New Day (after Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn ran off) it was only a matter of time before things escalated and the RAW roster was attacking the blue brand. Now, I have to admit that I preferred this attack to the previous. I preferred how it was done, the effect, and the crowd was massively into it. There were times I struggled to take a side, when you're a Shield fan and but also backing Shane McMahon and team Blue it makes life pretty hard! Shane did take a huge beating but it looked really good and I was totally into every bit of action and massively entertained. The attack was so brutal and it was amazing seeing the Shield act in true old school Shield style. Because the beat down was so barbaric I have seen a few people comment on the possibility that Daniel Bryan could replace Shane at Survivor Series last minute which I love the idea of but won't be banking on anytime soon!

I did enjoy both shows this week. We had a couple of championship matches over on Smackdown LIVE and the return of Triple H on RAW. Personally, I do think Smackdown was the stronger and better show this week. I found myself enjoying it as a whole way more but both shows did a fantastic job getting everyone excited about Survivor Series. Now, my predictions for that pay per view will be uploaded on Friday but for now, you can let me know what you thought of this weeks episodes of RAW and Smackdown by leaving a comment below or by tweeting me over at @TezangiVictoria.

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