Crown Jewel is in the rearview mirror, and it’s full steam ahead to Survivor Series: WarGames then the John Cena Classic for WWE. This week’s Raw set the scene for some of that, and SmackDown continued the theme of Cena stopping by to play recruitment coach as stars new and old fawned over him like he’s Santa Claus.
There will be plenty more of this on WWE TV going forwards, and the same goes for SmackDown’s announcers pretending that the women’s WarGames match is some fiery battleground that needed to be settled in the double cage. Truthfully, it’s a hollow gimmick bout add-on, and the Survivor Series lineup wouldn’t miss it one bit if it wasn’t there.
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Oh well, so much for Triple H not booking to a calendar like Vince McMahon did before him.
Other choice cuts from the blue brand this week include some actual focus on the tag-team division (who knew that was possible?), Gunther and Finn Bálor headlining the episode, and the tasty prospect of Kevin Owens coming for reigning WWE Champ and “Last Real Good Guy” Sami Zayn soon enough.
All of that is welcome, and so is Tiffany Stratton reverting to her old NXT heel character now she’s Women’s Champion again. Despite losing everything she’d worked for over in Saudi Arabia, recent setbacks should be good for Chelsea Green too. Strong babyfaces need adversity to overcome, after all.
Here’s all the good and bad from SmackDown then. The show burned through those 2 hours in jig time, which is a very positive sign overall.
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Downs…
4. Charlotte’s Emotions Were Real, But…
…the John Cena Classic is still confusing and seems a tad clunky due to the fan voting thing.
Let’s face it, it’s a glorified popularity contest more than anything, and that’s hard to shake. Personally, this guy wasn’t a fan of Charlotte saying she’s “wanted to be in a storyline” with John Cena for 10 years either.
This kind of shift into behind the scenes realism isn’t some massive bombshell, because shows like Unreal peel back the curtain, but segments like it clash badly with everything else going on throughout the same episode. It’d be a bit different if WWE’s product had that authentic humanity generally, but it doesn’t.
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Obviously, it’s nice that Charlotte is excited, but yeah…tough to get hyped for the Classic given its format. There’s always a chance this fan is just jaded, so others will feel differently and that’s cool. A segment later on in the show took one almighty dump all over John pretending that this is some bespoke, hard-to-attain achievement anyway (more on that to come).
Flair spoke of doubting herself heading into WrestleMania 41’s match vs. Tiffany Stratton, and she needed a random backstage pep talk from JC to get her going again. If true, and there’s certainly no reason to doubt that Charlotte is telling the truth here, then that’s lovely. Framing it as something to gush about just because she’s been handpicked for some half-baked tournament is a confusing call though.
Again, there will be those who cherished this. Good on them for that. It didn’t work for this fan individually.
3. Fatal Influence Ridicules Cena, Gets…In?
What in the name of Fruity Pebbles was this?
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Jacy Jayne, Fallon Henley and Lainey Reid badmouthed John Cena’s decision to hand Charlotte Flair a spot just like that, and he agreed with them. Huh? “This the type of ruthless aggression that the John Cena Classic needs”, he said, before telling the villainous trio that they’ll be on hand come 14 December.
So, are all 3 in or what? Or, will it just be Jayne who gets a spot because she’s Women’s United States Champ and worked the match with Charlotte later in the night? Why is everything so vague with this tourney that isn’t functioning like any other tourney?!
Thus far, all of the wrestlers invited have either forged some bond (through friendship or violence) with Cena, like Cody Rhodes and Flair, or impressed him via NXT – Zilla Fatu, Noam Dar, Romeo Moreno and Kelani Jordan. Not so for Fatal Influence. They ripped John a new one, and he spat his “ruthless aggression” speech.
This is where everything falls down a bit. If WWE wants the fanbase to believe that entrance into the Classic is some huge honour, then there needs to be a level of respect towards the guy it’s named after. Influence pretty much calling JC a moron then getting in doesn’t make much sense.
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What’s to stop others from doing the same? Or even a heel attacking Cena and getting a spot? There have been too many questions and not enough answers about all of this since it was first announced at Backlash, to be honest.
2. Rinse And Repeat From Last Week
WWE’s writers seem to be caught between a rock and a hard place with Damian Priest.
On one hand, they want to portray him as some retooled heel monster squashing everyone in his path before getting to a proper feud. On the other, he’s selling a little too much for guys like Axiom this week. Yes, the match was still a short squash, but one pretty much identical to last week’s win over Nathan Frazer.
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Hmm, is anyone else getting Vladimir Kozlov vibes from this? That isn’t meant as a compliment. WWE doesn’t have a fabulous track record with this sort of thing in the more modern era, put it that way.
We’ll see what happens when Priest gets to Trick Williams and a crack at the United States Title down the road. Maybe that’ll work and he’ll burst into life as the vibrant killer badass booking so clearly wants him to be. Stranger things have definitely happened, but the first chapter of his heel turn hasn’t been anything to foam at the mouth about.
You’ve really got to feel for Fraxiom too. The SmackDown tag-team division has been a total mess for the longest time, and yet here they are bumping around for singles stars in 1v1 matches rather than showcasing their wares as a duo. If you’re Frazer and his masked mate, then you’re starting to get a little worried about how things are going.
Just put these lads back on NXT if that’s where they’ll thrive. Their main roster fortunes do not look bright.
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1. Women’s WarGames Is A STRUGGLE!
Honestly, Charlotte Flair working with Jacy Jayne was ticking along just fine until the busy ending, but the loudest complaint here is about that women’s WarGames match we’re getting at Survivor Series. It’s painfully uninteresting, and there was just no call for the division getting a double cage effort just for the sake of it.
Flair rallying the babyface troops to yell “WarGames” failed to ignite any sparks too. Once more for those at the back: Why is this even happening? Triple H is booking around a calendar rather than because it makes sense.
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Drafting Stephanie Vaquer in just because the faces need numbers is also lame. Sorry, but it is. She’s been plucked out of a mystery on Raw following some Women’s World Title business for this, and that wasn’t a good enough reason to bring her out of storage.
Also, what’s up with the face team being so jovial about it afterwards when WarGames is supposed to be a terrifying, violent prospect? That’s another problem WWE is facing with all of this. You’d think these ladies were about to go on a fun-filled day out to some theme park rather than stepping into a brutal battleground that once guaranteed buckets of blood.
Gee, can’t wait for those barely impactful weapon shots and someone leaping off the top of the cage with a trash can over their head. Hunter and gang need to sit down then have a long, hard think about what they hope to accomplish with matches like this. It’s terribly uninspiring.
Ups…
4. Decent Tag-Team Title Match
Anyone who watches SmackDown regularly will be shocked that the tag division grabs this week’s first ‘Up’, but here we are. MFTs defending vs. Bakusai was a vehicle for that War Raiders run-in, which led to a DQ decision so we can get to a Triple Threat.
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Some reading this will hate that sort of formula, but the action pre-finish was solid and Kyoki played a good man in distress before making the hot tag to Shinsuke Nakamura. Also, we can’t complain about the state of the tag division on SmackDown then whine when WWE tries to do something with it.
Shin and Tama Tonga had a nifty match last week, and their teams continued that momentum here. It’s a start, if nothing else. Everyone’s got to take the minor wins where they can get them, people!
Will MFTs vs. Bakusai vs. War Raiders make it onto the Survivor Series card? Probably not, but they can serve up something worthwhile on an episode of SmackDown over the next few weeks. In fact, if they’re presented and handled properly, then these 3 tag-teams could well headline TV and maybe (just maybe) force their way back into relevance.
It’d be a Christmas miracle for sure, but perhaps that’s on the (Xmas) cards.
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This guy could watch Nakamura and Tama lock horns all day, and Kyoki’s Ricky Morton impression was very much appreciated to give this bout some spice. Now, if only the tag ranks could be featured with this sort of importance every single week…
3. Just Letting Them Wrestle = Good Plan!
Gunther vs. Finn Bálor dispensed with all of the Danhausen and ‘Demon’ silliness, and the segment was better for that focus. It was a no frills pro wrestling main event, which is something these dudes do very well. Also, the sneaky story of Bálor battling back against some emerging truth to Gunther’s words about him losing half a step should be interesting to keep an eye on.
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Lord only knows where we go from here, because WWE kinda did things the wrong way round by bringing Finn’s alter ego into play just because it was Halloween, but it’d be tough to poke holes in a match this well worked. Gunther resorting to cheap tactics is fine too – he has his own slice of desperation after experiencing quite the slide in 2026.
This ‘Ring General’ has gone from retiring the likes of Bill Goldberg, John Cena and AJ Styles (in that order) to clowning around with comedy gimmicks like Danhausen. There were concerns that he’d be jobbed out after losing a dark match to Trick Williams following Crown Jewel too, but SmackDown put a lot of that fretting on ice.
There was a lesson for WWE to learn here. Sometimes, all you need to do is put world class wrestlers inside the ring and let them do their thing without any senseless tampering. Gunther and Bálor can work this sort of bout standing on their heads, and there’s surely more to come from them.
A blowoff is on the way, and it should be special.
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2. A Step Forward For Both
OK, so things might not seem like it at first glance, but losing the Women’s Title the way she did will help Chelsea Green as a character. Now, especially after SmackDown, she has ample motivation to get nasty and show a different side to her game. Meanwhile, Tiffany Stratton is just immediately better as a bitchy heel.
That’s a role she did well on NXT, and it’ll fly in 2026 on the main roster too. Some workers are natural villains, and Stratton is one of them. When the cameras are on, there’s nothing particularly likeable or relatable about her – she’s elitist.
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Here, there was nothing outrageously complex about her face to face with Chelsea, but it worked and hits the reset button on Stratton in the best way. For Green, it’ll be all about biting back against allegations that she was never cut out to be a champion in WWE or carry the women’s division on her back. That is relatable to fans who love an underdog.
WWE penned a solid first chapter post-Crown Jewel. Tiffany didn’t even talk about defending her belt every week against all comers or any of that crap. Instead, she bragged that all is right with the world now she’s back on top, and admitted to using Chelsea when they were “besties”.
Green fell into that trap, then lost everything she’d worked for in Saudi. The babyface even took that Crown Jewel ring she earned to the jaw, which added insult to injury. Yeah, this was excellent from both women.
1. KO Lays It All Out
This was real human emotion done right within the context of WWE storytelling and without using terms like “storyline”.
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Kevin Owens interrupted Sami Zayn’s clarification about seeking approval from Roman Reigns at Crown Jewel to say he’s proud of him. He put Zayn over huge by saying those who try to diminish his accomplishments aren’t half as good as Sami on his worst day. Then, when Zayn went to thank Kev, Owens said: “I’m not done”.
Owens put his name in the frame for a WWE Title shot. Sure, we’ve done KO vs. Zayn to death, but sign everyone up for another round because these guys are gold together. Owens blamed Sami for costing him the chance to become champ against CM Punk previously, then things got fiery between he and Johnny Gargano.
Realistically, Kev will chew through ‘Johnny Wrestling’ first then get to Sami, so this is rock solid booking and will act as a neat follow up for Zayn coming out of the loss to Roman. He didn’t lose any momentum as a character by staring at the lights over in Riyadh, and that’s important.
Splicing in Gargano and Candice LeRae to chapter 84,672 of KO vs. Sami will help keep things fresh. Besides, Owens is absolutely spot on when he notes that Zayn’s interference effectively ruined his chances of holding the same belt his old running buddy has.
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It’ll be sweet to get back to this sort of rivalry post-Survivor Series when all the contractual calendar boxes are ticked on WarGames etc. Maybe Sami and Kevin can clash at Survivors anyway. Neither is involved in the double cage stuff, to be fair.
What did you think of this week’s WWE SmackDown? For more wrestling, check out 12 Wrestlers Who Looked COMPLETELY Out Of Place In Other Promotions and 12 Cursed Comparisons That DOOMED Promising Wrestlers!
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