Last night on Monday Night Raw , WWE set up their next pay-per-view Survivor Series by announcing a card of Raw vs. SmackDown matches for brand supremacy. It’s a great concept, and one that a lot of people think will do well, but things changed as the night came to a close. As Kurt Angle was in the ring to speak on Raw ‘s behalf, Shane McMahon and the SmackDown roster showed up to begin a siege or an invasion, but were they just being bullies?
As recapped by the official website of WWE , Kurt Angle was set to announce the members of the men’s Survivor Series team from Raw , but he was interrupted. Shane McMahon headed to the ring from the crowd, but he had a lot of back-up with so many members of the SmackDown roster.
While Shane talked, he let it be known that they were placing Raw “under siege” as Angle headed backstage. From that moment, Shane sent his roster backstage to essentially “capture” Angle and hold him hostage as they beat down the members of the Raw roster with which they came in contact.
It seemed like an invasion at first, but then, it took on quite a different feel.
Titus O’Neil and Apollo Crews were just standing backstage talking to each other as a gang of SmackDown superstars approached them. The New Day led the charge with smiles on their faces and clapping, but then, they attacked the two and left them laying on the ground.
It’s not like O’Neil and Crews had much of a chance as they were greatly outnumbered, but it turned worse from there.
I felt intimidated because Smackdown seems the bullies and Raw the victims
— cat (@lunaticunstable) October 24, 2017
A member of the production crew was standing backstage when the SmackDown superstars approached the interview area. Baron Corbin walked up on him like a big-kid bully in high school and knocked his headset off his head before tossing him to the ground.
After getting rid of that guy, Bobby Roode went up to the Raw television and threw it on the ground to break it. All of the other superstars stood by to cheer him on and laugh at the whole thing.
So, not only were they picking on anyone they came across, they were destroying what wasn’t their property as well.
Just saw the #RAW Under Siege segment. So, Smackdown Live basically came in like a bunch of bullies, and beat the crap out the RAW roster?
— Infinite0ni???????????? (@InfiniteOni) October 24, 2017
The roster didn’t stop with just all the men they came across, though.
When the SmackDown roster walked down the hallway, they first scared off Emma, Dana Brooke, and a couple of make-up artists. After walking through some double doors, they attacked Sasha Banks, Mickie James, and a couple of other superstars from Raw ‘s women’s roster.
WWE wants to sell to kids, has Smackdown team beat up Raw team unprovoked, what is the message – bullies cool? #Bulliessuck #Badwriting #WWE
— LLC (@701Blackbird) October 24, 2017
It took on an even different feel later on in the siege as Seth Rollins and Dean Ambrose stood up for their Team Red partners, but they were outnumbered too. The interesting thing is that the charge at this point was led by AJ Styles who partnered with The Shield on Raw earlier in the night.
So, earlier in the night when Styles partnered with The Shield to defeat The Miz and The Bar, that was all just a ruse?
Smackdown right now is the true definition of a bully.????
— MariMar (@LiraMarimar) October 24, 2017
As things came to an end backstage and numerous Raw superstars were left beaten up and out cold on the floor, the SmackDown stars grabbed Kurt Angle to make him watch the end of the carnage.
The segment ended with the Team Blue superstars leaving the arena back through the crowd and leaving Kurt Angle looking on in shock. From there the official website of WWE put together a collection of tweets from SmackDown superstars to build up what they had just done.
The ending segment on #Raw last night was as cringey as British indy promos…
— Bagwell (@BullyBagwell) October 24, 2017
While it may have been just an invasion or “siege” angle to build up to Survivor Series , it came across as quite different to a lot of fans. WWE does have an anti-bullying campaign called “Be A Star” which they have had in place and promote online and on television all the time, but after Raw , some fans believe they went against it.
So i guess @WWE dropped the anti bully campaign….. pic.twitter.com/N7bT8qXQkJ
— RileyRaccoon (@rileyraccon) October 24, 2017
@Wwe soooo….. #SmackDownLIVE is the bully brand? And you use some of the most positive stars to be bullies? Mmkay
— Nikki Dineen (@nikkixdineen) October 24, 2017
Don’t bully, Be A Star
— #UNSTABLE ????? (@edgecage8) October 24, 2017
Remember kids be a star, not a bully right @WWE ?
— The Ultimate Chris (@VIMH) October 24, 2017
Last night’s siege on Monday Night Raw had a bit of the feeling that swept across wrestling during the Attitude Era, but it hasn’t been seen in a long time. A lot of hardcore wrestling fans loved what SmackDown did to set up the Survivor Series and thought it came across perfectly. As is evident by a lot of others on social media, though, some feel as if WWE may have perfected the art of bullying.
[Featured Image by WWE]
