Last night’s episode of Friday Night SmackDown saw several NXT stars invade the blue brand, and a new report has revealed Vince McMahon ‘s backstage reaction to the show.
According to WrestlingNews.co , the WWE chairman was very happy with how things went down. After the show, he reportedly told the superstars and staff that they knocked it out of the park, especially considering the pressure they had to work under.
As The Inquisitr reported on Friday, several main roster superstars and personnel had to miss SmackDown because they were stranded in Saudi Arabia following Thursday’s Crown Jewel event. This prompted McMahon and Triple H to rewrite the show at the last minute.
In fact, the changes happened so quickly that the NXT superstars were almost late for the show. Post Wrestling reported that the superstars had to be escorted to the arena by the police, and they arrived just in time for Shayna Baszler’s segment with Bayley.
The episode presented the black and gold brand stars in a strong light. Baszler got the better of Bayley, Tommaso Ciampa defeated The Miz, Keith Lee and Matt Riddle shut up Sami Zayn, Bianca Belair took out Carmella and Dana Brook, Rhea Ripley and Tegan Nox squashed Fire and Desire, and Adam Cole defeated Daniel Bryan to retain the NXT Championship in a thrilling main event.
Following the main event, Triple H and the NXT superstars took to the ring to celebrate with Cole. Afterward, “The Game” announced that they’re heading to Survivor Series to war with Monday Night Raw and SmackDown for brand supremacy.
#WWENXT fired the first shot on #SmackDown … what will happen when #RAW , #SmackDown , and #WWENXT COLLIDE at #SurvivorSeries !? pic.twitter.com/2LP1Sh2os9
— WWE (@WWE) November 2, 2019
With the pay-per-view set to take place on November 24, we can expect to see more NXT stars appear on the main roster shows in the coming weeks. The show will also mark the first time that NXT has participated at a Survivor Series event, which suggests WWE is positioning the show as an official third brand going forward.
Furthermore, the increased exposure to the NXT performers will hopefully boost the weekly show’s ratings on the USA Network. In recent weeks, viewership has plummeted as a result of AEW Dynamite and Major League Baseball airing at the same time.
NXT should be interesting in the lead up to Survivor Series . While the invasion storyline guarantees that there will be some interaction with main roster superstars, the upcoming episodes will also build storylines for NXT Takeover: WarGames . The event takes place the night before Survivor Series , so it’s going to be a busy weekend for the brand.
