‘- At November’s Survivor Series, a big story after the show was SmackDown losing every match except for the pre-show. Originally, the almost clean-sweep was supposed to create a new storyline on SmackDown; presumably having to do with Commissioner Shane McMahon.
It has been a few weeks and WWE never mentioned the storyline on TV or followed up with a new angle. During the Wrestling Observer Radio, Dave Meltzer noted how the angle has been dropped.
“I think that in a small way it will lead to something with Shane [McMahon] as far as a big payoff,” said Meltzer. “It’s not even being talked about anymore. So I don’t, how big is it going to be when they stop talking about it?”
Something was supposed to happen involving Shane winning the World Cup at Crown Jewel, but having his brand get embarrassed by RAW. While the angle was dropped, Shane is currently working a storyline with The Miz on SmackDown. No word on what it might lead to, but a WrestleMania 35 match is on the table.
Ever since the brands originally split about 15 years ago, there has never been a dominate performance by one show at Survivor Series like we saw this year. It does feel like WWE wasted a major moment.
– NXT is a bit lighter as some wrestlers have left. Nick Miller, who was part of The Mighty with Shane Thorne, was granted his release. He recently had a baby and decided to return to Australia to be with his growing family. Thorne is still with the promotion. The two appeared on NXT this week, losing to Oney Lorcan and Danny Burch.
Also, Chinese boxer Taishan Dong apparently left NXT too. The undefeated seven-foot-tall boxer was someone WWE apparently thought could be a huge success in the Asian market.
While not confirmed, there are conflicting reports of UK wrestler Tucker being gone. He has worked mostly on the NXT UK brand since failing to win the inaugural WWE UK Championship during the 2017 tournament.
