Backstage News On When WWE Creative Finalized Plans For The 11/18 Episode Of SmackDown

Another week, another "SmackDown," and this past Friday's episode continued building the stories heading into Survivor Series: WarGames. The show heavily featured the continuation of WWE's World Cup tournament, with first-round matches starting off the night's action and finishing it with Butch advancing following a victory over Sami Zayn. A new report from Fightful Select indicates that creative plans for the show were mostly wrapped up this past Thursday, which has been typical as of late. An unnamed source confirmed that they learned about their role on the show sooner than they are accustomed to, and a majority of plans had been finalized by Thursday afternoon.

Ever since WWE became creatively led by Paul "Triple H" Levesque, certain changes have freshened up the product each week. Statistically, wrestlers are receiving much more in-ring time to showcase their abilities on "Raw" and "SmackDown," and numerous returns like Emma, Braun Strowman, and Bray Wyatt have viewers guessing what will happen next. Wyatt, a former WWE Champion, has been a key figure in recent weeks of the blue brand. Friday's episode revealed that his first rivalry upon returning will be against LA Knight, another superstar that excels at creativity and mic work.

Next Friday will be WWE's last stop before Survivor Series: WarGames on November 26 at the TD Garden in Boston. The current lineup for the evening includes Braun Strowman vs. Ricochet in the semifinals of the World Cup tournament, Santos Escobar vs. Butch in the semifinals, and Ronda Rousey & Shayna Baszler vs. Shotzi & Raquel Rodriguez, taking place one day before Rousey defends the "SmackDown" Women's Title against Shotzi at the PLE. The main event will have major Survivor Series implications when Drew McIntyre & Sheamus team up against The Usos, with the winners receiving the advantage during their WarGames match Saturday.