Shane McMahon was the one to take the first shot on Raw while building up the storylines for the upcoming Survivor Series PPV. It is based on the brand vs brand theme as started from last year. It is retained even this year to arrange some special cross-brand affair in November.
So, the commissioner of Smackdown Live did not hesitate to plan a sudden attack on the rival brand at the post-TLC episode. The flagship show was not prepared for this, at all. Hence, they could not build up even a short resistance. The blue brand came up as the winner, quite easily in the first round.
It was not taken well by the Smackdown General Manager, Daniel Bryan, as we have seen in last week’s episode following his return. He was not happy at all for not knowing about the pre-determined attack by Shane, the previous night. We have seen him declaring frustrations over this incident for numerous occasion before warning Shane for the upcoming attack from Raw.
Apparently, this is the first sign of a potential heel turn in Smackdown authority. Unlike the Raw brand, both the GM and commissioner have been the babyfaces from the very beginning. This equation is going to change, sooner.
As per reports from Dave Meltzer from Wrestling Observer Newsletter, anyone between Daniel Bryan and Shane McMahon will turn heel in the near future. There’s no denying that Bryan is the most popular superstar of this generation and hence WWE would not make him a villain.
Rather, Shane had not gone into an attacking mode when Sami Zayn, the sole reason behind his loss at Hell in a Cell, came face-to-face on live TV. It might have been the probable indication of the potential heel-turn. Plus, we should not forget about the fact that Shane has played a villainous character for the better part of his career until the comeback in 2016.
The tensions between Bryan and McMahon have just started. It is set to continue creating a big rift between the two of them. Lately, the GM has dealt with frustrations over actions from the prodigal son of WWE. It is set to lead to some major angle, going forward including an eventual in-ring return from Daniel Bryan, as well.