WWE SmackDown Results: Booking on the Fly and Biggest Takeaways from November 13

Five days before Survivor Series, the SmackDown brand presented a show that threw ongoing storylines and the pay-per-view card as a whole into disarray.

A new WWE champion was crowned, and one of the most anticipated matches on the Survivor Series card was canceled due to injury.

Find out exactly what the biggest takeaways from Tuesday's blockbuster show were and how they affect both the current product and SmackDown Live's future, both immediate and long-term, with this recap of the November 13 episode of the USA Network presentation.

Daniel Bryan's Abrupt Championship Win and Heel Turn a Head-Scratcher

Without warning or any real build whatsoever, Daniel Bryan defeated AJ Styles to win the WWE Championship Tuesday night and turned heel in the process. The win not only shook up the top of the blue brand's card, but it also forced more last-second booking changes for the Survivor Series pay-per-view.

Styles is now out of the champion vs. champion main event against Raw's Brock Lesnar, and the new champion will take his place.

While the booking decision created a fair amount of excitement among a fanbase that did not see it coming, it also undermined Styles' historic WWE Championship reign and rushed a storyline that felt like it went from zero to 60 in a matter of weeks.

Bryan's character arc has been so horribly mismanaged following his return to the ring that it is almost surprising to see WWE Creative go all-in with him as champion.

Yes, the writing team will likely explain it away as frustration boiling over and Bryan finally seeing his only path to the title, but usually, that is a story that plays out over a span, not two weeks.

WWE hot-shotted what could have been a defining storyline for Bryan for the sake of getting him on to the Survivor Series card and in a match with Lesnar.

That may pay dividends heading into one of its most historically significant pay-per-view events, but from a long-term booking perspective, it feels like a panic move to spice up what was otherwise a rather lethargic Survivor Series build. 

Remember the Time Charlotte Flair and Becky Lynch Despised Each Two Weeks Ago?

When Fightful.com broke the news earlier on Tuesday about Becky Lynch's unavailability for Survivor Series after suffering a broken nose and concussion on Raw, it was expected that someone from SmackDown would replace her and that someone would probably be Charlotte Flair.

It makes sense. The second-generation star is among the most recognizable on the SmackDown women's roster, and a high-profile match with Rousey was only a matter of time.

The problem with the segment was badass Lynch, her eye inflamed and bruised following an unforgettable angle Monday night, embracing Flair after hand-picking her to take her place Sunday night.

The two literally just wrestled one of the best matches of the year a few weeks back at Evolution. They beat the hell out of each other and set the standard for women's wrestling on the main roster.

Their feud was among the best of the year, with the raw emotion of a genuine friends-turned-enemies bout connecting with audiences.

Pushing all of that to the background to have Lynch embrace Flair ahead of Survivor Series makes no sense, especially considering that emotion was absolutely essential to the development of Lynch's heel persona and her wild popularity with fans.

It was a dangerous booking decision and one that, hopefully, does not adversely affect just how over Lynch is as The Man in WWE. 

SmackDown's Tag Team Squad Is Infinitely Better Than Raw's

SmackDown will enter Survivor Series with a tag team squad featuring The Usos, New Day, Sanity, The Good Brothers and The Colons. Other than a Colons team that has been routinely underutilized or saddled with embarrassingly bad gimmicks, that is an impressive lineup.

Raw's?

Not so much.

Featuring teams like The Lucha House Party, The B Team, Bobby Roode and Chad Gable and The Ascension, it is a who's who of thrown-together and C-level teams.

Then there is The Revival, who have been so poorly handled since their arrival from NXT that one has to wonder how WWE Creative writes anything even remotely good when it has done them so wrong.

The SmackDown team showed unity Tuesday night and should cruise to victory come Sunday. 

If not, the decision-making should be re-evaluated immediately because the credibility difference between the teams is stunning.

Andrade "Cien" Almas Deserves a Bigger Role

Andrade "Cien" Almas has consistently been one of WWE's best workers in 2018, and Tuesday, he added a quality, competitive match with Jeff Hardy to his impressive resume.

The problem is Almas and business associate Zelina Vega are so good but so buried under the wealth of talent that exists on Tuesday nights. With Rey Mysterio's return, the midcard on SmackDown is jam-packed. Almas has nowhere to go because there is Randy Orton, Miz and Samoa Joe ahead of him.

He would almost benefit from a move to Raw, where there is less of a logjam on the heel side.

Plus, a series with Seth Rollins would be a fine watch.