Survivor Series 2018 Men’s Survivor Series Elimination Match

The battle lines have been drawn for the Men’s 5-on-5 Traditional Survivor Series Elimination Match on Nov 18, the one night a year where Raw and SmackDown LIVE clash in head-to-head competition.

Acting Raw General Manager Baron Corbin wasted little time putting a plan in motion for the explosive inner-brand showdown, naming himself as Raw Team Captain, taking a managerial role in the contest rather than actually competing, and selecting Drew McIntyre & Dolph Ziggler as the first two members of his team. Then, in surprise move, Corbin named Braun Strowman as the third member, the very Superstar he recently helped Brock Lesnar defeat in order to once again make The Beast the Universal Champion.

The issue was supposedly settled, though, when Raw Commissioner Stephanie McMahon returned to Raw the following week and promised Strowman a title rematch against The Beast and a match of payback against Corbin if he helped her overcome Team SmackDown LIVE.

Stephanie also added Finn Bálor to the team after his impressive victory over Dolph Ziggler. Later that night, Bobby Lashley became the final member of Team Raw when he scored a controversial victory over Elias.

As for their opposition, SmackDown LIVE has answered with an impressive combination of its own. First, Commissioner Shane McMahon and General Manager Paige originally decided to make Daniel Bryan and The Miz the Co-Captains of Team Blue. As strange as that decision seemed (especially to the two Superstars), the longtime-adversaries managed to work together, agreeing that Shane McMahon needs to be on the squad, selecting Rey Mysterio after his victory over Andrade “Cien” Almas, and choosing Samoa Joe after he defeated Jeff Hardy.

However, when an altercation between AJ Styles and Danial Bryan led to a WWE Championship Match between them on the Nov. 13 edition of SmackDown LIVE, General Manager Paige decided to remove Bryan from Team Blue’s traditional Survivor Series Team. In response, SmackDown’s lone captain The Miz wasted no time naming Jeff Hardy as his replacement.