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Survivor Series 2018 was a professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event and WWE Network event produced by WWE for the Raw and SmackDown brands. It took place on November 18, 2018 at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California. It was the thirty-third event under the Survivor Series chronology.

Eight matches were contested at the event, including one on the pre-show. The card was highlighted by two traditional Survivor Series elimination matches: Raw was victorious over SmackDown in both the men's and women's elimination matches. In the main event, Raw's Universal Champion Brock Lesnar defeated SmackDown's WWE Champion Daniel Bryan. Also on the card, Raw Women's Champion Ronda Rousey defeated SmackDown's Charlotte Flair via disqualification and Buddy Murphy retained the WWE Cruiserweight Championship against Mustafa Ali in the only title defense on the card, as well as the only non-interpromotional match. Raw won brand supremacy with a clean sweep by defeating SmackDown in all interpromotional matches on the main card. The only match SmackDown won was on the pre-show, in which Team SmackDown's tag teams defeated Team Raw's in a Survivor Series tag team elimination match.

Production[]

Background[]

Like the previous year, the theme of Survivor Series is "brand supremacy", with champions of the Raw brand facing their counterparts of the SmackDown brand in non-title matches: the Universal Champion against the WWE Champion, the Intercontinental Champion against the United States Champion, and the Raw Tag Team Champions against the SmackDown Tag Team Champions. A match featuring the Raw Women's Champion against the SmackDown Women's Champion was also to occur, but was called off due to the SmackDown Women's Champion sustaining a legitimate injury just days prior to the event. The Raw Women's Champion was instead scheduled to face a former SmackDown Women's Champion in a non-title match. Also, as the WWE Cruiserweight Championship does not have a SmackDown counterpart, it will be the only title defended on the show. Three traditional Survivor Series elimination matches will also occur. Two will be standard 5-on-5 matches, pitting five male and female wrestlers from Raw against five male and female wrestlers from SmackDown, respectively, while the third, which will occur on the pre-show, will be a 5-on-5 tag team elimination match, featuring five tag teams from Raw against five tag teams from SmackDown.

Storylines[]

The card will consist of eight matches, including one on the pre-show, that resulted from scripted storylines, with results predetermined by WWE's writers on the Raw and SmackDown brands. Storylines were produced on WWE's weekly television shows, Monday Night Raw, SmackDown Live, and the cruiserweight-exclusive 205 Live.

At Evolution, Ronda Rousey defeated Nikki Bella to retain the Raw Women's Championship, while Becky Lynch defeated Charlotte Flair in a Last Woman Standing match to retain the SmackDown Women's Championship. During Rousey's backstage interview with Charly Caruso following her win, she was confronted by Lynch and their Survivor Series match was confirmed the following night on Raw. On the November 12 episode of Raw, Lynch led the SmackDown women's division in an invasion of Raw. Lynch attacked Rousey and applied the Dis-arm-her on the Raw Women's Champion. During the melee, Lynch suffered a legitimate broken nose and concussion following a punch fron Nia Jax. Due to the injury, Lynch was pulled from the Survivor Series match and was replaced by Flair, in what became a non-Champion vs. Champion interpromotional match.

At Crown Jewel, AJ Styles defeated Samoa Joe to retain the WWE Championship, while Brock Lesnar defeated Braun Strowman to win the vacant Universal Championship, setting up a rematch between Styles and Lesnar from the previous year's event. On the final SmackDown before Survivor Series, however, Daniel Bryan defeated Styles to become the WWE Champion, replacing Styles as Lesnar's opponent.

During the Crown Jewel pre-show, Shinsuke Nakamura defeated Rusev to retain the United States Championship. Following the event, a match between Nakamura and Intercontinental Champion Seth Rollins was scheduled for Survivor Series.

At Crown Jewel, The Bar (Cesaro and Sheamus) retained the SmackDown Tag Team Championship against The New Day (represented by Big E and Kofi Kingston), while on the November 5 episode of Raw, AOP (Akam and Rezar) defeated Seth Rollins in a handicap match to become the new Raw Tag Team Champions. A match between the two teams was then confirmed for Survivor Series.

At Super Show-Down, Buddy Murphy defeated Cedric Alexander to win the WWE Cruiserweight Championship. On the October 31 episode of 205 Live, Mustafa Ali defeated Tony Nese to become the number one contender, and his championship match against Murphy was confirmed for Survivor Series.

On the November 5 episode of Raw, Acting Raw General Manager Baron Corbin revealed Braun Strowman, Dolph Ziggler, and Drew McIntyre as the first three members of Team Raw's men's team while naming himself as captain, although stating he would not compete due to his managerial position. Kurt Angle interjected, wanting to replace Corbin as captain, so Corbin had Angle face McIntyre where if Angle won, he would have been on the team; however, Angle lost. The following week, Finn Bálor defeated Ziggler in a match and returning Raw Commissioner Stephanie McMahon rewarded Bálor by adding him to the team. Later, Bobby Lashley won the final spot by defeating Elias. Also that episode, Stephanie promised Strowman that if he could lead Raw to another victory over SmackDown, then he would get a Universal Championship match against Brock Lesnar and get to choose the stipulation. In addition, she said that if Strowman does not touch Corbin until after Survivor Series, then Strowman could also have a match with Corbin and also choose the stipulation, as Corbin had cost Strowman his Universal title match at Crown Jewel. For Team SmackDown's men's team, on the November 6 episode of SmackDown, the brand's Commissioner Shane McMahon and General Manager Paige announced The Miz and Daniel Bryan as the co-captains of Team SmackDown. Miz then chose Shane as his first pick, and Bryan agreed, since Shane had won the WWE World Cup at Crown Jewel. Later, Bryan chose Rey Mysterio, but Miz questioned Mysterio's eligibility. The two agreed that if Mysterio could defeat Andrade "Cien" Almas, then Mysterio would be on the team; Mysterio defeated Almas. Later, Miz and Bryan each chose one last person with the two facing each other to determine the final member. Bryan chose Jeff Hardy while Miz's pick, Samoa Joe, defeated Hardy to win the final spot. A brawl then ensued between Joe, Bryan, Miz, and Shane. The following week, however, Paige removed Bryan from Team SmackDown and Miz chose Hardy as his replacement. Miz also wanted to remove Mysterio, but Paige objected and made a match between Miz and Mysterio where if Miz won, he could kick Mysterio off the team, however, Mysterio won, thus retained his spot.

On the November 5 episode of Raw, Acting Raw General Manager Baron Corbin named Alexa Bliss as captain of Team Raw's women's team, but in a non-competing capacity due to injury. The following week, Bliss revealed Mickie James, Nia Jax, Tamina, and Natalya, who was absent, as her first four picks and revealed that the winner of a match between Sasha Banks and Bayley would be the final member. During the match, however, the women's team attacked Banks and Bayley, causing a no-contest ruling, and Bliss said neither would be on the team and then introduced Ruby Riott as the final member. For Team SmackDown's women's team, on the November 6 episode of SmackDown, SmackDown General Manager Paige revealed Carmella, Naomi, Sonya Deville, Asuka, and Charlotte Flair as the members of Team SmackDown, but Flair did not show up; the previous week, Paige asked Flair to be captain, but Flair felt she was not the right person but said she would think about it. Flair was instead named Becky Lynch's replacement to face Ronda Rousey, and the final member of Team SmackDown was not revealed on the final SmackDown before Survivor Series.

On the November 6 episode of SmackDown, The Usos (Jey and Jimmy Uso) defeated The New Day (represented by Big E and Kofi Kingston) to become the captains of Team SmackDown in the 5-on-5 tag team elimination match. Immediately after the match, The Usos chose The New Day as their first pick. The following week, The Usos added Sanity (Alexander Wolfe, Eric Young, and Killian Dain), Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson, and The Colóns (Epico Colón and Primo Colón) to the team. On the November 12 episode of Raw, a tag team battle royal occurred to determine Team Raw's captains. The team of Bobby Roode and Chad Gable defeated The Revival (Dash Wilder and Scott Dawson), The B-Team (Bo Dallas and Curtis Axel), Lucha House Party (Lince Dorado, Kalisto, and Gran Metalik), The Ascension (Konnor and Viktor), and the team of Heath Slater and Rhyno to win the captaincy of Team Raw, composed of all of the teams in the battle royal except Slater and Rhyno, and the tag team elimination match was scheduled for the Survivor Series pre-show.

Event[]

Pre-show[]

During the pre-show, the 10-on-10 Survivor Series tag team elimination match pitting Team Raw's tag teams (Bobby Roode and Chad Gable, The Ascension (Konnor and Viktor), Lucha House Party (Kalisto and Lince Dorado, with Gran Metalik), The Revival (Scott Dawson and Dash Wilder), and The B-Team (Curtis Axel and Bo Dallas)) against Team SmackDown's tag teams (The Usos (Jey Uso and Jimmy Uso), The New Day (Big E and Xavier Woods, with Kofi Kingston), The Colóns (Primo and Epico), Sanity (Killian Dain and Eric Young, with Alexander Wolfe), and Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson) occurred. Kalisto suffered a knee injury and the referee allowed Metalik to replace him. The Revival performed Shatter Machine on Primo to eliminate The Colóns. Anderson pinned Dallas with a schoolboy to eliminate The B-Team. Gable and Roode performed their neckbreaker/moonsault combo on Young to eliminate Sanity. Woods, with assistance from Big E, performed a splash on Viktor to eliminate The Ascension. Metalik performed a springboard swanton on Anderson to eliminate Gallows and Anderson. Jey performed the Alley Uce on Dorado to eliminate Lucha House Party. New Day performed UpUpDownDown on Gable to eliminate Roode and Gable. The Revival performed Shatter Machine on Woods to eliminate The New Day. In the climax, Jimmy performed the Uso Splash on Dawson to eliminate The Revival and win the match as the lone survivors for Team SmackDown.

Also during the pre-show, Naomi was revealed as the captain of Team SmackDown's women's team and introduced Mandy Rose as the final member of their team. For Team Raw, a brawl ensued between Natalya and Ruby Riott. Team captain Alexa Bliss then removed Natalya and Riott from the team and replaced them with Sasha Banks and Bayley.

Preliminary matches[]

The actual pay-per-view opened with the women's 5-on-5 Survivor Series elimination match, pitting Team Raw (Nia Jax, Tamina, Mickie James, Sasha Banks, and Bayley) (accompanied by Alexa Bliss) against Team SmackDown (Naomi, Asuka, Carmella (accompanied by R-Truth), Sonya Deville, and Mandy Rose). Tamina performed a superkick on Naomi to eliminate her. Carmella then surprised Tamina with a schoolgirl to eliminate her. Deville performed a sliding knee on James followed by Rose pinning James to eliminate her. Bayley performed the Bayley to Belly on Carmella to eliminate her. Banks applied the Bank Statement on Rose, forcing Rose to submit, thereby eliminating Rose. Bayley and Deville brawled outside of the ring to a double countout, eliminating both women. Asuka applied the Asuka Lock on Banks (whom Jax betrayed) and forced Banks to tap to eliminate her. In the climax, Jax performed three leg drops and a Samoan drop on Asuka to win the match as the sole survivor for Team Raw.

Backstage, Raw Commissioner Stephanie McMahon and Acting Raw General Manager Baron Corbin celebrated the win. Stephanie told Corbin that if Raw has a clean sweep over SmackDown on the main card, she would consider making him the permanent Raw General Manager.

Next, Raw's Intercontinental Champion Seth Rollins faced SmackDown's United States Champion Shinsuke Nakamura. During the match, Rollins performed three suicide dives and a springboard clothesline on Nakamura for a nearfall. Rollins performed a ripcord knee for a nearfall. Nakamura performed a Kinshasa for a nearfall. In the end, Rollins performed The Stomp on Nakamura to win the match.

After that, Raw Tag Team Champions AOP (Akam and Rezar) (with Drake Maverick) faced SmackDown Tag Team Champions The Bar (Cesaro and Sheamus) (with Big Show). In the climax, Sheamus performed the Brogue Kick on Rezar, but during the pin attempt, Maverick placed Rezar's foot on the bottom rope, voiding the pinfall. Cesaro chased Maverick, who ran into Big Show. Big Show grabbed Maverick by the throat only for Maverick to soil himself. This distraction allowed Akam and Rezar to perform a neckbreaker/powerbomb combo on Sheamus to win the match for Raw.

Next was the only non-interpromotional match and only title defense on the show in which Buddy Murphy defended the WWE Cruiserweight Championship against Mustafa Ali. In the end, Murphy performed Murphy's Law on Ali to retain the title.

In the fifth match, the men's 5-on-5 Survivor Series elimination match, pitting Team Raw (Drew McIntyre, Dolph Ziggler, Braun Strowman, Bobby Lashley (with Lio Rush), and Finn Bálor) (with Baron Corbin) against Team SmackDown (The Miz, Shane McMahon, Rey Mysterio, Samoa Joe, and Jeff Hardy) was contested. Strowman was going to start the match, but McIntyre quickly tagged himself in. As McIntyre mocked Strowman, Joe took advantage and applied the Coquina Clutch on McIntyre, who was able to escape and performed the Claymore to eliminate Joe. Shane and Ziggler then faced off. A brawl broke out between teammates Strowman and McIntyre and Team SmackDown ganged up on them. On the outside of the ring, Shane performed an elbow drop on Strowman through an announce table. Mysterio eliminated Bálor after a 619 and a springboard frog splash. Shane performed a Coast to Coast on Ziggler to eliminate him. Shane attempted another Coast to Coast on Lashley only for Strowman, who recovered from earlier, to perform a clothesline in mid-air on Shane. Strowman then performed powerslams on Hardy, Mysterio, and Miz to eliminate all three. In the climax, Strowman performed a running powerslam on Shane to win the match for Team Raw with Strowman, McIntyre, and Lashley as the survivors. After the match, Corbin attacked Strowman and quickly retreated with McIntyre and Lashley.

Backstage, Seth Rollins was interviewed by Charly Caruso. She informed Rollins that he would be defending the Intercontinental Championship against his friend-turned-rival Dean Ambrose at TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs.

In the penultimate match, Raw Women's Champion Ronda Rousey faced SmackDown's Charlotte Flair. In the climax, as Rousey attempted to attack Flair outside of the ring, Flair struck Rousey with a kendo stick, thus Rousey won by disqualification. After the match, Flair continued to attack Rousey with kendo sticks. In the ring, Flair performed Natural Selection on Rousey on a chair. Flair positioned Rousey's neck in the chair and stomped on it before departing backstage.

Main event[]

In the main event, Raw's Universal Champion Brock Lesnar (accompanied by Paul Heyman) faced SmackDown's WWE Champion Daniel Bryan. Lesnar performed several suplexes on Bryan. Lesnar performed an F-5 on Bryan, but during the pin attempt, he intentionally broke the fall himself. Lesnar attempted a second F-5 on Bryan, only to accidentally hit the referee in the process. While the referee was down, Bryan seized the opportunity to low blow Lesnar. Bryan performed a running knee on Lesnar for a nearfall. Bryan began to target Lesnar's knee by slamming it into the ring post. Back in the ring, as Lesnar attempted another F-5, Lesnar's knee gave out. Bryan capitalized and performed the Yes! Lock submission only for Lesnar to escape. In the end, as Bryan applied a triangle hold on Lesnar, Lesnar countered and performed the F-5 on Bryan to win the match, with Raw winning brand supremacy with a clean sweep over SmackDown on the main card.

Enzo Amore hijacking incident[]

Former WWE superstar Enzo Amore was spotted during the event wearing a disguised wig and hoodie in the background. At the beginning of the AOP and The Bar match, when it became clear that it was Amore, he started making a scene, standing on his chair, dancing and cutting a promo. While the WWE did not acknowledge his presence, Amore was then escorted out of the building by security and was banned from attending future events at Staples Center. Reports also stated that Amore had bumped into a woman, causing her to get knocked over, injuring the fan in the process.

This incident came hours after he released a new album called Rosemary’s Baby Pt. 1: Happy Birthday featuring a song that seems to include about his ex-girlfriend and current WWE superstar Liv Morgan.

Aftermath[]

Raw[]

The following night on Raw, Commissioner Stephanie McMahon opened the show and celebrated the Raw brand's clean sweep over SmackDown. Stephanie was interrupted by Braun Strowman, who wanted his promised matches. She granted Strowman a match with Acting Raw General Manager Baron Corbin at TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs and Strowman chose a TLC match as the stipulation. In regard to his promised Universal Championship match, Stephanie said that if Strowman defeats Corbin, then he would get his title match at the Royal Rumble and Corbin would be stripped of all authority, but if Corbin wins, Corbin would become the permanent Raw General Manager. Later that night during an elimination tag team match, Corbin, Drew McIntyre, and Bobby Lashley attacked Strowman, injuring his elbow, as a storyline excuse for Strowman to undergo surgery to remove bone spurs.

Fresh off her victory over Charlotte Flair, Ronda Rousey confirmed that she would be defending the Raw Women's Championship against Nia Jax at TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs as Jax had won a 20-woman battle royal at Evolution to earn the title match. Rousey then made an open challenge and successfully defended the title against Mickie James. After the match, Rousey was taunted by Jax and Tamina.

SmackDown[]

Charlotte Flair explained her actions on the November 20 episode of SmackDown, stating that her attack on Ronda Rousey was for the women of SmackDown and for her friend Becky Lynch. However, SmackDown General Manager Paige fined Flair $100,000 for attacking WWE officials during the brawl. After being interrupted by The IIconics (Billie Kay and Peyton Royce), Flair had back-to-back singles matches with both. She defeated Kay by submission and then Royce by disqualification after Kay attacked Flair, who in turn laid out both IIconics.

WWE Champion Daniel Bryan explained his actions from the previous week by stating that he was following his dream and accusing the fans of not being there for him during his three-year quest to return to the ring, while also saying that the "Yes! Movement" was dead and that he was now the "new" Daniel Bryan. It was then announced that AJ Styles would receive his WWE Championship rematch against Bryan at TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs.

Match Preview[]

10-on-10 Survivor Series tag team elimination match Preview
Women’s Survivor Series Elimination Match Preview
Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Seth Rollins Preview
AOP vs. The Bar Preview
Buddy Murphy vs. Mustafa Ali Preview
Men’s Survivor Series Elimination Match Preview
Ronda Rousey vs. Charlotte Flair Preview
Brock Lesnar vs. Daniel Bryan Preview

Results[]

Numbers in parentheses indicate the length of the match.
(c) refers to the champion(s) heading into the match.

Survivor Series elimination matches[]

Tag Team Survivor Series Elimination match[]

Elimination Wrestler Team Eliminated by Elimination method Time
1 The Colóns SmackDown Dash Wilder Shatter Machine
2 The B-Team Raw Karl Anderson Schoolboy 5:15
3 Sanity SmackDown Bobby Roode Neckbreaker/Moonsault combination 6:45
4 The Ascension Raw Big E Assisted Splash 9:00
5 Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson SmackDown Gran Metalik Springboard Swanton 10:40
6 Lucha House Party Raw Jey Uso Alley Uce 11:55
7 Bobby Roode and Chad Gable Raw Big E UpUpDownDown 18:30
8 The New Day SmackDown Dash Wilder Shatter Machine 19:50
9 The Revival Raw Jimmy Uso Uso Splash 22:20
Survivor(s): Team SmackDown (The Usos (Jimmy Uso and Jey Uso))

Women’s Survivor Series Match[]

Elimination Wrestler Team Eliminated by Elimination method Time
1 Naomi SmackDown Tamina Superkick 1:20
2 Tamina Raw Carmella Schoolgirl 1:21
3 Mickie James Raw Mandy Rose Sliding knee by Sonya Deville 6:50
4 Carmella SmackDown Bayley Bayley to Belly 8:20
5 Mandy Rose SmackDown Sasha Banks Bank Statement 9:55
6 Bayley Raw N/A Double countout 14:45
Sonya Deville SmackDown
8 Sasha Banks Raw Asuka Asuka Lock 18:45
9 Asuka SmackDown Nia Jax Samoan Drop 18:50
Survivor(s): Team Raw (Nia Jax)

Men’s Survivor Series Elimination match[]

Elimination Wrestler Team Eliminated by Elimination method Time
1 Samoa Joe SmackDown Drew McIntyre Claymore Kick 0:35
2 Finn Bálor Raw Rey Mysterio 619 followed by a springboard Frog Splash 12:10
3 Dolph Ziggler Raw Shane McMahon Coast to Coast 18:10
4 Jeff Hardy SmackDown Braun Strowman Powerslam 20:45
5 Rey Mysterio SmackDown Braun Strowman Powerslam 21:10
6 The Miz SmackDown Braun Strowman Powerslam 22:25
7 Shane McMahon SmackDown Braun Strowman Running powerslam 24:00
Survivor(s): Team Raw (Braun Strowman, Drew McIntyre, and Bobby Lashley)

Other on-screen talent[]

Commentators
Pre-show Panel
Interviewers
Ring announcer
Referees

See also[]

DVD release[]

  • Amazon [ Survivor Series 2018 on DVD]


External links[]

Survivor Series 2018 previews

Brock Lesnar v Daniel BryanRonda Rousey v Charlotte FlairShinsuke Nakamura v Seth RollinsMen’s Survivor Series Elimination MatchWomen’s Survivor Series Elimination MatchAOP v The BarBuddy Murphy v Mustafa AliTag Team Survivor Series Elimination Match

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2018 World Wrestling Entertainment pay-per-views

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