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It’s that time of year again in WWE. The battle for brand supremacy is set to rage once more as WWE's brands will face off against one another at Survivor Series on November 24th.
This year’s event marks the fourth straight year in which WWE’s weekly shows have faced off, with the 2019 edition adding an extra element with the inclusion of NXT into the mix. WWE's third brand will look to solidify their place with RAW and SmackDown, and as more than just a developmental system.
The involvement of the Black and Gold Brand has spiced up a formula WWE has long incorporated, even before the 2016 Brand Split.
Join us as we take a look at four previous times WWE has utilized brand warfare at Survivor Series.
#4 Survivor Series 2005
It’s often forgotten that WWE has done the RAW vs SmackDown format in the past, long before the four consecutive years of brand warfare fans have currently seen.
The hot angle toward the end of 2005 was the first major engagement between RAW and SmackDown since the original brand split in 2002.
Following weeks of invasion attacks by both rosters, General Managers Eric Bischoff and Teddy Long agreed to two clashes for brand supremacy - one being 5-on-5 traditional Survivor Series match-up between the best of both rosters, as well as a one-on-one contest between Bischoff and Long.
The buildup to the event was sadly marred by the tragic passing of Eddie Guerrero, who was originally scheduled to be a part of Team SmackDown. Despite these unfortunate circumstances, two star studded teams were assembled with the Blue Brand’s champion Batista being targeted repeatedly in the weeks before Survivor Series by RAW Tag Team Champions Kane and Big Show.
It was a tactic that Team RAW would take with them into the Survivor Series main event, with ‘The Animal’ being the third man eliminated from the match. Despite this, SmackDown would soon find themselves with a 3-1 advantage of Randy Orton, Rey Mysterio and JBL to RAW’s Shawn Michaels.
In typical HBK fashion, he would fight back from adversity to eliminate Rey and Bradshaw in quick succession before eventually falling to Orton. It was soon clear that this win for ‘The Viper’ was done to serve as the continuation point for his year-long feud with The Undertaker. 'The Dead Man' would appear to confront Orton at the show’s end, as 'The Viper' was held high by the entire SmackDown roster.
What about Bischoff versus Long? Well, it lasted five minutes with Long winning after interference from The Boogeyman.
Fun fact: Three members of Team SmackDown - Bobby Lashley, Orton and Mysterio - are still members of the active roster.
RAW vs SmackDown score: 2-0 to SmackDown
Teddy Long defeats Eric Bischoff
Team SmackDown (Batista, Bobby Lashley, JBL, Randy Orton and Rey Mysterio) defeat Team RAW (Big Show, Carlito, Chris Masters, Kane and Shawn Michaels)
#3 Survivor Series 2016
WWE decided to re-divide their rosters in the summer of 2016, so it came as no surprise when it the company announced that Survivor Series would feature a SmackDown vs RAW theme. The event was promoted with the tagline ‘Fantasy Warfare.’
Three traditional Survivor Series matches were soon announced between RAW and SmackDown. In addition to these, two further bouts took place where high stakes were put on the line in regards to two of WWE's mid-card titles.
RAW superstar Sami Zayn would challenge Intercontinental Champion The Miz of SmackDown, in which a win for Zayn would see the title move to the Red Brand. Kalisto faced off with Cruiserweight Champion Brian Kendrick, and a victory for the luchador would see both the title and the entire Cruiserweight Division move to Tuesday nights.
Despite what was on the line, both matches ended in predictable fashion with the two champions retaining, albeit Kendrick’s came via disqualification after interference from Baron Corbin.
Victory for The Miz ended what was a successful start to the event for RAW. Bayley and RAW Women’s Champion Charlotte came out on top in the opener in what served as the precursor to the feud that led to Bayley’s first main roster title.
In a packed ring of 20 superstars, the battle of WWE's tag teams was most notable for a shock elimination. After only one minute in the bout, RAW Tag Team Champions The New Day were eliminated. The match ended with a topsy-turvy closing stretch between The Bar and The Usos, with the former scoring the vital victory for their brand.
With the scores 3-1 in RAW’s favor, SmackDown tried to restore some pride in the men’s match while trying to answer the question of how they could eliminate ‘The Monster Among Men’ Braun Strowman.
The answer to that question came in the form of James Ellsworth, who grabbed onto Strowman as he tried to re-enter the ring. His prize for his effort: being thrown off the ramp by Braun.
RAW would venture on without their main threat. The end of the match saw history repeat itself with The Shield and The Wyatt Family facing off in the form of RAW’s Seth Rollins and Roman Reigns and SmackDown’s Bray Wyatt and Randy Orton. Just like they did back in 2014, The Wyatt Family stood tall. Wyatt and Orton ending as the last men standing, continuing Orton’s impressive history in this format of match.
Survivor Series 2016 marked the fourth time Randy Orton finished as a last man standing in a traditional Survivor Series elimination match.
RAW vs SmackDown score: 3-2 RAW
Women’s Division - Team RAW (Alicia Fox, Bayley, Charlotte, Nia Jax and Sasha Banks) defeat Team SmackDown (Alexa Bliss, Becky Lynch, Carmella, Naomi and Natalya)
The Miz (SmackDown) defeats Sami Zayn (RAW) to retain the Intercontinental Championship
Tag Team Division - Team RAW (The Bar, Enzo and Cass, Gallows and Anderson, The New Day and The Shining Stars) defeats Team SmackDown (American Alpha, Breezango, Heath Slater and Rhyno, The Hype Bros and The Usos)
The Brian Kendrick (RAW) defeats Kalisto (SmackDown) by disqualification to retain the Cruiserweight Championship
Men’s Division - Team SmackDown (AJ Styles, Bray Wyatt, Dean Ambrose, Randy Orton and Shane McMahon) defeat Team RAW (Braun Strowman, Chris Jericho, Kevin Owens, Roman Reigns and Seth Rollins)
#2 Survivor Series 2017
The lead-up to Survivor Series 2017 centered around SmackDown's attempt to avenge their defeat a year prior. Commissioner Shane McMahon fired the first punch in a heralded angle which saw the Blue Brand decimate the RAW roster on their own show.
It was an attack that wasn’t reciprocated until the go-home edition of SmackDown, and the final invasion did a fantastic job building anticipation toward Survivor Series.
As they did the previous year, WWE stuck to a simpler formula to decide which of their brand’s was the best. Four of the seven matches would pit champion vs champion: Universal vs WWE, Intercontinental vs US, RAW Womens and Tag Champions vs Smackdown’s. Survivor Series 2017 also featured two Five-on-Five traditional bouts featuring the best of each show.
The only exception to this came in the event’s opener where two of the best stables of the modern era faced off for the first time in The Shield and The New Day. The much-anticipated contest between the six didn’t disappoint, and arguably stole the show with The Shield scoring an early win for Team RAW.
It appeared as though it would start a pattern for Monday nights, with Asuka continuing her WWE/NXT unbeaten streak by lastly besting Natalya to make it 2-0 RAW.
SmackDown fought back though, scoring three straight wins to take the lead on the night. First, US Champion Baron Corbin successfully defeated Intercontinental Champion The Miz. Next, The Usos vanquished their demons from 2016 by gaining revenge on The Bar before Charlotte Flair put SmackDown ahead by forcing Alexa Bliss to tap-out. Another dream match would even the score once again when Universal Champion Brock Lesnar beat WWE Champion AJ Styles. Styles forced his way into the match 12 days prior when he won the championship from Jinder Mahal in Manchester.
Bragging rights would be decided in the men’s multi match, which sadly failed to live up to the heights of the equivalent match the year before. This was mostly due to the overuse of part-time wrestlers, such as Shane McMahon, John Cena, Kurt Angle and Triple H, the latter leading Team RAW to a 4-3 overall victory for the night alongside Braun Strowman.
It was a finish that led many to believe that WWE were leading towards a WrestleMania bout between ‘The Game’ and Strowman. So with that not coming to fruition, this match certainly isn’t one to look back on fondly.
RAW vs SmackDown scores: 4-3 RAW
The Shield (RAW) defeats The New Day (SmackDown)
Women’s Division - Team RAW (Alicia Fox, Sasha Banks, Bayley, Asuka and Nia Jax) defeat Team SmackDown (Becky Lynch, Naomi, Carmella, Natalya and Tamina)
Baron Corbin (SmackDown) defeats The Miz (RAW)
The Usos (SmackDown) defeat The Bar (RAW)
Charlotte Flair (SmackDown) defeats Alexa Bliss (RAW)
Brock Lesnar (RAW) defeats AJ Styles (SmackDown)
Men’s Division - Team RAW (Kurt Angle, Braun Strowman, Finn Balor, Triple H and Samoa Joe) defeat Team SmackDown (Shane McMahon, Randy Orton, Bobby Roode, Shinsuke Nakamura and John Cena)
#1 Survivor Series 2018
Last year’s event revolved around a similar format as 2017, but it was one match in particular that had the WWE Universe hyped.
That was the battle between Ronda Rousey and Becky Lynch, which had been building since the Evolution event in October. The feud would hit its height on the go-home RAW where ‘The Man’ lead an invasion by the SmackDown Women’s Division, in what many saw as WWE's best moment of 2018.
Sadly, a mistimed punch by Nia Jax on Lynch - while creating a memorable visual - forced the SmackDown Women’s Champion out the match. Instead, Charlotte Flair would represent the Blue Brand.
Flair is certainly not a bad replacement by any means, and she succeeded in putting on a memorable bout with Ronda Rousey - one which ended in a disqualification win for the RAW Women’s Champion after Flair grew frustrated and attacked Rousey with a kendo stick.
It continued a barren streak for SmackDown on a night that started so positively for Team Blue with The Usos winning the multi-tag team match on the pre-show.
That’s as good as it got though, as SmackDown failed to score another win on the entire show. Nia Jax last beat Asuka in the Women’s Division match before Intercontinental Champion Seth Rollins defeated US Champion Shinsuke Nakamura in what was a very good match.
AOP would best The Bar in a match best remembered for The Big Show making Drake Maverick wet himself, while the Men’s Division showcase was an almost one sided affair for RAW with Braun Strowman eliminating four of Team SmackDown by himself. Strowman stood tall alongside Drew McIntyre and Bobby Lashley, before the latter two proceeded to beat on Strowman post-match along with Baron Corbin.
The highlight of the night would come in the main event as Brock Lesnar faced Daniel Bryan in what was arguably Brock’s best match of 2018. After receiving a mauling for the best part of the match, WWE Champion Bryan would stage a comeback and come close to vanquishing 'The Beast'. Unfortunately, he fell in the end, and SmackDown left Survivor Series with no wins.
While it’s a night Team Blue would like to forget, many fans will remember it for an attempted mid-show hijacking from former WWE Superstar Enzo Amore
RAW vs SmackDown scores: 6-1 RAW
Tag Team Division - Team SmackDown (Usos, New Day, Sanity, Gallows and Anderson and The Colons) defeat Team RAW (Bobby Roode and Chad Gable, Revival, B-Team, Lucha House Party and Ascension)
Women’s Division - Team RAW (Mickie James, Nia Jax, Tamina, Bayley and Sasha Banks) defeat Team SmackDown (Naomi, Carmella, Sonya Deville, Asuka and Mandy Rose)
Seth Rollins (RAW) defeats Shinsuke Nakamura (SmackDown)
AOP (RAW) defeat The Bar (SmackDown)
Men’s Division - Team RAW (Dolph Ziggler, Drew McIntyre, Braun Strowman, Finn Balor and Bobby Lashley) defeat Team SmackDown (The Miz, Shane McMahon, Rey Mysterio, Samoa Joe and Jeff Hardy)
Ronda Rousey (RAW) defeats Charlotte Flair (SmackDown) by disqualification
Brock Lesnar (RAW) defeats Daniel Bryan (SmackDown)
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