10 Fascinating WWE Survivor Series 2006 Facts
3. It Was The First Survivor Series With Mixed-Brand Teams
After the 2005 show centered around ramped-up tension between the Raw and SmackDown brands, the 2006 show was all about a sudden detente. The days of split pay-per-views were about to end. There was seemingly no further point to the Brand Extension, other than to pop a rating through an annual draft.
In 2003 and 2004, the elimination matches were brand-exclusive: Raw vs. Raw, and SmackDown vs. SmackDown. A year later, as mentioned, was the turf war between the shows.
The two five-on-five matches in 2006 saw Raw, SmackDown, and ECW wrestlers intermingling on the same teams, with no semblance of outward pride for their respective brands. WWE's reality has always been flexible, but a year after fighting to the near-death, it was a strange sight to see the brands become so secondary.