5 Ups & 7 Downs From WWE Survivor Series 2020
4. SmackDown Gets Shafted
Someone who regularly watches SmackDown is going to have to explain why the blue brand was mauled in the men’s elimination match, looking like a bunch of jobbers against Raw’s dysfunctional squad.
Aside from Otis (and maybe briefly Kevin Owens), the rest of Team SmackDown did nothing of note until Jey Uso had a futile flurry at the end, when it was 5-on-1 and beyond hope. Otis got a couple of little showcase moments with Keith Lee and Braun Strowman, but that was it for him, and KO nailed a bunch of Stunners before being dropped by a Phenomenal Forearm.
The match made SmackDown look way inferior, and unless there was more at work here, this just didn’t make a lot of sense. Owens looked despondent, and Seth Rollins sacrificed himself just days after losing to Murphy.
It was bizarre, and while the match itself was fine from an athletic standpoint, it didn’t come across as a real “battle for brand supremacy,” just a curtain-jerker match with a bunch of nice spots.