SmackDown's teams set for WWE Survivor Series elimination matches
Wednesday 7 November 2018 08:03, UK
The SmackDown team line-up for the Survivor Series elimination match was established in its entirety on this week's show.
Four-fifths of the women's team for the traditional blue-against-red battle is also known after the Tuesday night crew very quickly got their squads in order for the November 18 Box Office event.
WWE Late Night Smackdown
Shane McMahon and Paige made the joint decision to appoint Daniel Bryan and The Miz as co-captains of the men's team, with WWE champion AJ Styles already down to face Brock Lesnar in the event in Los Angeles in less than a fortnight.
The duo agreed McMahon himself should be included, leaving two spots up for grabs in the five-man line-up.
Rey Mysterio, fresh off a victory over Andrade 'Cien' Almas in a superb match, was then picked as the fourth man with the final place being contested between Samoa Joe and Jeff Hardy in the SmackDown main event.
After a curiously short match, Joe forced Hardy to tap out to his Coquina Clutch and become the fifth man on team blue.
Women's line-up almost complete
Selection for the women's team was similarly straightforward, at least in its early stages, with Paige confirming Carmella, Naomi, Sonya Deville and Asuka as her picks.
The inclusion of Deville riled her tag-team partner Mandy Rose, who delivered an excellent Alexa Bliss-style series of putdowns to the four selections which was highly entertaining but did not convince the general manager to change her mind.
Charlotte Flair had been announced as the fifth member of the team but did not appear when her music sounded, leaving the squad shorthanded, albeit with a week to go.
Nikki Cross makes main roster debut
After months of speculation, the final member of Sanity was reunited with the rest of her crew as NXT star Nikki Cross took her place on the SmackDown roster.
Cross came out to challenge Becky Lynch after she had delivered another strong anti-Ronda Rousey promo.
Although she lost to a Dis-Arm-Her, Cross received a good reaction from the crowd and there is no damage done by losing to the SmackDown champion, even if it was on debut.
