WWE: The Case For A Team SmackDown Sweep At Survivor Series

SmackDown and Raw head into Survivor Series both featuring several strong teams. However, the lack of cohesion between the members of Team Raw leads me to believe it might just make the most sense for SmackDown to pull off a rare sweep of Raw’s teams in this year’s traditional Survivor Series matches.

On the road to Survivor Series, WWE has played up numerous storylines on Raw in order to add some excitement to a brand versus brand pay-per-view that previously felt like it was lacking a certain level of spark.

On Raw’s men’s team, we are about to see Braun Strowman attempt to co-exist with Dolph Ziggler and Drew McIntyre, even after the Scottish Psychopath planted a few Claymore Kicks on Strowman’s dome in the past few weeks. Additionally, Finn Balor and Bobby Lashley have recently joined the squad, both harboring several developing feuds with their fellow teammates as well.

In other words, in classic Survivor Series fashion, this already feels like a team ready to implode at a moment’s notice.

The women’s team for Raw only feels slightly more stable, albeit with uncertainty surrounding the newly formed alliance between Nia Jax and Tamina along with Natalya’s inclusion on the same team as Ruby Riott.

That uncertainty on both of the red brand’s major teams, along with a tag team division seriously lacking some direction, leads me to believe that we might be better off if SmackDown pulls off a rare sweep of Raw this year.

Admittedly, at first, it may seem like SmackDown’s teams are filled with almost as much internal strife as Raw’s, what with Samoa Joe and The Miz having to co-exist with babyfaces like Rey Mysterio and Jeff Hardy. That, along with a women’s team combining the face partnership between Naomi and Asuka with heels, or recently reformed heels, like Carmella and Sonya Deville, may lead to the belief that Team SmackDown isn’t any better off than Team Raw.

However, when you look deeper, you see that SmackDown’s teams really lack the kind of already established storyline feuds that Raw’s teams have already developed

While its true Shane McMahon may stir up some anger on SmackDown’s men’s team, without Daniel Bryan present on the team anymore, it feels as though the feud between The Miz and Rey Mysterio is the only real, developed rivalry among team members right now.

That’s nothing compared to Team Raw’s litany of feuds between its members, without even counting the rivalries Raw’s current general manager and team leader Baron Corbin has found himself as well.

With that wide of a disparity between the two team’s storyline developments, its hard for me to envision any reason a win from Team Raw’s men’s squad would make for a sensible and compelling development.

Additionally, an incredibly similar situation can also be seen between the two brand’s women’s teams as well.

While Team SmackDown is mainly divided by the basic face and heel split, Team Raw is composed of multiple combustible elements and rivalries. The new feud between Natalya and Ruby Riott alone is a bigger angle than anything surrounding Team SmackDown, for example.

That’s without even mentioning Nia Jax, Tamina, or the potential of interference from Sasha Banks and Bayley, who are probably looking for some redemption for what happened on this past week’s Raw.

I can’t help but think it simply doesn’t make much sense for a team as fractured as Raw’s to beat a team with as little strife on it as SmackDown’s.

Even if you were to expand this concept to the tag team division, you would see that Team SmackDown’s angle of mutual respect between The Usos and The New Day is far bigger of a story to cover than really any story, or lack thereof, on the side of Team Raw. Raw’s tag team division needs significantly more direction before it would feel like a threat to the established team’s on SmackDown.

When its all said and done, I think all signs point to the need for a Team SmackDown sweep of Team Raw in the traditional Survivor Series matches this year. Simply put, it just makes the most storyline sense.