WWE SmackDown Predictions: Brock Lesnar Will Replace Sami Zayn

WWE SmackDown is heading into WWE Survivor Series 2021 to battle WWE Raw in what has become the anticipated annual brand warfare. However, due to the timing of the draft in the calendar year the lack of brand loyalty has made this PPV meaningless. Not to mention, the lack of stakes has made this PPV underwhelming as well. Despite those booking mishaps and poor long-term planning, will Raw invade SmackDown on the go-home show before Survivor Series? Also, will someone be replaced on the WWE SmackDown Survivor Series teams this week?

In this week’s episode, there is one scheduled match: Sasha Banks vs Shotzi Blackheart. WWE is two days away from WWE Survivor Series 2021, and there are six matches that are expected to occur at this PPV event: Big E vs. Roman Reigns, Becky Lynch vs. Charlotte Flair, Damian Priest vs. Shinsuke Nakamura, RK-Bro vs. The Usos, Women’s 5 vs. 5, and Men’s 5 vs. 5. However, the teams for the SmackDown Men and Women’s Teams are not fully established because they are each still missing one more contestant. The following will reveal those mystery contestants.

With that being addressed, it’s now time to preview and predict what will actually occur on this week’s episode of WWE SmackDown.

WWE SmackDown is scheduled to take place on November 19, 2021, at 8 p.m. ET/7 p.m. CT live on FOX. Here are some predictions for this week’s show.

Sasha Banks vs. Shotzi Blackheart [Grudge Match]

While Shotzi Blackheart should win to solidify her heel turn on Sasha Banks a few weeks ago, Banks should also not take a loss here because she has not won anything significant since returning to the ring at Extreme Rules in September. As the captain of the SmackDown Survivor Series Team, she also needs this momentum for the PPV this Sunday. Since both superstars cannot lose this match, expect an inconclusive finish to occur. This inconclusive finish could be beneficial towards the build to Survivor Series because Team Raw (Women) can invade here.

Prediction: No Contest

Who Will Replace Aliyah in the Women’s Survivor Series Team?

On last week’s WWE SmackDown, Sonya Deville expelled Aliyah from Team SmackDown (Women) even though Aliyah earned a victory in a six-women tag match by pinning Natalya. Deville’s abuse of power has been the crux of most storylines in the SmackDown Women’s Division. This abuse of power has not only affected Aliyah but has mostly affected Naomi. It would be a neat swerve to see Deville replace Aliyah with Naomi in the Women’s Survivor Series Team in order to make Aliyah envious and vindictively sabotage her recent alliance or friendship with Naomi.

Prediction: Naomi

Who Will Replace Sami Zayn in the Men’s Survivor Series Team?

Remember WWE MITB 2019? Brock Lesnar had replaced Sami Zayn in the Men’s MITB Ladder Match and unfortunately won the briefcase that year. The same will happen here for the Team SmackDown (Men) Survivor Series Team. Lesnar was suspended from SmackDown a few weeks ago and he will find a way to buy a ticket to this episode in order to somehow get involved in Survivor Series this Sunday. The idea of Lesnar invading SmackDown as revenge for getting suspended would be epic. However, there are some caveats and incentives to consider.

If Brock Lesnar joins the Survivor Series Team to replace Sami Zayn, he could persuade the corruptive Adam Pearce to reinstate him so that Team SmackDown can have the best team to win the brand war. In return, if Lesnar helps Team SmackDown to victory, he will get another Universal Title shot against Roman Reigns at the Royal Rumble. The tickets are not sold out yet for Survivor Series, so this could be a short-term fix to filling up those empty seats. The long term-fix would be sufficient build and long term storytelling, but that’s nonexistent within the confines of the WWE.

Prediction: Brock Lesnar