Raw and Smackdown Live are now slowly heading towards the Survivor Series. Now, as the two WWE brands are preparing for their huge 5-on-5 Traditional Survivor Series Elimination Tag Match for the pay-per-view, things are heating up. Over at Raw, we now know who will be the captain for their team. Meanwhile, on Smackdown Live, the "Blue Brand" revealed three huge additions to their own team.
Stephanie McMahon returns to Raw
After appearing on Smackdown Live to confront Kevin Owens, the Stephanie Mcmahon finally appeared in her own show, Raw. She made her appearance during Raw General Manager Kurt Angle's address regarding Smackdown Live superstars putting Raw Undersiege.
In the ring, the Olympic Gold medalist said that he thought Smackdown Live's Shane McMahon just visited Raw for Friendly competition. However, Angle said that Smackdown Live's superstars "went too far." He then Apologized to all the Raw superstars, as well as the fans. But then, Stephanie McMahon herself arrived.
Vince McMahon's only daughter then proceeded down the ramp and into the ring. She the then told Angle that she supported her father's decision to appoint him as Raw General manager. However, in light of the recent events regarding Smackdown Live's attack, she told Angle she wasn't happy. She blamed Angle's incompetence for the attack, but she did give him another chance. And this second chance for Angle is to lead Team Raw into Survivor Series as their team captain.
She told the Olympic hero that she wants victory and expects "total annihilation." And if Kurt doesn't get her what she wants, she proclaimed that she might just have to find a new Raw General Manager. And as she was leaving, she told Angle backstage that she meant every word that she said.
Team Smackdown slowly forms with three new additions
But while Raw is having some trouble, Smackdown Live just added three more members to their team. In addition to Randy Orton, Shane McMahon revealed that he will be joining Team Smackdown as well. But this time, since Kurt Angle will be the head of his team, Shane will be heading Team Smackdown.
Smackdown Live also featured two qualifying matches to decide who would join Team Smackdown. The first qualifying match which took place featured Dolph Ziggler taking on Bobby Roode. The match was a grueling 2-out-of-3 Falls match between the two rivals. The match was certainly back-and-forth, Dolph Ziggler took the first fall with a Super Kick, but Roode later tied it up at one pinfall apiece. Finally, after hitting a Glorious DDT, Roode finally defeated Ziggler and became the third member for Team Smackdown.
As for the second and final qualifying match for the night, it took place in Smackdown Live!'s main event. Following the fall out from the Hell in a Cell Pay-per-view, Kevin Owens is still at odds with Shane McMahon.
And to qualify for the team, he had to take on Shinsuke Nakamura. The two had a great back-and-forth match as expected. But then, Sami Zayn appeared and tried to interfere on behalf of Owens. But Randy Orton also appeared and attacked Zayn, allowing Nakamura to use the distraction and defeat K.O. The matches' results mean that Team Smackdown will now comprise of Shan McMahon, Randy Orton, Bobby Roode, and Shinsuke Nakamura. The fifth member will be determined in a match next week between AJ Styles and Rusev, the latter having just faced Triple H in a surprise match in Chile.
