WWE News: ‘Survivor Series’ 2016 Teams For SmackDown To Include AJ Styles, Randy Orton, And Becky Lynch
Major WWE news came about on Tuesday night as more members of the Survivor Series 2016 teams were announced for SmackDown. The announcements came via Daniel Bryan as he appeared on a special episode of MizTV hosted by The Miz and his wife Maryse. Among the superstars announced for the updated teams were WWE SmackDown Women’s Champion Becky Lynch and the WWE World Heavyweight Champion AJ Styles.
The annual WWE Survivor Series pay-per-view has typically included “elimination-style” matches. These matches feature teams of wrestlers who can be eliminated by pinfall, submission, count-out, or disqualifications. Eliminations continue until one team has eliminated all of the members of the opposing team. They’re usually fun gimmick matches, and in the case of the roster splits, it provides bragging rights for the winning brand’s team.
This year’s WWE pay-per-view features at least three of these traditional elimination matches with Team Raw vs. Team SmackDown situations. One match is a men’s singles match and another is a women’s singles match. The third one features tag teams from each brand squaring off in the elimination bout. So far, Raw has announced the majority of its men’s team, with one roster spot left open. On Tuesday night, SmackDown General Manager Daniel Bryan revealed the entire lineup for his men’s and women’s teams.
According to PW Torch, Bryan announced the entire lineup for the men’s Team SmackDown and it will include WWE World Heavyweight Champion AJ Styles among the superstars battling for bragging rights. Joining the champion will be his biggest opposition Dean Ambrose, along with Bray Wyatt, Dean Ambrose, and Randy Orton. However, the biggest surprise for the match that was announced was Baron Corbin. He hasn’t exactly been tearing up the roster necessarily and seemed to take a spot away from The Miz. Bryan explained that Miz proved he was scared to fight last week when Ziggler offered him a rematch for the Intercontinental Championship.
Drumroll, please… The #SDLive Men's #SurvivorSeries Team is @TheDeanAmbrose, @RandyOrton, @WWEBrayWyatt, @BaronCorbinWWE and @AJStylesOrg! pic.twitter.com/QxF87i7evw
— WWE (@WWE) November 2, 2016
Also interesting is the fact that there had been reports that Randy Orton would not be a part of the pay-per-view. It had been mentioned that “The Viper” would be taking time off to be with his wife around the WWE Survivor Series event and would return around November 29. However, as of right now, that’s not the case. There’s also the chance that something will change, such as Kane will attack Orton to get some revenge and take away his spot, forcing Daniel Bryan to make a decision to give some other superstar Orton’s spot.
The Team SmackDown women’s lineup was also announced backstage by Bryan as he was joined by Commissioner Shane McMahon. Nikki Bella had previously been mentioned as the team captain. Joining her will be her foe, Carmella, as well as Alexa Bliss and WWE SmackDown Women’s Champion Becky Lynch. SmackDown’s Naomi will be the fifth and final member of the team. In an interesting move, Natalya petitioned to represent her team as the ringside coach at Survivor Series and Daniel Bryan approved of it.
So far, the Team Raw lineups haven’t been fully assembled for the pay-per-view. As of right now, the men’s singles team features four superstars. Chris Jericho, Roman Reigns, Braun Strowman, and WWE Universal Champion Kevin Owens will represent Raw with one roster spot remaining. The speculation as of right now is that Seth Rollins will take over that fifth spot. The women’s team features WWE Women’s Champion Charlotte as its leader, along with Nia Jax, and Becky Lynch. That leaves two more spots open for the women’s side.
By the way, there was also a tag team bout between The Headbangers and The Usos to fill one of the Team SmackDown tag team spots. The Usos won that match rather quickly giving the heel team their ticket to Survivor Series. They’ll join American Alpha, Hype Bros and the WWE tag team champions Heath Slater and Rhyno for their brand’s lineup. So far Raw is only represented by tag team champs, The New Day.
With a quick rollup, @WWEUsos are going to #SurvivorSeries!#SDLive pic.twitter.com/izPfsuFoDw
— WWE (@WWE) November 2, 2016
Also during the latest SmackDown Live episode, Dolph Ziggler issued an open challenge for the pay-per-view. Dolph said at Survivor Series he’ll put his Intercontinental Championship on the line against any superstar from the Raw roster who wants to step up and challenge him. That should make for an interesting situation to see who appears from the roster at the big event.
So as of right now, the pay-per-view is shaping up in terms of its match card. It is of course led by the colossal main event of Goldberg against Brock Lesnar in just their second ever match. Goldberg is making his return to the wrestling ring after a 12-year hiatus and will try to make it 2-0 for his record against “The Beast.”
Wrestling fans, how do you feel the WWE Survivor Series lineups for Team SmackDown look so far? Did Baron Corbin deserve a spot on Team SmackDown or someone else? Who should get the fifth spot for the men’s side on Team Raw?
[Featured Image by WWE]
