Raw Defeats SmackDown in Men’s 5-on-5 Elimination Match at 2021 WWE Survivor Series

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Raw defeated SmackDown in the men’s traditional five-on-five elimination match at WWE Survivor Series on Sunday with Seth Rollins lasting as the sole survivor.

Jeff Hardy hit a Swanton Bomb on Austin Theory to set up a one-on-one battle with Rollins to determine a winner.

Hardy was lining up for another on Rollins after connecting with Twist of Fate. However, the self-appointed captain of Raw got his knees up and immediately delivered The Stomp for the victory.

WWE announced the participants for the men’s and women’s five-on-five elimination matches on Twitter a few weeks ago in anticipation of the pay-per-view.

Initially, the Raw men’s team was comprised of Rollins, Finn Balor, Kevin Owens, Rey Mysterio and Dominik Mysterio.

Meanwhile, Team SmackDown was made up of Drew McIntyre, King Xavier Woods, Hardy, Sami Zayn and Happy Corbin.

There were some significant changes prior to Survivor Series, though, starting with when WWE official Adam Pearce made Dominik compete in a match in order to maintain his spot on the Raw team.

Dominik was booked in a match against Bobby Lashley, and it was a one-sided affair with The All Mighty dominating the younger Mysterio and eventually making him tap out to the Hurt Lock.

After that, Pearce booked Lashley in a match against Rey Mysterio on Raw, and after Lashley defeated Rey, he removed the elder Mysterio from the team and replaced him with Theory.

SmackDown experienced a change as well when Pearce booked Zayn and Hardy in a match with the loser getting removed from the team.

After Zayn lost the match and his spot on the team, a Fatal 4-Way between Sheamus, Cesaro, Ricochet and Jinder Mahal was held to determine his replacement. Sheamus won thanks to help from Ridge Holland.

An already strong Raw team was even more stacked with the additions of Lashley and Theory, although there was no shortage of bad blood between some of the teammates.

Rollins, Balor and Owens all recently competed in a ladder match to earn a shot at Big E’s WWE Championship, and there were still some unresolved issues among them.

On the SmackDown side, Corbin and Sheamus are regarded as two of the most irritating heels in WWE, meaning it was difficult for McIntyre, Woods and Hardy to co-exist with them.

Raw entered this year’s Survivor Series having won the men’s elimination match last year and three of the past four men’s contests overall, and it continued its dominance Sunday, leaving SmackDown two years removed from its last win in the contest.

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