5 Reasons why making Otis a part of Team SmackDown at WWE Survivor Series 2020 is a mistake
With Survivor Series less than two days away, the go-home SmackDown finished up the card for the event. Every Champion is now safe, following quite a few title matches that jeopardized their positions at Survivor Series. The final members of SmackDown's teams were also known.
Bayley and Natalya round out a solid women's team for the Blue brand, joining Bianca Belair, Ruby Riott, and Liv Morgan. However, the men's team heading into Survivor Series isn't the most enticing. WWE could have put more effort into building Team SmackDown.
Joining Jey Uso, Kevin Owens, Seth Rollins, and King Corbin is Otis. He was informed of this decision by the authority of WWE, Adam Pearce, who personally picked him. It was a baffling pick, to say the least, from a creative standpoint, as well as in storyline.
Here are five reasons why making Otis a part of Team SmackDown at Survivor Series 2020 is a mistake.
#5 The RAW vs. SmackDown Men's elimination match at Survivor Series needed a shot of excitement
Ever since brand warfare became an annual Survivor Series fixture in 2016, that year's 10-man Elimination Match set a new standard for such matches. It was epic in length and was rich in storytelling. Every Superstar had a purpose in the match and made it better. They tried to follow a similar format the following year, with RAW and SmackDown both fielding stacked teams.
However, the immense star power did not translate to a coherent story like the 2016 Survivor Series classic. Following that, WWE stopped trying much with the men's elimination match. This year is no different, as hardly anything has been done to make this year's 10-man elimination match feel exciting.
The only build it received was the dissension between the members of Team RAW, featuring code-names and whatnot. The members of Team SmackDown haven't even interacted with each other, aside from Kevin Owens and Jey Uso. There isn't any excitement for the match in the story department, with hardly any match-ups to look forward to.
Having Big E as the final member of Team SmackDown would have been a shot of excitement for the match, with a potential collision between him and Keith Lee promising to be spectacular. However, Otis does not provide that excitement, largely because of his in-ring style and complete lack of history with every Superstar in the match.