5 Reasons Why Randy Orton Wasn't Picked For SmackDown's Survivor Series Team

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This year's SmackDown Live Survivor Series Men's Team has been made official and here what it looks like:

Daniel Bryan, The Miz, Shane McMahon, Rey Mysterio, and Samoa Joe.

The biggest surprise was the exclusion of Randy Orton, who, in many people's opinions is the greatest performer in Survivor Series history. Dating all the way back to 2004, Randy Orton has been a staple of the Interbrand warfare PPV.

On multiple occasions, The Apex Predator has been the sole survivor for his team. His most memorable performance in Survivor Series in the last few years was 2016 when he was a part of the stacked Men's match (which many consider the greatest Survivor Series match ever).

He may not have been setting the world on fire with his character the last few years, but when you really think about it, not having Randy Orton in an elimination match is quite odd. The fact that Shane McMahon is in the SmackDown Live Survivor Series team for the third year in a row makes it even more surprising!

So why did WWE decide not to have Orton in the match which he's best at? We give you five possible reasons why.

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#5 To cost Rey Mysterio at Survivor Series

It seems unlikely that Rey Mysterio is going to walk out as a survivor on the big PPV day. While he'll undoubtedly put on a valiant effort and mesmerise the audience as he always does, the chances of survival in these matches are less.

Add to the fact that Randy Orton has been attacking him since their World Cup match at Crown Jewel. He's very likely to be the one to come and hit Mysterio with an RKO out of nowhere, allowing a member of Team RAW to pin Mysterio. This will set up their feud where their next match will likely be at TLC.

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