WWE News: Shane McMahon announces that Natalya will be the 5th member on Team SmackDown at Survivor Series
SmackDown Live Commissioner Shane McMahon has confirmed that Natalya will be the final person on Team SmackDown Live for the Women's 5-on-5 Elimination Match at Survivor Series.
Natalya was scheduled to face RAW Women's Champion Alexa Bliss at the Survivor Series PPV in a Champion vs. Champion match.
However, on Tuesday's Survivor Series go-home episode of SmackDown Live, Natalya lost her title in a match against Charlotte Flair.
Therefore, the new SmackDown Live Women's Champion, Charlotte, takes her place against Bliss at tomorrow night's show.
The Queen of Harts, as she is nicknamed, will be on Team SmackDown instead of Charlotte along with Becky Lynch (the captain), Carmella, Tamina and Naomi, against RAW's Alicia Fox, Nia Jax, Bayley, Sasha Banks and Asuka at the PPV.
This is on the orders of her on-screen boss Shane-O-Mac, who in his tweet cited the fact that 'even in defeat', Natalya showed on SmackDown against Flair that she is a 'fierce competitor'. McMahon went on to call her an 'asset' to the team.
This was a surprising announcement, as many of the WWE Universe were hoping that the last space on the SmackDown Live Women's side would go to a returning Superstar, such as Paige or even Nikki Bella.
Although it seems like that won't be happening, us here at Sportskeeda would not be shocked to see an angle in which WWE have Natalya attacked tomorrow night before the match, just like she secretly assaulted Nikki Bella before the RAW vs. SmackDown women's at last year's Survivor Series. Nattie replaced Nikki on the Blue team in the process.
Narrowing things down, it is possible WWE have Bella carry out her revenge on Natalya and do the same to the former champion this year, especially as she has been hinting at a return to wrestling as of late. Nikki has been on a WWE hiatus since John Cena proposed to her at WrestleMania 33 back in April, competing on the TV show Dancing With The Stars, which she was eliminated from.
Either way, it is going to be interesting stuff from the Toyota Center in Houston, Texas, with this match, Charlotte vs. Alex Bliss, the men's Team RAW vs. SmackDown, and the main event between Universal Champion Brock Lesnar vs. new WWE Champion AJ Styles all occurring at the event.
How can you not be excited?
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