WWE Survivor Series 2020: 5 Big takeaways from the PPV
In recent years, the annual WWE Survivor Series pay-per-view has played host to the battle for brand supremacy. Championship matches are cast aside as the Superstars of RAW and SmackDown compete for bragging rights over their rival brand.
Survivor Series 2020 followed this same formula, with no official Championship matches on the show. However, the card did include four inter-brand non-title "Champion vs. Champion" matches, as well as both male and female traditional Survivor Series elimination bouts featuring teams from the Red and Blue brands.
The pay-per-view, though, was heavily advertised around The Undertaker bidding his "final farewell" to WWE. Having originally debuted with the company at Survivor Series 1990, Sunday night's card marked the 30th anniversary of the first appearance of "The Deadman" in WWE.
The Undertaker, of course, announced his retirement from the ring earlier this year. Survivor Series 2020, then, seemed the perfect time for WWE to pay tribute to one of its most legendary Superstars of all-time.
Although the show gave this nod to the past, we also learned plenty about the potential direction of WWE storylines moving forward. Here are five big takeaways from WWE Survivor Series 2020.
#5 Team RAW dominates Team SmackDown in traditional Survivor Series action
In the build-up to Survivor Series, the male and female teams on RAW had their problems in uniting as a team. This dissension did not carry over the show itself, however, as the Monday night brand won both traditional Survivor Series elimination matches.
The SmackDown men's team, in particular, imploded quickly. It did not take long for Jey Uso to find himself in a five-on-one situation against the whole of Team RAW. Uso himself was then pinned by Keith Lee - despite briefly threatening a comeback - to ensure that RAW recorded a 5-0 clean sweep win.
Team SmackDown fell apart at Survivor Series
The ease with which the RAW men's team brushed aside their SmackDown counterparts might have been surprising, but it does allow WWE to move forward with several angles on Friday nights.
In the first elimination of the bout, Seth Rollins sacrificed himself "for the greater good", freely allowing Sheamus to Brogue Kick him for the pin.
Rollins is expected to take paternity leave ahead of the birth of his first child. Whether this was the way in which WWE will ultimately write Rollins off of television remains to be seen, but the finish would provide an explanation for his absence if this was the route WWE wishes to take.
Two members of Team SmackDown that got into a confrontation on the Survivor Series Kickoff show were Kevin Owens and Baron Corbin. It seems logical that this will set the stage for an upcoming feud between the pair.
The biggest takeaway from this match, though, is the treatment of Jey Uso. While he was Team SmackDown's best performer, Uso's loss did not please Roman Reigns - who insisted that his cousin's defeat had shamed him and his family.
Reigns stated that Uso needed to exact revenge on the other members of Team SmackDown in order to restore respect to the family name. The Tribal Chief was clear that Uso failing to do this would lead to him losing his place at the family table.
Uso will likely begin his quest for revenge on his fellow team members this Friday on SmackDown.