LOS ANGELES — With a Universal Title opportunity and grudge match against Acting General Manager Baron Corbin riding on the result, Braun Strowman was unquestionably the Superstar whose fortunes were most entwined with the outcome of the Men’s 5-on-5 Traditional Survivor Series Elimination Match. Given all that, it was only fitting that The Monster Among Men almost singlehandedly won the contest with four straight eliminations — a feat that was doubly impressive due to the gritty performance by Team SmackDown … and some pointed tensions within Strowman’s own squad.

Strowman had made his distaste for all his teammates — Finn Bálor excluded — clear before the bell rang, and the feeling was clearly than mutual, especially between himself and Drew McIntyre. The Scottish Psychopath threatened to seize control of the match from the opening moments when he tagged himself in and scored a surprise elimination of Samoa Joe (the only Team Raw elimination not recorded by Strowman). That set off a chain of events that culminated in a brief throwdown between Strowman and McIntyre.
Shane McMahon elbow drops Braun Strowman through announce table: Survivor Series 2018 (WWE Network Exclusive)

Team SmackDown responded in opportunistic, and impressive, fashion. Rey Mysterio ousted Bálor after a dizzying back-and-forth. And the legendary luchador did his best to hold “The Almighty” Bobby Lashley at bay. The Miz called a surprisingly crisp game as Team Captain. Shane McMahon put his death-defying bonafides to good use with a Leap of Faith that took out both Strowman and the announce table, as well as a Coast-to-Coast that helped send Raw’s Dolph Ziggler to the showers.

It seemed, for a moment, like SmackDown had a puncher’s chance to outlast the red brand … at least until Strowman re-entered the picture. The Monster Among Men clotheslined McMahon clean out of the air on a second Coast-to-Coast attempt (this one to Lashley) and stormed back with near-immediate eliminations of Jeff Hardy, Mysterio and Miz. That left Shane, spent and sucking wind, as the last man standing for Team SmackDown. The SmackDown Commissioner refused to drop his hands, but even Shane knew he was destined to go down fighting. Strowman scooped him up for a Running Powerslam and put the match away in monstrous fashion, giving Raw a 4-0 advantage over SmackDown in the Survivor Series standings and effectively sealing the WWE fall classic for Team Red.

With that win, Strowman now has free rein to tee off on Corbin, but the Acting General Manager of Raw — who had been animatedly patrolling the outside as Team Captain —struck first, blindsiding Strowman before retreating up the ramp alongside Lashley and McIntyre. Their shared mocking of The Monster Among Men’s signature roar indicates that there might be a couple more people that Braun Strowman has to go through before he gets to Corbin. If Survivor Series was any indication, that won’t be a problem.

Credit: WWE.com

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