Why WWE Ignored SmackDown LIVE’s Win During The Survivor Series Pre-show

Under the captainship of The Usos, the blue brand’s tag team division came to win in the Survivor Series Kickoff, defeating Monday Night Raw in a 10-on-10 Tag Team Traditional Survivor Series Elimination Match.

Raw, however, dominated SmackDown LIVE on the pay-per-view, with the red brand picking up all six wins. WWE commentators kept telling fans that Raw won all the inter-promotional matches, which seemed strange since SmackDown LIVE’s victory on the Kickoff did not count in the tally.

On the post-Survivor Series edition of Wrestling Observer Radio, Dave Meltzer explained why WWE did not acknowledge SmackDown LIVE’s win.

Meltzer said that WWE’s storyline plan called for Raw to have a clean sweep at Survivor Series. This directive got lost in communication and SmackDown LIVE got booked to win the Kickoff Match when they shouldn’t have. As a result, WWE ignored the blue brand’s win and only counted matches from the pay-per-view.

Xavier Woods took to Twitter last night to remind WWE that SmackDown LIVE picked up a win and to respect both tag team divisions.

*Finishes watching #SurvivorSeries…*

My Brain:
Don't do it
Don't do it
Don't do it
Don't do it
Don't do it
Don't do it

Me: HEY @WWE! RESPECT THE TAG DIVISION OF BOTH SHOWS AND LET THE PEOPLE KNOW THAT SMACKDOWN GOT A WIN TONIGHT. THE SCORE WAS 6 – 1 #PreshowCounts pic.twitter.com/Uc5NbyVwtO

— Austin Creed aka “No Sweep” (@XavierWoodsPhD) November 19, 2018

Here is a clip from the match.