Show
Time and location
CHICAGO — As Dolph Ziggler reminded the WWE Universe on Twitter, five years ago he went an hour in the ring, came through in the clutch and ended the night as the sole survivor. He didn’t have to go that long during Survivor Series Kickoff 2019 to achieve something similar, as he and Robert Roode survived an unannounced, cross-brand Tag Team Battle Royal that handed SmackDown the first victory in the battle for brand supremacy.
That they won is far from some kind of moral victory. The match fielded almost the entirety of all three brands — Raw sent in The O.C., The Street Profits and Zack Ryder & Curt Hawkins; SmackDown fielded Ziggler & Roode, The Revival, Heavy Machinery and Lucha House Party; and NXT was repped by The Forgotten Sons, Breezango and Imperium — and the eliminations came fast and furious. Hardly a minute had passed before The Forgotten Sons, Lucha House Party and Ryder & Hawkins were all sent to the showers by over-the-top-rope eliminations.
It didn’t take long for the rest of the herd to thin, but what distinguished the eventual winners from the rest of the pack was their craftiness and teamwork: Ziggler turned skinning the cat into a cottage industry, and Roode played spoiler by helping to oust Imperium when they had his partner on the edge. The Showoff later repaid the favor by breaking up a Magic Killer intended for Roode and ousting Luke Gallows off the apron with a pinpoint superkick.
That elimination brought things down to Ziggler, Roode and Raw’s Street Profits, and the newcomers promptly turned the tables after Ziggler accidentally superkicked Roode, leading to a run from the Profits that saw them nearly claim the victory. Montez Ford had the showstopping maneuver with a rotating Frog Splash that pancaked The Showoff, but by then Roode had recovered and quickly pounced, tossing King Tez over the top rope to claim the win for himself and Ziggler.
Whether SmackDown survives the night as the supreme brand remains to be seen — though when the final wins and losses are tallied, there’ll be no disputing that Ziggler & Roode defied the odds, came through in the clutch and were the last men standing. Some things never change.