Piggybacking off our list of the Raw superstars missing from Survivor Series 2017, it’s time for us to turn our focus on the SmackDown side of things.
Per normal, this list is reflective of the finish of Tuesday night’s episode of SmackDown and there are still a few days where random announcements could be made and some of the people below could be added to the show, but even though the card is always subject to change, these men and women are currently not being advertised as part of that pay-per-view.
Let’s take a look at who will be sitting this show out.
Jinder Mahal
After losing the WWE Championship to AJ Styles, Jinder Mahal went from being one of the headlining matches to not even being on the kickoff. Ouch.
I’m really surprised he wasn’t factored into the plans in some fashion, but it feels as though the reason why he was pulled wasn’t something that was planned well in advance. Rather, it felt like a mercy move to replace his match against Brock Lesnar with something that fans would be much more interested in.
It makes you wonder…if WWE realized that not enough people cared about this, why didn’t they realize it sooner? Why did they continue to have Jinder Mahal stay the champion after all these months?
There’s a chance we see Mahal pop up on the Survivor Series pre-show as part of the panel to cut a promo, or he can be upset and interfere in the match to attack Styles, but right now, that’s just guess work.
Kevin Owens / Sami Zayn
Despite the hot angle coming out of Hell in a Cell, neither of these two are represented at all on this card.
That’s suspicious, and it makes me wonder if they’ll be exacting their revenge on Shane McMahon by interfering in the Raw vs. SmackDown elimination match.
Just like with everybody else, there’s a chance we see them added to a random match on the pre-show, possibly against a tag team like The Good Brothers or Titus Worldwide just so they can do something, but it’s very strange that there’s nothing at all advertised for Owens and Zayn to do, and if it weren’t for Mahal’s status as the former WWE champion, they would undoubtedly be the biggest surprises for SmackDown’s stars missing from the show.
Dolph Ziggler
After losing his qualifying match to Bobby Roode, Dolph Ziggler promptly bowed out and hasn’t been seen since.
Whether this is due to a lack of storyline purpose or a matter of something else won’t be seen until after Survivor Series when things can pick back up, but in any fashion, Ziggler’s attempts at getting onto the card were dashed and there’s no reason after that point to anticipate him being factored into the plans.
Those are the breaks and in a realistic booking scenario, it makes perfect sense why Ziggler hasn’t been featured on SmackDown since that loss.
Tye Dillinger
It’s a little strange that The Perfect 10 was getting pushed as a contender for the United States Championship not too long ago, but wasn’t factored into the Survivor Series plans seemingly at all.
It would have been one thing for him to lose a qualifying match as a means to write him out, like with Ziggler, but instead, he was just put on the backburner entirely.
This is a shame, but it’s not entirely unexpected, as there are only a limited amount of spots on these teams and not enough room on the card in general to set up many more matches to fill the void.
Here’s hoping after this event is over, WWE’s creative team will think of some way to use him going forward.
Sin Cara
On a similar note, Sin Cara has been receiving a random push out of nowhere recently with his feud against Baron Corbin, wherein his status as a competitor for Survivor Series hinged entirely on winning the United States Championship.
He didn’t, as expected, since Baron Corbin is a much bigger deal on the roster, which nixed him from the card as by this point, there weren’t any free spots available for Team SmackDown, nor anywhere near enough time to set up another feud for Sin Cara to make it onto the lineup.
Still, this is the best we’ve seen of him in many, many months, so being overlooked for the actual pay-per-view isn’t too bad when you haven’t been overlooked on the build to that show, but you’ve gotten a push out of it. #glasshalffull
From the Women’s Division
Unsurprisingly, with the way things have been changing left and right on this card, WWE has opted to let the final member of the women’s team for SmackDown remain a mystery until Sunday night.
This means any other woman who hasn’t been booked on the card has the opportunity to fill this spot.
At first glance, Natalya is the most likely candidate, as she was originally the SmackDown women’s champion until Charlotte Flair dethroned her Tuesday night. You would think she’d still be considered good enough to be that final member, but that’s not a guarantee.
Since they haven’t announced Natalya, that is suspicious, and it makes sense if there’s a surprise person other than her that ends up on Team SmackDown instead.
There’s Nikki Bella, who is still on the roster even though she’s spent the past few months away from in-ring competition due to her injuries and other commitments like Dancing with the Stars, which she’s been eliminated from.
However, there’s also Paige, and with her recent social media posts talking about an upcoming return as well as her being backstage on Raw, I would be more willing to assume she’s the one to fit the bill than Bella or Natalya.
Then again, there’s a slight—slight chance that James Ellsworth is somehow allowed to enter this match, despite being a man. He wrestled Becky Lynch on SmackDown and there may be some kind of weird storyline about how that can play going forward.
My bet is on Paige, but we don’t know for sure, so any superstar not currently scheduled who could possibly be in the women’s division is still up in the air.
Mike Kanellis
He’s been gone for a long time and seemingly keeping his hands busy, as we know his wife Maria is pregnant, he’s been dealing with some rehab time, and there’s even a rumor flying around that WWE wanted him to lose weight.
With Mike Kanellis not making any splashes on SmackDown as of late, we’d have to be utter fools to think that he was even in the running to get on Team SmackDown or to have a different, dedicated match to be involved in. That just wasn’t going to happen.
From the Tag Team Division
It’s been a long time since we’ve heard from The Colons, so it’s no shocker to see them on this list.
The Hype Bros have taken a backseat to other tag teams recently and weren’t even in the running to dethrone The Usos for a potential replacement in the tag team champions showcase.
Meanwhile, The Fashion Police and The Ascension could always show up in another Fashion Files segment, which may also feature The Bludgeon Brothers as all signs point in their direction. That remains to be seen.
Once Chad Gable and Shelton Benjamin came up short in their title opportunity against The Usos (well, technically, they won the match but weren’t able to secure the belts), that took them out of the running for this event. It would make sense to see them continue to feud with Jimmy and Jey from November 21st onward, but we’ll just have to see about that.
And then there’s the duo of Aiden English and Rusev, who are pretty much a legitimate tag team at this point. Rusev sought out a potential spot on Team SmackDown numerous times recently, but a loss to Randy Orton stopped that from coming to pass. English, on the other hand, never stood a chance and would have just been ringside to sing at best.
Do you think these men and women or any others not on this list should have been booked on the card in some fashion? How would you have utilized them if given the opportunity? Tell us your thoughts in the comments below!
