With Survivor Series 2019 coming up this Sunday night, the go-home show of Monday Night Raw and our best guess of what will happen on Friday Night SmackDown have given us an indication of what talent is booked for the pay-per-view and who is not currently scheduled. Of course, the card is always subject to change and WWE may end up making alterations to this lineup, but at the moment, the men and women in this breakdown are not currently advertised as being part of this event.
In some cases, this may be justified, or even a purposeful plan to set up a surprise. In other cases, it may be ridiculous. That is up to you to decide as we take a look at which superstars aren’t being promoted for this show.
From the Raw Men’s Division
— Akira Tozawa: Tozawa put up a good fight against Murphy on Raw, but couldn’t win that, nor is he high enough on the totem pole to have been considered for this event.
— Aleister Black / Buddy Murphy: Murphy wanted to pick a fight with Black on Raw, and it just didn’t happen. Neither of them have a match here and were outranked by more important names for this year’s Team Raw.
— Andrade: He had a chance to front Team Raw if he had beaten Rollins, but wasn’t able to pull off the job.
— The Ascension (Konnor & Viktor): These two never do anything. It’s amazing they’re still employed.
— The Authors of Pain (Akam & Rezar): AOP attacked Curt Hawkins and Zack Ryder, but there isn’t any room on the card for people who aren’t really doing anything but waiting to do something.
— Bobby Lashley / Rusev: This feud keeps getting screen time, but it seems as though WWE is dragging out the storyline until TLC or longer. Ugh.
— Cedric Alexander: There were bigger fish to fry and Alexander has supposedly been dealing with some sort of injury issues.
— Curt Hawkins and Zack Ryder: These two might have won the Raw tag titles to replace The Viking Raiders if AOP hadn’t attacked them…although, let’s be honest, that wasn’t going to happen.
— EC3: I’ll reference this quite a bit, but anyone who is largely just a jobber was obviously not going to be prioritized for their brand’s team. EC3 is, unfortunately, one of those guys.
— Eric Young: Jobber.
— Erick Rowan: WWE seems more focused on showing off that Rowan has a pet rat or something than anything else right now.
— Humberto Carrillo: He will fight AJ Styles for the United States Championship next week on Raw. That’s a good consolation prize to being skipped over for this event.
— Mojo Rawley: Jobber.
— No Way Jose: Jobber.
— The O.C. (Karl Anderson and Luke Gallows): The best tag team in the world couldn’t even represent Raw in the tag team champions showcase match. Tisk tisk.
— R-Truth: We may see him do something involving the 24/7 Championship.
— Samoa Joe: Joe is still injured.
— Shelton Benjamin: Benjamin is back to doing nothing. They seem to only use him when they need to.
— Sin Cara: Sin Cara recently requested his release. We probably won’t be seeing him anymore.
— The Street Profits (Angelo Dawkins & Montez Ford): Had there been a tag team elimination match like in previous years, these two would have undoubtedly been featured players.
— Titus O’Neil: For the most part, O’Neil does more ambassador work than in-ring or on-screen stuff these days.
— The Usos (Jey Uso & Jimmy Uso): The Usos are still on hiatus after the arrest problems.
From the Raw Women’s Division
— Carolina: With Sin Cara wanting his release and Carolina very much needing more time in NXT, she stood no chance in being on this event.
— The IIconics (Billie Kay & Peyton Royce): There are only 5 spots available for the Survivor Series teams and The Kabuki Warriors are the bigger deal than these 2.
— Lana: No Rusev or Lashley, no Lana.
— Liv Morgan: WWE is still waiting on this big return for Liv Morgan, and it’s making me think they have no real ideas.
— Naomi: She is sitting things out along with The Usos, with no set time frame declared for her return.
— Nia Jax: Jax will remain out with her knee injuries for the coming months and isn’t expected to return to action until 2020.
— Ruby Riott: Riott’s shoulder injury will keep her on the shelf for the next few months.
— Zelina Vega: No Andrade and no Team Raw role, no Zelina.
From the SmackDown Men’s Division
— Apollo Crews: Unfortunately, Crews wasn’t high enough on the hierarchy to get a Team SmackDown spot over people like Ali and Shorty G.
— The B-Team (Bo Dallas & Curtis Axel): Jobbers.
— Cesaro: Cesaro is perpetually pushed aside. I’d argue he would have made a great member of Team SmackDown, but WWE doesn’t seem to view him in that regard all that often.
— The Colons (Epico Colon & Primo Colon): I repeat, as I have for many months now. Why are these guys still under contract? Just release them.
— Dolph Ziggler and Robert Roode: These two had an opportunity to earn spots on Team SmackDown, but failed.
— Drew Gulak: Unfortunately, Gulak is being used more as a comedic jobber right now than someone who would be a great member of Team SmackDown.
— Elias: Elias is still out of action with an injury.
— The Hardy Boyz (Jeff Hardy & Matt Hardy): Jeff Hardy is still on the inactive list from his injury and legal problems, while Matt Hardy sits out probably to not bring attention to any of that.
— Heath Slater: Jobber.
— Heavy Machinery (Otis Dozovic & Tucker Knight): Had there been a tag team Survivor Series match this year, these two would have been prominently featured, just like The Street Profits.
— Jinder Mahal: Mahal suffered a ruptured patellar tendon injury in a match against Ali on June 15th and will be out several months.
— Lars Sullivan: The Freak will be out of action until 2020 due to a knee injury.
— The Lucha House Party (Gran Metalik, Kalisto, & Lince Dorado): These guys are too low on the totem pole to have gotten some of the 5 spots on Team SmackDown.
— Luke Harper: Since he wants to leave WWE, it seems WWE doesn’t want to use him.
— The Miz: It’s strange that The Miz keeps being pushed aside. There is the possibility that they wanted him to face Bray Wyatt and Daniel Bryan would have been on Team SmackDown, but we may never know if that was truly the game plan or just speculation.
— The Revival (Dash Wilder & Scott Dawson): Had they still been tag team champions, they would have been in the Triple Threat match against The Viking Raiders and The Undisputed ERA.
— Sami Zayn: While not officially booked for the card, we can assume he’ll be ringside on behalf of Shinsuke Nakamura.
— Sheamus: The Celtic Warrior has been out of action quite some time due to injuries, and WWE has not given a timetable as to when or if he will be returning to the ring.
— Xavier Woods: After tearing his Achilles, Woods is going to be out for a long, long while.
From the SmackDown Women’s Division
— Alexa Bliss: Bliss appears to be on another one of her injury hiatuses, which seems to be happening more often than not, these days. That is unfortunate, as she could have been a solid member of Team SmackDown.
— Ember Moon: Achilles injury.
— Fire and Desire (Mandy Rose & Sonya Deville): There simply weren’t enough spots on Team SmackDown and some people needed to step aside.
— Mickie James: James is out of action with a knee injury that has her on the shelf for 7-9 months.
— Tamina Snuka: Tamina is never one of the first picked for anything.
This is a rare situation where the NXT side of things is also part of this event, which over doubles the roster pool to work with on the Superstars Missing list.
From the NXT and 205 Live Men’s Division
— Angel Garza: He’s been doing great at standing out, but he’s still not top 5 material for Team NXT.
— Ariya Daivari: Daivari is one of the many 205 Live stars who just doesn’t fit on this card.
— Boa: Boa is out of action with a torn rotator cuff and labrum.
— Breezango (Fandango & Tyler Breeze): For the most part, Breezango is in NXT to fill out the ranks, rather than be big focal points.
— The Brian Kendrick: Kendrick is more of a 205 Live wrestler and there are bigger fish to fry.
— The Brit-Am Bruisers (Danny Burch & Oney Lorcan): Lorcan requested his release and Burch isn’t a featured player.
— Bronson Reed: Reed is still very new and there’s no justification for putting him on Team NXT over tons of other names.
— Cameron Grimes: He’s a midcarder. There are more important people to check off the list.
— Cezar Bononi: This guy perpetually does nothing. Why they don’t have him in a stable with Arturo Ruas and Taynara is beyond me.
— Damian Priest: He’s still in the running to fight Cole if he wins at TakeOver.
— Dexter Lumis: For whatever reason, Lumis has only wrestled on NXT once, on his debut.
— Dominik Dijakovic: I expect him to be added to Team NXT.
— Ever-Rise (Chase Parker & Matt Martel): These two aren’t even regularly on NXT, let alone major members of the roster.
— Finn Balor: I expect him to be added to Team NXT.
— The Forgotten Sons (Jaxson Ryker, Steve Cutler, & Wesley Blake): Insert “forgotten” joke, as always.
— Gentleman Jack Gallagher: Gallagher is more of a 205 Live guy and not even the top of that food chain right now.
— Isaiah “Swerve” Scott: He may be added to Team NXT, but I don’t think that will happen.
— Joaquin Wilde: Wilde’s career is still fresh in NXT and he was recently injured for a while, making him not a viable candidate.
— Johnny Gargano: Gargano is currently dealing with a neck injury that has ruled him a member of the inactive list.
— Keith Lee: I expect him to be added to Team NXT.
— Killian Dain: Like Priest, he’s technically still in the running to fight Cole for the title.
— Kona Reeves: He’ll be popping up in NXT UK and losing. Of course he’s not on this card.
— Kushida: Kushida is out with a hand injury.
— Mansoor: In typical WWE fashion, Mansoor’s win at Crown Jewel wasn’t followed up on by WWE.
— Matt Riddle: I expect him to be added to Team NXT.
— Pete Dunne: I fully anticipate his victory at TakeOver and his loss against Cole at Survivor Series.
— Raul Mendoza: Mendoza has been looking better than ever with 205 Live and NXT recently, but that’s still not good enough to be one of the main guys here.
— Riddick Moss: Moss has been on the sidelines for many, many months. There’s no reason why he’d be given a spot on this card.
— Shane Thorne: Thorne is still trying to find his footing as a heel in NXT. He’s doing good, but he’s not a top-tier talent compared to others.
— The Singh Brothers (Samir Singh & Sunil Singh): We may see these two do something with the 24/7 Championship backstage with R-Truth.
— Tino Sabbatelli: Sabbatelli is still inactive from his torn pectoral injury.
— Tommaso Ciampa: I expect him to be added to Team NXT.
— Tony Nese: Nese is more focused on the 205 Live side of things.
— Velveteen Dream: Dream is dealing with a back injury, unfortunately.
From the NXT Women’s Division
— Aliyah / Vanessa Borne: Aliyah was written off with a nose injury and Borne isn’t much of a solo act these days.
— Bianca Belair: I expect her to be added to Team NXT.
— Candice LeRae: I expect her to be added to Team NXT.
— Dakota Kai: She may be added to Team NXT, but I don’t think that will happen.
— Deonna Purrazzo: WWE has consistently done nothing with Deonna Purrazzo. Why should we expect anything different?
— Io Shirai: I expect her to be added to Team NXT.
— Jessamyn Duke / Marina Shafir: If they show up, they will be ringside or interfere in Shayna Baszler’s match.
— Mia Yim: I expect her to be added to Team NXT.
— Rhea Ripley: I expect her to be added to Team NXT.
— Taynara Conti: There were bigger fish to fry for Team NXT’s women than Taynara.
— Tegan Nox: She has a better chance to be part of Team NXT than some others, but I still think she’ll be overlooked in favor of LeRae, Shirai, Ripley, Belair and Yim.
— Xia Li: I’ve grown to enjoy Xia Li, but she’d be my 8th or so pick to be on Team NXT, and I’m sure WWE feels pretty much the same.
Male U.S. Performance Center Recruits
There isn’t much to say about these men and women. They’re not regular members of the NXT roster yet, so there’s literally no reason for them to be there on this card with limited spots.
However, if you wish to know who these people are, here is the list of current members of the Performance Center and NXT live event crew:
— Male Talent: Alexsandar Jaksic, Austin Theory, Babatunde, Big Jordan Omogbehin, Brendan Vink, Cal Bloom, Daniel Vidot, Denzel Dejournette, Dorian Mak, Edgar López, EJ Nduka, Faisal Kurdi, Hussain Aldagal, Jeet Rama, Jorge Bolly, Malcolm Bivens, Marcos Gomes, Mohamed Fahim, Nick Ogarelli, Omari Palmer, Rik Bugez, Rinku Singh, Robert Stone, Rocky, Saurav Gurjar, Tehuti Miles
— Female Talent: Briana Brandy, Chelsea Green, Jessi Kamea, Karen Q (injured), Kavita Devi, Kayden Carter, MJ Jenkins, Rachel Ellering (injured), Reina González, Rita Reis, Santana Garrett
From the NXT UK Men’s Division
At the moment, nobody from NXT UK has been advertised for this card. There’s a chance some of them find their way onto Team NXT for the men or women, such as Toni Storm or WALTER, but I doubt it.
For the sake of being complete, here are the men and women from NXT UK not scheduled at this time to compete at Survivor Series.
— Male Roster: A-Kid, Amir Jordan, Ashton Smith, Dave Mastiff, Eddie Dennis, Gallus, Grizzled Young Veterans, The Hunt, Ilja Dragunov, Imperium, Jack Starz, Jordan Devlin, Joseph Conners, Kassius Ohno, Kenny Williams, Ligero, Moustache Mountain, Noam Dar, Oliver Carter, Ridge Holland, Sam Gradwell, Saxon Huxley, South Wales Subculture, Travis Banks and Tyson T-Bone.
— Female Roster: Isla Dawn, Jazzy Gabert, Jinny, Kay Lee Ray, Killer Kelly, Nina Samuels, Piper Niven, Toni Storm, Xia Brookside
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!
