Who Will Join Randy Orton on SmackDown's WWE Survivor Series Team?

An RKO to Sami Zayn assured Randy Orton a spot on WWE SmackDown's Survivor Series team. Four openings remain.

The rest of the squad promises to be equal parts strong, glorious, phenomenal and fearless.

Orton earned his entry into the men's traditional elimination match for the Nov. 19 pay-per-view by getting past Zayn on Tuesday night. SmackDown's brass also set up two more qualifying matches for next week.

Zayn's buddy, Kevin Owens, will take on Shinsuke Nakamura. Dolph Ziggler and Bobby Roode will meet in a 2-out-of-3 Falls match.

If Zayn isn't going to be around, KO likely isn't, either. The blue brand's resident pests will likely scheme together to do something else at the PPV. That makes Nakamura the favorite to join Orton.

And as new, rising star, The King of Strong Style needs that spot more than Owens, who has already been universal, United States and intercontinental champion.

As for Ziggler vs. Roode, The Glorious One is the safer bet for that clash.

Roode is a new addition to the SmackDown team. WWE is going to want to showcase him. It would be mighty surprising if he lost his first feud out of the gate, dropping the rubber match against The Showoff.

At this point, WWE clearly has no qualms about leaving Ziggler off Survivor Series. He missed the cut last year. And in 2015, he lost to Tyler Breeze in singles action. He's not a high priority.

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That still leaves two open spots.

Baron Corbin will be busy facing The Miz. It would be odd to add just some of The New Day members rather than the whole crew. Guys such as Sin Cara and Tye Dillinger are likely too low on the company ladder.

That's certainly not true for AJ Styles.

The former WWE champ is one of SmackDown's biggest stars. He's arguably the best in-ring performer in the company today. It would be a shocker if Styles didn't make the cut.

It helps his case that he was a part of Team Blue's victory last year at Survivor Series.

The final opening will likely go to the brand's commissioner. Shane McMahon joined the fray at least year's PPV. He's been an active participant at WrestleMania and Hell in a Cell since.

Plus, he has taken this brand rivalry extremely seriously, leading the way as SmackDown invaded Raw on Monday.

Credit: WWE.com

Shane-O-Mac is going to want to assure his team wins. And he'll likely subscribe to the "if you want something done right, do it yourself" theory.

That would give SmackDown the formidable team of Orton, Nakamura, Roode, Styles and McMahon. Star power would be no issue. The team would have a great striker in Nakamura, a high-octane weapon in Styles and a daredevil with no regard for his body in McMahon.

The all-babyface squad better look out, though, as Owens, Zayn and guys such as Rusev will be seething about being left out.