Braun Strowman Pins Shane McMahon; Raw Wins Survivor Series Elimination Match

Raw defeated SmackDown on Sunday in the traditional five-on-five men's elimination match at WWE Survivor Series.

The team of Braun Strowman, Drew McIntyre, Dolph Ziggler, Bobby Lashley and Finn Balor prevailed, with Strowman, McIntyre and Lashley as the survivors.

Strowman was responsible for the last four eliminations, hitting powerslams on Jeff Hardy, Rey Mysterio, The Miz and Shane McMahon.

By virtue of his team's win, The Monster Among Men earned himself a shot at Brock Lesnar and the Universal Championship after Raw commissioner Stephanie McMahon promised to reward him in the event of a victory for the red brand.

Acting Raw general manager Baron Corbin installed himself as team captain, although he didn't compete in the match.

Corbin selected Strowman, McIntyre and Ziggler for the team, while McMahon chose Balor after he impressed her with a win over The Showoff on Monday's episode of Raw.

The final spot was earned by Lashley when he beat Elias by count-out in a qualifying match thanks to some help from Lio Rush.

On the blue brand, The Miz and Daniel Bryan were initially selected as co-captains of the team by McMahon and general manager Paige.

Miz and Bryan agreed to put Shane-O-Mac on the team, while the former SmackDown GM selected Mysterio and The A-Lister picked Samoa Joe.

Things changed significantly on the go-home episode of SmackDown prior to Survivor Series, though, when Bryan was granted—and won—a WWE Championship match against AJ Styles.

That resulted in Bryan being removed from the Survivor Series team and Miz becoming the sole captain. As a replacement for The Yes! Man, The A-Lister selected Hardy.

Bragging rights were on the line at Survivor Series, especially after what went down at Crown Jewel in the World Cup tournament.

The Miz was supposed to face Ziggler in the final, but when an injury rendered The A-Lister unable to compete, McMahon stepped in and controversially won the tournament despite competing in just one match that night.

That angered the Raw side and added some heat to the brand vs. brand rivalry Survivor Series has become synonymous with.

There figures to be some fallout on SmackDown now that the blue brand has lost the men's elimination match in consecutive years, but the primary focus on Raw figures to shift toward Strowman and whether he can take advantage of being granted another crack at The Beast Incarnate.

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