Best Options to Fill Out Raw and SmackDown WWE Survivor Series 2020 Teams

With brand warfare at its core, WWE Survivor Series 2020 now has the tagline "best of the best."

In some cases, that's true. Roman Reigns will face Randy Orton as one of the champion vs. champion contests for bragging rights. But when it comes to the traditional tag team elimination matches, there are still some open slots.

Each roster has plenty of Superstars to pick from. But if Raw and SmackDown are truly looking for the best, only a handful of names stand out.

Let's look at the best possible options to fill the remaining spots in the men's and women's teams for Survivor Series on Nov. 22!

Current Teams

Credit: WWE.com

On these past episodes of Raw and SmackDown, several qualifying matches and some announcements determined 11 of the 20 names who will be competing on this year's teams.

Here is the current lineup of each team, which may or may not change prior to the pay-per-view.

Team Raw (Men's)

AJ Styles
Keith Lee
Sheamus
TBD
TBD

Team Raw (Women's)

Dana Brooke
Lana
Mandy Rose
Nia Jax
Shayna Baszler

Team SmackDown (Men's)

Kevin Owens
Jey Uso
TBD
TBD
TBD

Team SmackDown (Women's)

Bianca Belair
TBD
TBD
TBD
TBD 

2 Missing Members of Men's Team for Monday Night Raw

Credit: WWE.com

There are more options for the remaining two members of the Raw men's team than any other on this list as the men's division on Raw is the most stacked roster in the company.

One definitive standout, though, is Drew McIntyre. With Randy Orton busy fighting Roman Reigns, McIntyre won't be getting a chance to win back the WWE Championship at Survivor Series.

WWE could book The King of Claymore Country to fight Bray Wyatt in a No. 1 contender's match to determine who gets a shot at the title at TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs in December, but that would work better for an episode of Raw. It doesn't fit the Survivor Series theme.

McIntyre held the title for months and took out Brock Lesnar to do it. He's more than capable of not just being on Team Raw but arguably leading the charge.

The same can't be said for The Fiend, who doesn't seem like a team player.

Riddle, Hardy and Elias could win second-chance matches, but there are other options who are just as worthy, if not better picks.

Dabba-Kato is huge. If T-Bar weren't in Retribution, he would be another rock-solid pick.

MVP has experience and will be backed up by The Hurt Business. However, Retribution could interfere to spite him, costing Raw a victory.

John Morrison and The Miz are more than talented enough but are too stuck up to work well with others.

Ideally, the final member of the team is Braun Strowman, the largest athlete on the roster.

There aren't many who could successfully challenge him, and two such Superstars—Lee and McIntyre—would be on his side!

A team of Lee, Sheamus, Styles, McIntyre and Strowman would be one of the most formidable Survivor Series teams in history and almost guaranteed to be victorious.

3 Missing Members of Men's Team for Friday Night SmackDown

Credit: WWE.com

Assuming Daniel Bryan and Dolph Ziggler don't get second chances, SmackDown still has a few Superstars worthy of representing the brand as part of its men's team.

It's unlikely Tucker will find his way on to Team Raw. With that in mind, it would be better to leave Otis off of SmackDown's lineup. Ideally, WWE will book Otis vs. Tucker on the Kickoff as a bonus Raw vs. SmackDown match.

The family drama with Dominik, Rey Mysterio, Murphy and Seth Rollins is far too messy to justify putting any of them on the team. The last thing SmackDown needs is distractions.

While Chad Gable has some renewed vigor after dropping the ridiculous Shorty G name, he's in a losing pattern. He could have turned things around, or it could be worthless hype. He's too risky a pick.

Sadly, Apollo Crews doesn't have momentum on his side. Nor does Robert Roode. Kalisto isn't exactly in the upper echelons, either.

The real contenders for the three spots would be Aleister Black, Big E, King Corbin and Lars Sullivan. Picking which one of those is cut is a tough task.

Big E should be on the team. He has six years of team experience in The New Day and would help to keep spirits up and bring power to the table.

Corbin is the exact opposite to Big E as far as morale goes. He doesn't get along with anyone. However, he's shown he can align with Ziggler, Roode and others in the past, so he's a worthwhile keep who could nullify Sheamus at least.

Sullivan would be the most dominant of the bunch, but he's a loose cannon. Then again, so is Black, who doesn't get along with Kevin Owens.

Between those two, it depends on which person SmackDown feels can be more controlled. Is Sullivan's size more beneficial to take out Raw before he goes off the rails, or is Black easier to wrangle?

Given Sullivan recently spoke to Corey Graves about how he's had a lifetime of not getting along with others, there's too much of a risk he would attack all his teammates, rather than Black, who might simply go after Owens.

SmackDown's team is probably doomed to lose, but if the blue brand wants to stand the best chance of winning, the lineup should be Owens, Uso, Big E, Corbin and Black.

4 Missing Members of Women's Team for Friday Night SmackDown

Credit: WWE.com

Bianca Belair has already proved herself to be integral to Team SmackDown for the women's division, which shouldn't change in the coming weeks. She's the star who will be the sole survivor if anyone gets that distinction.

The four women who will stand next to her, though, should be able to hold their own and not just rely on her to do all the heavy lifting, despite how The EST of WWE will be the strongest, fastest and so on.

Whoever comes up short in the forthcoming SmackDown Women's Championship match between Sasha Banks and Bayley should be a given for this team. By all accounts, that should be Bayley, as it's too soon to take the belt off The Boss.

Bayley held the brand's top title every day from Money in the Bank 2019 to Hell in a Cell in October, save for a week. Not having her on the team would be a terrible mistake, as you don't leave a decorated competitor like that on the bench.

The two weakest options are Tamina and Zelina Vega. The former is perpetually unreliable as far as both wins and injuries go. Vega has a losing record too and would be the smallest woman in the match.

Losers of qualifying matches shouldn't be ruled out. Billie Kay and Natalya could get back on to the team in some fashion. In Nattie's case, that might be for the best, as she's a well-rounded performer.

More likely, though, those final three spots will go to Carmella, Liv Morgan and Ruby Riott.

The latter two are already a team, so bringing in The Riott Squad will help with the group's synergy.

When it comes to Carmella, she has undergone a character change, which may bring about a mean streak we have never seen before. She claims to be untouchable and is aiming to show as much. If that works out for her, she could be a great asset.

Early Predictions on Winning Teams

Credit: WWE.com

With all this in mind, which teams stand the best chances to win this year?

Unless the remaining spots are filled with the worst-case scenarios, such as the men's team for Raw getting stuck with one of Akira Tozawa's ninjas, it should be an even split.

Raw's men will have too much power for their SmackDown counterparts, while the red brand's women's team has too much infighting to be a cohesive unit.

Belair may have to do more work than one person should, but while the men on SmackDown will come up short, she should score the win for her team.

Anthony Mango is the owner of the wrestling website Smark Out Moment and the host of the podcast show Smack Talk on YouTube, iTunes and Stitcher. You can follow him on Facebook and elsewhere for more.