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Survivor Series Elimination Match Set For WWE SmackDown On 11/28

By John Canton • Published Nov 15, 2025 08:35 EST
WWE Smackdown Logo Arena

A traditional Survivor Series elimination match has been set up to attempt to settle the rivalry between two former US Champions on WWE SmackDown.

Sami Zayn and Solo Sikoa were friends in WWE as part of The Bloodline, but those days are in the past, and the two men are on different paths now.

After Sami Zayn ended Solo Sikoa’s US Title reign on WWE SmackDown in late August, Solo regrouped with his MFT stable while targeting Zayn and others on the SmackDown brand.

In recent weeks, Solo’s MFT group, consisting of Tama Tonga, Talla Tonga, Tonga Loa, and JC Mateo, has attacked the likes of Shinsuke Nakamura, Rey Fenix, and the Motor City Machine Guns duo of Alex Shelley & Chris Sabin.

During an in-ring WWE SmackDown in Albany, Sami Zayn spoke about how, over the last few weeks, he has been on the sidelines, hurt, watching Solo Sikoa and the MFTs attack people Zayn is friends with. Zayn said he is no longer going to sit back and do nothing. Zayn called out Solo so they could deal with this face-to-face.

Solo Sikoa walked out with the MFTs to tell Zayn he is so damn selfish. Solo said that Zayn only cares about himself. Solo said that Zayn didn’t care about the guys in the back or the fans. Solo said what he cares about are the men standing behind him and their loyalty to him. Solo told Zayn he knows nothing about loyalty when it comes to family. Solo threatened to kick Zayn’s ass.

After getting in the ring with Zayn, Solo said he’ll wait until Zayn is 100% medically cleared, and when he is cleared, Solo told Zayn he is coming for him. Zayn told Solo he won’t have to wait very long. Zayn informed Solo he is 100% medically cleared as of tonight, so he dared Solo to do something about it right now. Zayn said he didn’t exactly come alone.

The foursome of Shinsuke Nakamura, Rey Fenix and the Motor City Machine Guns showed up at ringside to fight with the MFTs. Zayn knocked down Solo and stomped on him by the turnbuckle. Talla Tonga pulled Solo out of the ring to save him. The trio of JC, Tama and Loa attacked Zayn, so Zayn’s allies cleared the ring of those guys. Fenix went up top and hit a twisting cross body block on three of the heels on the floor.

Traditional WWE Survivor Series Elimination Match Is Set

In a backstage segment, Solo Sikoa approached Nick Aldis, saying he wanted to face Sami Zayn. Aldis said you had more enemies than Zayn, so Aldis booked Solo and the MFTs against Zayn, Fenix, Nakamura, and the Motor City Machine Guns on SmackDown in two weeks (November 28th) in a Survivor Series Elimination Match.

Survivor Series Elimination tag team matches were part of the event from the start in 1987 and nearly every year thereafter, until 2022, when Triple H took over as WWE’s Chief Content Officer and decided to feature WarGames matches at Survivor Series.

A traditional Survivor Series usually features either 8 or 10 wrestlers in a 4-on-4 or 5-on-5 match. Once a wrestler is pinned, submitted, counted out, or disqualified, then they must go to the back and somebody else on the team takes over. Once the entire team is eliminated, they lose the match, and the other team’s remaining members are declared the survivors.

There were even two Survivor Series elimination matches at the NXT Showdown episode featuring TNA wrestlers on October 7th as well.

For this Survivor Series elimination match on the November 28th edition of SmackDown, the babyface team will be Sami Zayn, Rey Fenix, Shinsuke Nakamura, and The Motor City Machine Guns (Alex Shelley & Chris Sabin) against the heel team of Solo Sikoa and the MFTs – Talla Tonga, Tama Tonga, JC Mateo, and Tonga Loa.

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