In the first one-on-one Raw vs. SmackDown match of tonight’s (Sun., Nov. 18, 2018) WWE Survivor Series pay-per-view (PPV) at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California, Intercontinental Champion Seth Rollins (Raw) took on United States Champion Shinsuke Nakamura (SmackDown).
The bigger story, of course, was just what role, if any, Dean Ambrose would play in the match. He wasn’t booked for the show but has feuding with Rollins since breaking up The Shield and costing Seth the Raw tag team titles.
Even while tweeting out video of the action, WWE reminded us of him:
#ICChampion @WWERollins is putting @TheDeanAmbrose way in the back of his mind and focusing on TAKING OUT #USChampion @ShinsukeN! #SurvivorSeries pic.twitter.com/nRzskYYtvh
— WWE (@WWE) November 19, 2018
Rollins and Nakamura had a fun back-and-forth match, as expected. It was so even, in fact, it was hard to tell if either of the two was favored to win. In the end, Seth kicked out of a Kinsasha to the back of the head, then avoided another before hitting the Curb Stomp to score the pinfall.
In the end, Rollins and Nakamura paid respect to each other.
No Ambrose after all.
Get complete Survivor Series results and coverage of the entire card right here.